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Author
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Topic: Best/most representative Space Shuttle photo
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ilbasso
Member Posts: 1522
From: Greensboro, NC USA
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted 08-19-2011 09:39 PM
   
With 135 missions to select from, if you had to pick a single photo that best typified the entire Space Shuttle program, which would you choose?
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MrSpace86
Member Posts: 1618
From: Gardner, KS, USA
Registered: Feb 2003
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posted 08-19-2011 10:25 PM
I would probably pick one of the photos taken by Paolo Nespoli as he was departing from the ISS. Those photos represent 13 of the 30 years the Space Shuttle was operational. |
Jay Chladek
Member Posts: 2272
From: Bellevue, NE, USA
Registered: Aug 2007
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posted 08-20-2011 12:05 AM
That is more of an ISS photo though rather than one that sums up the WHOLE shuttle program. The task is a tough one because we ARE talking over three decades of shuttle based photos from Enterprise's ALT flights to the final touchdown of Atlantis.I would say if there is a really good shot of a crowd of spectators watching a shuttle launch at night (where they are illuminated by the light from the SRB plumes and the camera is looking over their backs towards the shuttle), that might be a leading candidate since ultimately shuttle's history is probably the most closely tied to KSC with all the support work that was done. Of the ones that I have seen, the image of Discovery from STS-114 during the first RPM manuever when it is nose on to the ISS sums things up pretty well. All you can see in the image is shuttle, it is flying free, and the shot is from an angle not normally seen until the RPF manuevers. In that shot, you can see the colors of the TPS materials, the weathering on the bottom, and the payload bay doors and RMS with OBSS arms quite well. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 08-20-2011 12:27 AM
For me, when I think of the space shuttle, I think of this shot of Challenger, as seen during the STS-7 mission from the free-flyer SPAS-01, suspended against the black of space and hanging over the blue Earth. |
Henry Heatherbank
Member Posts: 244
From: Adelaide, South Australia
Registered: Apr 2005
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posted 08-20-2011 03:19 AM
Yes, the STS-7 photo Robert posted is the first one that came to my mind as well.This is a very interesting question, because we must distinguish between the most commonly published photos (often ones already used to define the Shuttle years) versus those that epitomise the Shuttle program. One of the most published photos that comes to mind is Bruce McCandless flying free with the MMU on STS 41-B in early 1984. But it doesn't capture the Shuttle. One contender for photo epitomising the Shuttle program (or maybe what the program was MEANT to stand for) is the 51-A photo of Dale Gardner holding up the "For Sale" sign on EVA after rescuing one of those two wayward satellites. (Same photo as on the dust jacket to the book 'Realising Tomorrow'). This perhaps summed up the "promise" of the program before the Challenger incident. Of course, in my opinion, the single most iconic photo of the Shuttle era is the one showing that horrible Y-shaped exhaust cloud on 28 January 1986. But it would be wrong if that were the Shuttle program's photographic epitaph... |
James Brown
Member Posts: 1287
From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Registered: Jun 2000
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posted 08-20-2011 06:29 PM
For me, this photo I took of the STS-123 launch, will always be MY most representative shuttle program photo. |
tegwilym
Member Posts: 2331
From: Sturgeon Bay, WI
Registered: Jan 2000
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posted 08-22-2011 03:42 PM
quote:
Originally posted by James Brown:
For me, this photo I took of the STS-123 launch, will always be MY most representative shuttle program photo.
Of course! That's such a great shot. 
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GoesTo11
Member Posts: 1309
From: Denver, CO
Registered: Jun 2004
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posted 08-22-2011 08:48 PM
I wouldn't argue with any of the previous suggestions, but my own personal favorite would be this one. I still remember the novelty of seeing a spaceship(!) return to Earth and land like an airplane... for me it distills the essence of what made the Shuttle different from everything that had come before it. Watching those early landings, it really did feel like we were seeing the future. Of course, having been a kid at Edwards in the early 80s, I can hardly claim to be unbiased.  |
OV-105
Member Posts: 816
From: Ridgecrest, CA
Registered: Sep 2000
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posted 08-22-2011 10:30 PM
I don't think one photo can represent the whole program. Look at all the era's of the program, Pre-Challenger, Post-Challenger, HST, ISS, and Post-Columbia. I am sure it could be even more than what I listed. |
Tom
Member Posts: 1597
From: New York
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 08-23-2011 10:47 AM
If we could chose just one to represent the "entire" shuttle program, I would have to pick this one, where it all began. |
ilbasso
Member Posts: 1522
From: Greensboro, NC USA
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted 08-23-2011 12:29 PM
I know it's hard to pick one - I do like the STS-1 liftoff and the STS-7 SPAS photos as "iconic."My question is prompted by a friend who will be visiting the ASF show in November for the first time. He wants to get a photo signed by as many Shuttle astronauts as he can, and he asked for suggestions as to what that photo should be. I looked at the flight histories of each of the astronauts coming to ASF, and there isn't a single Orbiter that was common to all of them. My other thought would be a collage, with one photo of each Orbiter (and you could throw in Enterprise for Haise's signature, too). |
328KF
Member Posts: 1234
From:
Registered: Apr 2008
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posted 08-23-2011 01:26 PM
It's virtually impossible to find one photo that conveys the entire history of the space shuttle program. Given that there were distinct "periods" of the the 30 year program, a photo from any given one unfortunately fails to encompass the accomplishments during the others. One might choose a nostalgic photo from the early days say the OFT flights but the two most enduring legacies of the program, in terms of hardware, are the Hubble telescope and the ISS. Having said that, now that we know the purpose behind the question, I think a photo of the lone orbiter above the Earth would be appropriate for signatures, particularly done in silver on the black sky area. If you get away from the single photo idea, the fine book Space Shuttle: The First 20 Years would be a great item to have signed, and many of the astronauts who contributed the to the text of the book will be there. |
Cozmosis22
Member Posts: 968
From: Texas * Earth
Registered: Apr 2011
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posted 08-23-2011 03:54 PM
The front on view of the shuttle stack on the pad with the RSS rolled back is a favorite. For autograph purposes you might want to select an image with plenty of lighter colored open skies. |
brianjbradley
Member Posts: 114
From: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Dec 2010
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posted 08-23-2011 08:29 PM
I always liked more recent launch photography taken at sunrise and sunset, ie: launch sequences for STS-96, -92, -98, -102, -108 and -109. It was particularly special if you could see the launch plume reflected in the cloud cover. |
ilbasso
Member Posts: 1522
From: Greensboro, NC USA
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted 08-25-2011 09:33 PM
Two of my favorite photos are the liftoff of STS-27 and the overhead shot of the rollout of STS-79. |
Hart Sastrowardoyo
Member Posts: 3445
From: Toms River, NJ
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 08-26-2011 03:03 PM
quote:
Originally posted by ilbasso:
He wants to get a photo signed by as many Shuttle astronauts as he can...
If you can find a shot of the shuttle landing or lifting off where the name of the orbiter either isn't visible or barely visible, that might work. A night landing, for example, signed in silver pen.Otherwise, don't worry too much about getting the "right" photo signed. I have a Charles Brady signed photo of a shuttle landing, and when I flipped the photo over, I saw that Brady had used a photo from STS-71, not -78. |
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