June-September 1981:a journalist’s view of STS-1

I was told that somebody in the NASA public affairs department worked up a press release which began “The trouble-plagued and much delayed ABC building suffered another costly setback". It was a parody of several ABC reports on the Shuttle. It was rumoured that the remodeling cost something on the order of $300,000. Trailers for UPI, AP, Mutual Radio,the BBC, Western Union,European Radio Network and Voice of America are arrayed behind the network buildings. The Cable News Network has its own truck-mounted satellite transmission station. Local TV station relay vans are in abundance and personnel with mini-TV cameras scurry about while technicians unpack trucks and hook up cables.

At the NASA press centre, reporters crowd the building. NASA and contractor personnel man the long counters to deal with inquiries. More than a few of the reporters are starting to feel a little lost. Off the main area is the news release and phone room where the walls are lined with shelves holding news releases from NASA and contractors. On the floors are boxes of even more. Boeing, Martin-Marietta, Sperry,McDonnell-Douglas and the Air Force are all represented. A woman from Rockwell International is passing out plastic carrying bags to hold all of the goodies. The central table fills most of the room, its top cluttered with even more press releases, ash trays, and an occasional candy wrapper. Reporters, phone credit cards in hand, clustered around the phones dispatching stories and passing on the latest news. The place is a crossroads for the assembled press.

The press facility, next door, is for photo and TV services arranging tours and interviews. There are three tours leaving daily. A 10 am tour of the Pad 39 area and the Air Force Station: a 1 pm wildlife tour and a 2 pm orientation tour of the Spacelab complex. Amid all of this activity,perhaps the only area quiet for somebody to collect his thoughts is the press grandstand. It resembles a large grandstand one might find at a racetrack. It overlooks the barge turning basin and floating there is a mock-up of the Space Shuttle nose. Earlier that day. a recovery exercise had been run using it. When seated in the stands, the VAB is on the far left. A little left of centre is Pad 39B, its service tower in place but empty. Directly ahead is Pad 39A, the centre of this mini-universe. Only the top of the External Tank and solid rocket boosters are visible. The Orbiter itself is hidden by the changeout room. Off to the right is Titan III, Pad 41.

At 2 pm we take the bus for the pad tour and only a few of the people aboard have ever attended a launch: less than one-third. We come to the two parked crawlers. The NASA guide describes their features. One mile per hour loaded, two miles per hour empty, each tread weighs one ton, its mileage is a truly awe-inspiring 150 gallons to the mile. The bus continues until it reaches Pad 39A. The guide explains that, to fuel the Shuttle, a small amount of hydrogen in the liquid hydrogen tank is allowed to vaporise andthe pressure is enough to force the lightweight liquid into the External Tank. The tall insulated rod atop the launch tower is connected to long wires to carry away any lightning bolts that might strike the pad. The bus finally stops at the regular photo viewing area and we get out. All of the External Tank and Solid Rocket Boosters are visible. The changeout room covers the Orbiter and only the wingtip is visible. After taking pictures,the passengers start to drift back.

After the bus starts again, the guide explains that the changeout room blocks the view of the Shuttle from the press site (it was not designed from the public affairs point of view, he notes) although it does not really matter since the steam from the sound suppression system would hide it anyway. The guide also talks about the tiles (crew very confident); the cost (0.8 cent of every tax dollar) and expendable boosters (Titan 34-D for the Air Force, Deltas for NASA and the Atlas Centaur for the Air Force). We continue past Mission Control and the VAB. Parked near it are two mobile launch platforms, one modified for the Shuttle, the other left, for now, in the Apollo/Saturn IB configuration (it had been used for ASTP). The bus then goes to the Shuttle runway and we are told that one peculiarity is that the runway tends to create its own weather because of reflected sunlight.

