First space shuttle landing remembered

Recollections and vignettes about the first space shuttle landing at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center on Edwards Air Force Base on April 14, 1981, were recounted by NASA and Air Force personnel who played significant roles in that historic event during a media briefing on the 25th anniversary of its occurrence. On April 10, 2006, nine present and retired NASA and Air Force employees gathered in the empty fuselage of NASA's modified 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft to share their remembrances of that milestone.

Among those sharing recollections of the first space shuttle landing were Joe D'Agostino, lead, Shuttle Support Operations, NASA Dryden; retired NASA engineer Melvin Burke, who managed the STS-1 landing and recovery operations at NASA Dryden; Johnny Armstrong of the Air Force Flight Test Center's 412th Test Wing; retired NASA and Air Force research test pilots Tom McMurtry and Fitz Fulton; retired NASA engineer Roger Barnicki; former space shuttle astronaut Gordon Fullerton, currently associate director of flight operations at NASA Dryden; retired NASA public affairs officer Nancy Lovato and retired NASA engineer and public affairs director Jenny Baer-Riedhart.

   Last Modified: April 14, 2006
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