At right, Columbia arrives at its destination. Tom McMurtry, Vic Horton, Fitz Fulton and Ray Young. NASA Photo STS-1 ends with a landing at Dryden. NASA Photo Children had an opportunity to see Space Shuttle Columbia up close as it slowly moved from Air Force Plant 42 Rockwell International, today The Boeing Company, to Dryden. NASA Photo Dryden-based purge and coolant vehicles meet Columbia following its first mission.
Dryden today assists with some landings of the Space Shuttles.
NASA Photo Dryden Shuttle Manager Joe D'Agostino talks with Air Force Gen. Jack Wadkins. A hazardous material crew goes to work. NASA Photo Crowds lined the streets to watch the Space Shuttle Columbia as it was transported to Dryden March 8, 1979. Few may know, however, that Dryden was the staging area for Space Shuttle Columbia's trip to Florida prior to its first space voyage. People everywhere were glued to the TV set, watching in wonderment as Columbia, the world's first reusable spacecraft, headed off into space.