Returning to the press centre, we drop off a few people and the second part of the tour starts. It takes us to the operations and checkout building. Here, in the long ago days of Apollo, the CSM was prepared for launch. At present, it serves the same function for Spacelab and as home for the astronauts. Young and Cnppen had flown in earlier that morning and were now on the third floor. Although we do not have to don white coats and hats to see the Spacelab Engineering Model, we do use a shoe cleaner. The three brushes feel as if they are trying to remove our shoes. With clean shoes, we are admitted to the high bay area. It is a clean room with the solemn air of such places - large, quiet and well-lit. We are first shown a pallet on its alignment railing; the McDonnell-Douglas employee explains that this area is used for experiment integration.

Climbing up a ladder, we get a close look at the Laboratory Module. The flooring and empty equipment racks are in place and on the lower front part support equipment is mounted. One cylinder is tagged “critical item". Also, there are the prospective payload specialists who answer our questions. Further back, in the bay, was the pallet outfitted for the second Shuttle mission. Much of the equipment is carefully covered with plastic; several avionics boxes are mounted to the pallet and wire bundles run everywhere. On the left side of the pallet there is a shelf with several Earth survey and resource experiments mounted on it. On the other, is the Shuttle imaging radar unit; a long flat plate on a rigid tubular mounting. The unit is similar to that flown on Seasat, only larger. The pallet is mounted on a jig unit that structurally and electronically matches the Shuttle payload bay and aft deck.

On the ride back, the guide talked about future plans, noting there is considerable pressure on the Reagan Administration to approve the development of a permanent manned space station. Also, the reporters are given an introduction to Cape wild life. The guide points to a tree that is home for a pair of bald eagles.

As the day ends, the news has improved; the weather, which once seemed threatening, is now clear, and no problems have appeared in the Shuttle.

April 9: launch draws closer

As we drive to the Cape we note more signs, carrying such messages as 'California or Bust, Go Columbia'. ‘Welcome< Space Shuttle Fans' and ‘Go, Columbia, Go’. After we park, a public address call from the VAB goes out for Guenter Wendt, the man responsible for the checkout of almost all manned spacecraft back to the days of Mercury.

At the press centre, there is a slight but noticeable increase in activity. Four reporters are here from Aviation Week & Space Technology ; photographers are starting to set up their tripods by the edge of the turning basin — a territory to be defended against all comers. An interview is underway in front of the grandstand. The countdown board reads -12:00:00 and holding (it is a preplanned hold). The count will be resumed in the afternoon and meanwhile there are no problems or major activities on the pad. Earlier that day, the astronauts had practised landing approaches while bird watchers monitored the location of soaring birds in order to warn of any potential bird strike danger.

On our 10 am drive towards the pad, we passed one of the crawlers being ‘exercised’. Like a car, they must be used occasionally to keep them in good running order and this one has just had a new set of treads fitted. The old ones had been worn out carrying the Apollo boosters. It has travelled some 400 miles on this road to the Moon. The crawler moves with a certain ponderous grace — slow and deliberate. One can see how the mobile launch platform is made mobile.

After a false start, we are able to get even closer to the Shuttle than the day before. We stop near the perimeter fence encircling the pad complex and a TV reporter films a 30 second ‘standup' with the Shuttle as a backdrop while we take pictures. The changeout room is swung back revealing that, for the first time, the entire Shuttle Orbiter and the tiles are clearly visible through binoculars. The Orbiter is a glossy white. The External Tank and Solid Rocket Boosters are a flat, perhaps creamy, white; not sleek but it has a functional beauty. Its aerodynamic shape is in contrast to the building-like launch tower. In a few hours, this area will be battered by an unimaginable violence as the Shuttle heads for space. Here, almost in its shadow, more than a few of the reporters would like to make that trip.

