STS – 1 (Columbia) Edwards AFB, California, April 14, 1981 ©1981 My assistant and I arrived at Edwards ABF the night before the first scheduled landing of Columbia (STS-1) , America’s first Space Shuttle. This was a commercial assignment for several NASA vendors. The back of our rented station wagon was stocked with Motorized F3’s some long Nikon glass, Kodachrome and enough Jack Daniels and cold beer to make a number of folks very happy. Driving up to the Guard Post we presented our Credentials to the MP. He smiled and welcomed us to Edwards. He then told us that once we passed the checkpoint, we were there until the Shuttle was on the ground. If we tried to leave the Base for any reason, we would be shot. Did we have any questions?It was so dark in the desert that nothing was visible but the road ahead. We had to nix the AC, as a cloud of fine desert sand was making its way through the filters. We finally found the landing strip, marked by an endless row of telephones installed on the desert floor. It was black in all directions, save the stars above and the telephones in our headlights. We decided to follow the string of phones in the hope of finding life at some point in the wiring. Finally a high tech telephone trailer appeared and we pulled up to the door. We needed to know where to set up, the direction of the Shuttle’s approach and where the Sun would come up. My trusty assistant grabbed a bottle of Jack and entered the Communications Trailer. On his return, he reported that we were close to the best spot. The communications guys suggested that we set up about 30 feet left of their digs. Dan Rather would be 15 feet to our left. Flashlights in hand we dug out our sleeping stuff. I slept on the desert floor; my trusty assistant slept in the back of the hot station wagon. scorpions and snakes.I was up with the Sun and awoke to hundreds of people to my left and right. The “Media Circus” was up and running. The Phone Co. guys pointed us to a great spot. Ol’ Dan was to our left, HMI Lights and air conditioners blasting away at the center of a small platform. He had a former Astronaut as his “Color Man”.We were told we had about an hour before STS-1 would show to the right. There would be one or more “Escort Planes”. We set up fast 600mm Nikkors with F3 motors. The Nikons were set at 5 FPS. From the time the STS-1 was first visible, until the shuttle was on the ground; we each shot less than 30 frames of K-64. Columbia came in at about 300 MPH.It was over. We packed up the gear. My assistant crawled back in the wagon and went back to sleep. I grabbed a Nikon and a few lenses and walked off across the desert landing strip. The Press was gathered in the distance. The job was done and now I could make my pictures. I walked off toward the parked STS-1. The heat from the desert was now beginning to cause heat waves in the distance. I used a F3 and a 180mm for the STS-1 photo. |