![]() ![]() Much later, I recalled that it was 20 years to the day that Gagarin made the first human flight into orbit. On Sunday, Apat 7:00 AM, STS-1 rose majestically from the pad in a triumphantly successful flight, and we were privileged enough to have been there, standing along the shores of the NASA Causeway to see it go. The problem was analyzed and fixed on the 11th and the count recycled. The first attempt on Friday, April 10 ended at 11:00 AM, after a second attempt to re-set the programming of the General Purpose Computers failed, and the flight crew had exceeded their allowed time on their backs prior to flight. ![]() Besides, there would never be another "first flight," so I wanted to remember it well. During that part of the tour, I ran through over 72-35mm photos, getting all of the pad data I could get. Our tour bus made a slow orbit on Perimeter Road, completely around Pad A, with Columbia exposed the Rotating Service Structure rolled back and ready to fly. I thought we'd be going back to Visitor Complex or somewhere else, but we continued to drive towards Pad A, and we just kept on going, right up to the base of the pad incline, where Perimeter Road breaks off from the Crawlerway to run around the pad in a octagonal-shaped pattern. I figured this would be it, so I tried to use as long a lens as I could, but it's still 1-1/2 miles to the pad from there. We were allowed to get off and take photos. The bus stopped near the Crawler-Transporter parking location along the Crawlerway, midway between the VAB and Pad A. Everyone, of course, was there for the same reason. Once on -board our bus, the excitement was tangible. Our group ended up at the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex on Thursday, April 9, 1981, and we pushed to get one of the last KSC Tours running that day in hopes of seeing Columbia on the pad. My hope was to have pictures from our launch trip to work with. The roll out was covered by all the major news magazines, and I finally had some better visual data to re-make the model with, but not enough to make it worthwhile to start now. In December of 1980, STS-1 rolled-out to the launch pad to begin preparations for an on-pad Flight Readiness Firing of its three Shuttle Main Engines, and then final preparation for powered flight. All I knew is that that basic model looked pretty good.Īlong the way, our club back then, the Illinois Valley Aerospace Club, decided it was going to raise money and take its members to the first Space Shuttle launch, which was supposed to be in 1979, but that became 1980, which became 1981. Space & Rocket Center in Alabama.Įnterprise had not yet gone to KSC to conduct the Facility Verification Test, which would not occur until mid-1979, so the "actual" look of the Shuttle support structures was not available yet. I was driven by pictures taken on our recent vacation trip of the Shuttle launch pad construction at LC 39A in Florida, along withe pictures of a pad display model seen at the U.S. In 1981, a total of 135 launches were carried out from the successful launch of Unit 1 Colombia for the first launch to the retirement in 2011, including various experiments in the installed space lab (space laboratory), multipurpose replenishment He contributed to space development by performing various missions such as construction of the International Space Station (ISS) using modules, emission of space telescope and satellites, etc.This is a model which began back in 1977, as an attempt to create a basic "model rocketry" oriented display stand for my 1/162 Estes flying Space Shuttle model. Marta Kolinsky Brushes by Abteilung 502Īs a transportation agency connecting the Earth and the universe, the space shuttle which the American NASA (Aerospace Authority) started development in 1972.Abteilung 502 Dense Acrylic Paint Tube Sets.Metallic Dark Blue Label 3rd Generation.Free shipping on qualified orders over $60.00 Menu
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