The second half of the tour is a visit to yesterday: to the old pads in the original part of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Our first stop is at the Air Force Space Museum. We get out at Complex 5/6 to look at the Mercury-Redstone, a tiny pencil set upon an inadequate-looking stand. The blockhouse with thick concrete walls and armoured picture windows overlooks the pad. We continue our tour of the old pads. At Complex 14, the Mercury-Atlas pad, all of the metal gantry has been removed and only the blockhouse and concrete ramp is still there. The place has an air of desolation like the sun-bleached buildings of a ghost town. The concrete is stained and worn, with a monument at the base of the ramp. Next is Pad 19, site of the Gemini launches, two of them with John Young aboard. The erection tower is on its back, now immobile; the hold-down arms are still in place above the rust-streaked flame pit. The umbilical tower has been removed. and “Abandoned in place” is stenciled on the buildings.

The Shuttle appears from behind the tall brush. Near the perimeter road, people are setting up remote cameras to photograph the liftoff. Activity at the press site is beginning to increase — more vans and people. The bus has difficulty manoeuvring through them. Outside the gates, the crowd has started to gather; motor homes crowd the water's edge at each end of the Bennett Causeway and boats sail back and forth in the Banana River. Restaurants have organised special pre-launch breakfasts at 4 am. This is the atmosphere newspaper editors seem so interested in. For many old time residents, it brings back memories of the 1960’s.

More serious questions are addressed at a press conference in front of the grandstand. Attending are Yardley,Page,Slayton and an Air Force weatherman. One reporter asked what would constitute a successful mission; one of them responds that he would be satisfied with all three landing gear intact after touchdown. Yardley says that the destruction of Columbia would put the programme back two years but would not mean its termination. Another reporter asked what the crew would be having for breakfast (steak,eggs,and pancakes). Another asked who would decide, in the event of an abort, whether the Shuttle would come down in a foreign country (the crew and mission control). Another wanted to know if the Russians would be asked to help if the Shuttle could not return (not under consideration at this time). A reporter wondered if the anti-nauseous pill to be taken at T+30 minutes was optional. (Young had never had a problem so he would not take one. Crippen, however, would because this was his first spaceflight.) A long rambling question about the meaning of it all drew smiles. An Australian reporter wanted to know if the External Tank could impact on Australia; he was assured that,even if it overshot, the inclination of launch was such that it would come down nowhere near Australia.

April 10: launch day

It is still the waning hours of April 9th when we start out for the Cape. As we drive through the darkness nothing except an occasional sign gives any indication of the monumental event happening nearby. But as we cross the Indian River we see the searchlight beams from the pad. They stand vertically like a comet, its tail extending into the sky. On the road in to Gate 2,traffic flow is normal; no stopping at all — just another rural Florida road. Then a few hundred yards from the gate, a line of trucks, vans and cars loom out of the darkness parked by the side of the road. Standing by the vehicles or sitting in lawn chairs by campfires, the spectators are gathered. At the press centre, reporters are watching a news programme on the Shuttle. In the press grandstand, the seats are starting to fill. Photographers and their tripods line the banks of the barge canal. An occasional flashlight beam shows their position. Another line is immediately in front of the grandstand. The TV monitors show different views of the Shuttle and Mission Control. Lights from the various facilities stretch across the horizon and the pad itself is caught in the glare of the spotlights. The External Tank is a brilliant white.

The countdown clock is running, measuring the time remaining until launch. We arrived at about the time fuelling had begun and the PA system gives periodic announcements as the fuel level increases. The planned hold at T-2 hours, 5 minutes comes. Shuttle Control announces that there is a minor leak in the hydrogen umbilical line — it appeared during the previous fuelling and the technicians are working on it. Just after the hold is called, it is announced that the crew was awakened an hour previous and are now being served breakfast. One reporter comments that Crippen looks good at 2 in the morning; smiling as the camera observes him eating breakfast. Young has a sombre expression.

