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20th Anniversary: The arrival of Space Shuttle Columbia
Aerospace Projects Writer Many people know that Dryden orchestrated the Shuttle prototype Enterprise's Approach and Landing Tests off the back of a NASA Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) during 1977, paving the way for all Shuttle missions to follow. Many also know that Dryden/Edwards served as the primary landing site for America's Space Shuttles for the first 10 years of the program. Few may know, however, that Dryden was the staging area for Space Shuttle Columbia's trip to Florida prior to its first space voyage. The Space Shuttle era officially began on April 12, 1981, at 7 a.m. EST. People everywhere were glued to the TV set, watching in wonderment as Columbia, the world's first reusable spacecraft, headed off into space. Columbia's mission, in the capable hands of astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen, demonstrated during STS-1 the safe launch into orbit of the complete Shuttle Transportation System (STS), validated systems in space and a safe return to Earth April 14. Understated, the mission was a whopping success. However, Columbia's great journeys actually started with a laborious trek across the desert, from Palmdale to Dryden, two years earlier. Before Columbia began its journey to space via NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC), the ship traveled by city streets and desert roads to Dryden March 8, 1979, after emerging from then-Rockwell International's Plant 42 facilities in Palmdale. Columbia's overland delivery to Dryden took 10 hours. For the next two weeks, Columbia was carefully prepared and mated to NASA 747 SCA tail number 905 for its first ferry flight to KSC. Sixteen days later, Columbia arrived at KSC to begin processing for its first space flight. The first four orbiters were also transported by truck ever so slowly in order to be mated with SCA 905. Having learned from that first experience hauling Columbia to Dryden, the following Shuttle transport times decreased to about eight hours. The fifth Shuttle, the Endeavour, was the first to be mated to a NASA 747 SCA at Plant 42 after that facility received its Mate/Demate Device from Vandenberg Air Force Base. The route of Columbia and the other Shuttles through Lancaster followed 10th Street East, later renamed Challenger Way. Shuttle viewing along 10th Street East became a field trip for Antelope Valley area schools when the massive orbiters began their lumbering, initial journey toward space. Neighbors, residents, school children, reporters – even the world – watched breathlessly when the behemoths passed a few feet away, casting everyone in their cool shadow. Columbia's wings seemed low enough for kids to jump up and touch. Young eyes dreamed immediate dreams of soaring into space aboard the ship passing low over them. Joe D'Agostino, Dryden's current Shuttle manager, then director of management support, remembers the busy days of America's first Space Shuttle at Dryden. "I remember how well the NASA centers worked together ensuring the success of the program. We had the manpower, resources and budget to get the job done. Headquarters did a great job of coordinating all of the activities," he says. D'Agostino oversaw myriad support functions at Dryden for the Shuttle program, including Photo, Video, Security, Transportation, Logistics and other institutional areas. Managing the Dryden elements and coordinating the effort with the other NASA and industry groups was no "walk in the park" in the massive undertaking of preparing Columbia. "Working with so many people from the other NASA centers and the industry partners was like preparing for 500 dinner guests, each with very specific needs. They all had their own concerns, and we had only one chance to meet their needs in a timely fashion," D'Agostino recalls. In addition, while Columbia was readied for and mated with the NASA 747, D'Agostino and his team had to plan and prepare for the second and third Shuttle flights, scheduled at the time to follow fairly closely on the heels of the first. Larry Biscayart, Dryden Shuttle support specialist, recalls watching Columbia moving down the taxiway onto Dryden's ramp for the first time. "My first thought watching Columbia roll in was how large it was and how were they going to get that huge thing into space. When I was young my Dad worked for North American Rockwell in Downey on the Apollo Service Modules and, one day, I got the thrill of my life – to dress-up in a sterile bunny suit and go through two clean rooms to peer inside an Apollo capsule. That was my reference for a spacecraft comparison to the Shuttle. How huge Columbia was!" Biscayart says. Soon after Columbia's maiden voyage into space, two current Dryden team members graced the craft's cockpit. Former astronaut and current research pilot Gordon Fullerton co-piloted Columbia during STS-3 from March 22-30, 1982. Highlights of the mission included testing of the remote manipulator arm in space for the first time. STS-3 landed at White Sands, New Mexico, because Rogers Dry Lake was temporarily unusable following seasonal rains. This mission is the only one to land at White Sands to date. Fullerton commanded STS-51F in 1985. The mission was successfully completed despite an engine shut-down on the ascent that resulted in an abort to orbit. Many space experiments were conducted aboard Columbia's payload, the Spacelab-2. Vance Brand, former Apollo-Soyuz astronaut, now Dryden's deputy director of aerospace projects, commanded Columbia twice, on STS-5 and STS-35. STS-5 in 1982 deployed two commercial communications satellites. In 1990, STS-35 utilized the ASTRO-1 observatory's four telescopes to provide around-the-clock ultraviolet and X-ray celestial observations. Now, Columbia is back at KSC undergoing preparations for flight STS-107 currently scheduled for liftoff Oct. 25, 2001. The orbiter recently left Palmdale following extensive upgrades including a new, advanced "glass cockpit" which replaces analog instruments with 11 digital full-color flat-panel displays. Columbia received more than 80 major modifications during its 18-month refurbishment period. (See story pages 6, 7, and 10 for more details.) Many other current and former Dryden employees contributed immeasurably to the great success of getting Columbia from Dryden to KSC to begin the Shuttle era. The unparalleled accomplishments and successes of 20 years of the Space Shuttle program speak most eloquently for those not mentioned here. |
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Responsible NASA Official: John Childress For questions, contact: Dryden Web Group Page Curator:WD-Team Modified: March 26, 2001 |
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