At the grandstand, the assembled multitude mills around. Reporters there are surrounded with cameras and recorders,while others nibble on snacks. Some type their stories on complex machines ranging from simple typewriters to word processors. A few complain about the parking or releases. The TV shows the closeout crew working on the Shuttle and the PA announces that the hydrogen leak has been corrected. Applause. Next the TV shows the crew suiting up, adjusting their gloves and helmets, and Young slips his glasses into a suit pocket. There are announcements about a leak in Crippen’s helmet and the changing of a microphone but the delay lasts only a few minutes. Smiling, the two depart the astronaut quarters and enter the transfer van while the TV cameras follow their progress through the centre. Then a line of vehicles, with flashing blue or red lights, appears around the corner of the grandstand and travels by the VAB and then down the crawlerway. Data on weather, cloud cover and winds aloft are all satisfactory as are conditions at the various landing sites. As the crew reaches the pad the countdown resumes. The TV monitors show the crew in the white room. Young, then Crippen,crawls into the Columbia and voice transmissions from the crew begin to be heard as they are strapped in and the suits are tested. Finally, at just over T-1 hour, the hatch is closed. By this time, the sky is beginning to brighten and off in the distance is a bank of grey clouds. The crew and controllers are busy aligning the guidance platform, venting cabin pressure and performing other checks. For many in the grandstand,there is now little to do. The newspaper reporters have deadlines but the magazine and free-lancers can only wait. To fill the gap till air time, a TV reporter begins interviewing foreign journalists — an Arab and an Austrian radio anouncer.

The arrival of Governor Jerry Brown of California and ex-astronaut Brian O'Leary is an open invitation to the press to descend like locusts. The reporters cluster four deep around them, taking pictures and asking questions. Soon after, the crew announces an increase in oxygen content in the aft compartment and the engineering staff begins to work on the problem. For many reasons, the launch is reminiscent of the Mercury Redstone-3 flight. Like it, the Shuttle is a complete departure from previous vehicles. Another is that most of the reporters have never covered a flight. This is a new and novel experience outside their previous work in journalism since it has been,after all, almost six years since something like this has happened. It is almost like starting over again.

At the T-20 minute programmed hold, new weather for the landing site is updated. Now the grass area is covered with people and every imaginable camera, lens and tripod combination. Looking back at the grandstand, one sees a field of magnified eyes peering at the launch pad through binoculars and cameras. The PA announces during the hold that the oxygen level in the aft bay is deemed to be no problem. The Dryden Flight Research Center, even then, was getting ready to receive the vehicle. The Sun has risen above the horizon, a hot golden yellow. At the Control Center, there is a check of readiness to resume the count. When it is, the tension starts to build.

The PA announces that there is a problem in the computer comparison tests but at the T-9 minute hold it announces that the problem has been successfully rectified. Applause from the crowd. The tension starts to get to you. The PA announces that a warning light has come on,as there is a problem in the p.H. level in fuel cell 3. The hold is extended. The crowd groans. The problem is caused by excess water production and the launch team is looking into it,discussing it back and forth with the crew. Reporters work feverishly trying to update the story minute by minute. By now,the sea haze is starting to dim the image of the Shuttle through binoculars. The fuel cell problem is deemed to be acceptablebut the problem in the computer has not gone away, however. The computer program is dumped and re-programming has begun. A comparison of the two programs is underway but it does not look good. Hold capacity is running out — they can delay the launch only so long. While the crew is running through the switch sequence, the public address system clarifies the situation: the inertial platform would have to be realigned, causing a recycling of the count to T-51 minutes. The tension is increased by the fact that each statement is begun with “This is Shuttle Mission Control, an announcement follows in thirty seconds". We try to listen to the Columbia-Houston conversations but they are technical and we do not have enough data or knowledge to fully interpret them. We have little success controlling our emotions as the hold drags on and on. From the conversations, it looks as if the count will have to go back to T-51 minutes but then there is some mention about T-20. The PA announcement clarifies the situation. The count will go back to T-20 minutes in preparation for a realignment of the platform. Alignment is normally done at T-51 but it can be done in the new time frame. The clock now reads T-23 minutes. After a long time, the clock begins counting and sends a ripple through the crowd. The PA simply says that they are just running the clock back. They further explain the launch limitations: the astronauts should not spend more than six hours in their seats and 20 hours between wake up and the first sleep period. When the announcement comes that the part of the failed software in the computers has never been run before, it brings cries of surprise from the gallery. The 30 second announcement heightens the suspense. The public address system says that the fifth computer is not communicating properly with the other units and testing is underway to see if the problem is with the computer. A slip by the PA about whether to set a new launch date instead of time brings groans.

The delay will be over an hour. The reporters have to write and re-write as each new announcement is made. And then, with no announcement, we see the clock starting to run at T-51 minutes and counting. When the PA announces that the count has been resumed, a cheer goes up. The count runs to T-20 minutes for a hold to complete alignment of the ifiertial platform, estimated to take 30 minutes. Houston continues to troubleshoot the problem and the count resumes to yet another cheer. Then, at just over T-16 minutes, the problem recurs. Twice there is a 30 second warning. At T-12 minutes, the announcement that a scrub is being contemplated. At T-10, the formal announcement is given. There is, as yet, no determination if it is a software or a computer problem but it lias become too late for another attempt this day. Because of the de-tanking and purge procedure, it will be Sunday before another attempt can be made. Ironic applause greets the message. It is not yet 10:30 am, yet it seems like late afternoon. The roller coaster of events, the disappointment of the scrub and some 30 hours without sleep crush the spirit. Only the launch team and the crew seemed unperturbed. At one point that long morning an unknown voice came over the net and said “the reason they are delaying the launch is so we can get the burritos on board." The day's events are now over.

April 11

Today the consequences of the scrub must be faced. For NASA, it means finding the solution to the problem. During the night, it had been determined that it was a timing problem between the computers. For the assembled multitudes, it was necessary to change airline tickets, hotel and rent-a-car reservations. It also provided a chance to catch up on sleep. At noon the problem is solved and the count is on.

April 12

It is 12 April 1981; twenty years ago today, the age of manned spaceflight began. Major Yuri Gagarin made the first human voyage beyond the Earth and if all goes well the second space age will begin today. Once more the drive from Melbourne to the Cape. There is still no traffic. The filling of the External Tank is going smoothly. At the news centre, I meet several BIS members and we adjourn over to the news facility and watch the two big TV screens which show the launch preparations. Indoors we are away from the ever present mosquitoes. The PA announces at T-2 hours and 9 minutes the wakeup of the crew. The weather reports, which looked so threatening the night before, have now cleared - the cloud cover never materialised. As before, films of the crew eating are shown and watching two people eat breakfast this early in the morning is both amusing and a little embarrassing. They endure the invasion of privacy by a cameraman. They wear the same expressions; Young looking off into space, his face mirrored in intense concentration; Crippen smiling.

During the hold, the crew moves to the suiting room and to fill the time the public address system explains how, because of computers, the launch crew could be much smaller than for Apollo. There seems to be some indefinable difference in atmosphere. Everybody seems more confident. On the 10th,everybody seemed on edge. Perhaps this is because we are all ‘veterans’ now. We have all been through the countdown before, at least up to T-9 minutes. The TV screens next show the crew being suited up, loading stuff into their pockets. Young,wearing glasses, is putting on his helmet. The crew,now suited up, walk out to the van for the drive to the pad. I move out to the grandstand. Soon after comes the convoy of flashing blue and red lights. Aboard the Shuttle, an oxygen flow problem is quickly fixed by one of the support astronauts. As the sky starts to brighten, the closeout crew completes its tasks. They check the seal of the hatch, close it and fit the tiles. The conviction builds that this will be the day.

There is slight applause as the count goes below T-1 hour. At T-57 minutes, calibration of the aerodynamic experiment is done. The stars begin to fade, replaced by a pale blue sky and salmon-coloured clouds. At T-51 minutes, they announce that the weather is perfect for launch, and the schedule is coming up on platform alignment. A thin ground fog covers the surface of the turning basin. On the TV screens, it shows the closeout crew removing the seal between the white room and the side of the Orbiter. We wait for the weather check on the landing sites and the countdown approaches the point where the problem which ultimately scrubbed the first launch attempt appeared. As before, the butterflies start to take wing and somebody walks by with a T-shirt carrying the message “STS-1 Take 2”.

The T-20 minutes hold comes; no problems have appeared. The hold approaches its end and the point will soon be reached where Friday’s failure occurred. The PA announces that Dryden is getting ready. The launch director gives the go-ahead for the countdown to resume and there is applause as the clock again ticks away the seconds. The computer programs are being compared and then it is announced that they are all functioning properly. A bigger cheer goes up. The clock winds down to the T-9 minute planned hold; the beanie cap lifts from the External Tank and then retracts. The Control is discussing launch commit criteria and Launch Director George Page reads a message from President Reagan to the crew. The PA announces that the count will resume, the clock starts and there are even louder cheers and yells. The swing arm moves back at T-7 minutes. The crew lower their visors. The PA announces “go for APU start.” there is light applause, and the APU starts. It is unimaginable that anybody could actually get used to this! The control surface movements are checked. The vehicle is now running on internal power. There are cheers at T-2 minutes. The seconds start to slide past, heart rate increases, the stomach tightens. Louder applause at T-1 minute. At T-37 seconds,I drop the notebook onto the wet grass and start looking through the binoculars. The last seconds are rushing by.

The PA announces “10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, go for main engine start.” A red flash is visible through the tower as the main engines ignite. Then after a moment, a bigger flash as the solid boosters start and white clouds rise from either side of the pad. The sound of the main engines reaches the viewing site — a steady, even roar. The nose of the External Tank starts to move, rising from the pad. The vehicle is unveiled from behind the changeout room while the press gallery is cheering, yelling “go, go, go.” We see the left side of the vehicle as it clears the tower. The main engines exhaust is almost invisible, we see only a few semi-transparent yellow shock diamonds. The Solid Rocket Boosters’ exhaust is a brilliant yellow stream and through binoculars it hurts the eyes. The clouds surrounding the pad reflect it, acquiring a yellow cast. The Shuttle climbs much more rapidly than the Saturn 5; it seems to hurl upward as if eager for the adventure. It begins its roll and pitch programme as it heads downrange and the noise is increasing. The underside now faces us. We look up toward the External Tank and the two huge pillars of flame erupting from the boosters. It trails two white plumes and the billows grow and change shape. The sound is a loud crackling roar while the crowd still yells its approval. The PA announces each milestone; first as the Shuttle passes the safe ejection seat speed, then when it can no longer return to the launch site in the event of an abort.

It’s real; it’s flying! There are tears in the eyes of many spectators. The noise starts to fade. The vehicle is lost in its own plume as it heads downrange and the orange glow starts to disappear. The boosters separate and minutes later the External Tank is jettisoned and the first Orbital manoeuvring engine burn puts Columbia into orbit. Each event is greeted with enthusiasm. The high altitude winds start to twist and scatter the exhaust plume. Columbia has reached orbit. Words stop coming: we can only smile and shake hands, the emotions are too strong.

The press centre is crowded with more smiling people from NASA, contractors and the press. We watch a replay of the launch — the gas venting through the engines, their ignition, then the solid rocket boosters, and the Orbiter taking off. The film shows a fantastic view taken through long range cameras as the solid rocket boosters shut down and seperate, the long cylinders nosing up and peeling back. Applause greets it. At one point, somebody yells “take that, cynics.”

April 13

It is quiet at the press site now: the huge number of reporters is gone. A flock of seagulls has reclaimed the parking lot. A few people are in the press centre watching a TV transmission from Columbia , the Vice-President talking with the crew wishing them luck. The crew is floating in the spacious mid-deck area, Young in the foreground, Crippen behind. A representative of Time was in the press facility. They had set up extensive remote cameras near the pad and a guard telephoned them after launch to ask if they had set up the cameras. When they said yes the guard told them “well, we have the pieces for you.”

On our flight back to California, we noticed several people going to Edwards AFB. After landing at Los Angeles international airport we head across the mountains that surround Los Angeles into the Mojave desert to Edwards. Turning onto Rosamond Boulevard, we pass the checkpoint and then, after showing our identification at the Edwards gate, we are allowed onto the base proper. We arrived at the Dryden Flight Research Center in the early morning hours. The parking lot is full of cars and in the area near the cafeteria there is a solid mass of network trucks and relay equipment. We get directions to press site A. As the Moon sets, we struggle to get a few hours of sleep before the next day’s events. Somewhere above us a vehicle about the same size as the Boeing 727 we flew to California in prepares to make its return to Earth.

April 14

The day of the landing dawns cold, only slowly does the desert Sun drive away the chill. The VIP’s start to arrive in buses. A podium for officials and the astronauts sits at one end of the press line. A PA system carries the air-to-ground communications. The landing site is on the lake bed, its surface dried, cracked mud. When scuffed by feet or tyres, it become a fine powder,and looking across the lake bed, one sees an absolutely flat, tan expanse. It appears more alien than any surface yet found in the exploration of the Solar System.

At 8.30 am, the PA announces that there is a six mile long traffic jam waiting to get onto the base with crowd estimates running at a quarter of a million. Thus, for a short time, Edwards AFB becomes a significant population centre. A lady is handing out blank commemorative covers to be stamped and addressed at the Edwards Post Office. While waiting, I met some Rockwell employees who had worked on the Shuttle thermal protective system and they explained that the few tiles that fell off had not been densified. If they had, they would not have separated. The area is considered to be non-critical and they do not expect any problems. The strain isolation pad (the felt pad which underlies the tiles) can withstand a certain amount of heat and the area will be shielded during re-entry. Special care, they explained, was lavished on the black tiles. These densified tiles are up to four times stronger than untreated ones. To remove one of these, either the SIP pad must be carefully and slowly cut away or the tile will be destroyed. Physically pulling the tiles could actually distort the vehicle structure in certain areas before the tile would let go.

Above, the Shuttle training aircraft makes a steep approach over the press area, then zooms off. Governor Brown appears again, surrounded by a huge crowd of reporters. The PA announces that the Shuttle is beginning to manoeuvre into retro-fire position. When contact resumes at the next ground station word is received that retro-fire was successful. They would land in about 45 minutes. Aircraft continue to fly by — four T-38 chase planes, then four rescue helicopters. The time of atmospheric entry approaches. The entry trajectory is normal as the blackout starts. Young and Crippen are cut off from contact — they are absolutely alone.

It is a long, long wait for contact. A NASA car patrols back and forth to keep the people behind the white chalk line. The crowd is silent. The Sun is hot now, beating down on the thin line of photographers and press stretched across this unearthly landscape. The PA announces a power failure of a radar unit at Vandenberg AFB. The PA announces that the C band radar has contact and a cheer goes up as voice contact resumes. The Columbia has withstood the fires of re-entry. It is now travelling at something over Mach 10, dropping in speed and altitude. The range decreases as it approaches the landing and Young takes over manual control. The trajectory is perfect. The silent crowd scans the sky looking for a tiny white dot as Columbia continues its approach. Its arrival over the Mojave is announced by twin sonic booms. The PA gives speed and altitude readings. Then, through binoculars, a tiny white dot appears, almost lost in the vast blue sky. The Shuttle grows steadily larger as the moments pass. The features start to resolve and a chase plane joins it. The pair, so different in size and performance, turns toward the runway marked on the lake bed. No sound reaches the press site. The Shuttle glides smoothly as if on rails and the ground appears at the bottom of the binocular field. The Shuttle flares and the landing gear comes down. The chase plane starts to read off the altitude remaining “50, 40, ... 3, 2, 1,touchdown.” The crowd starts to cheer, the main landing gear wheels kick up a cloud of dust and the nose comes down and then touches. Columbia begins to slow and finally stops. The support trucks rush toward it as Columbia sits out on the seemingly infinite lake bed.

The Columbia is home.