By Ben Evans, on August 13th, 2017
Enterprise’s flights, 40 years ago, laid the groundwork for the Free Flights and eventually the maiden Space Shuttle mission. Photo Credit: NASA
They gathered in their thousands—65,000, in fact—at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., in the cool, pre-dawn hours of Friday, 12 August 1977, to witness America’s first Space Shuttle take flight and […]
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By Ben Evans, on June 11th, 2017
Enterprise’s Captive-Active flights, which began 40 years ago, this month, laid the groundwork for the Free Flights and eventually the maiden Space Shuttle mission. Photo Credit: NASA
The Approach and Landing Test (ALT) series of the Space Shuttle, which began 40 years ago, in the summer of 1977, were “just that”, in the […]
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By Ben Evans, on June 10th, 2017
Flying Enterprise for her test flights were (from left) Gordon Fullerton, Fred Haise, Joe Engle and Dick Truly. Photo Credit: NASA
Four decades ago, this summer, a shuttle (though not a “space” shuttle) took to the skies above Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., to show the world what she could do. Outwardly, Orbiter […]
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By Ben Evans, on October 2nd, 2016
Boasting the aerodynamic tail cone for four of the independent flights, Enterprise demonstrated the capabilities of the space shuttle in the low atmosphere. Photo Credit: NASA
Forty years ago, this fall, the first member of NASA’s space shuttle fleet was structurally complete and well on the way toward her first mission. Yet unlike […]
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By Ben Evans, on October 1st, 2016
NASA’s Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) is pictured here with Shuttle Enterprise during the first of the shuttle program’s Approach and Landing Tests (ALT) at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., in summer 1977. Photo Credit: NASA
When we think of the space shuttle, we think of the five spaceworthy orbiter vehicles—Columbia, Challenger, […]
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By Emily Carney, on November 5th, 2014 A view of Space View Park’s shuttle monument, which was dedicated this past weekend. This monument pays tribute to the thousands of workers and engineers who made the shuttle program a success, despite adversity. Photo Credit: Space View Park website (http://www.nbbd.com/godo/spaceviewpark/)
This past Saturday morning, on Nov. 1, various space luminaries, shuttle astronauts, […]
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By Emily Carney, on May 5th, 2014 Bold They Rise, by authors David Hitt and Heather R. Smith, captures the excitement of the early space shuttle days, including highlights from this 1984 mission, STS-41D. Photo Credit: NASA
Heywood Floyd: …What? What’s going to happen? Dave Bowman: Something wonderful. — 2010: The Year We Make Contact, 1984
It would […]
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By Jason Rhian, on September 5th, 2013 On Sept. 5, 2013, Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo was released from its carrier aircraft and proceeded to conduct its second supersonic flight. Photo Credit: Mars Scientific / Clay Center Observatory
At 8 a.m. PDT, over the deserts of Mojave, Calif., Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo (SS2), ferried aloft by the WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) carrier aircraft, was released, […]
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By Ben Evans, on August 22nd, 2013 Space shuttle astronaut Gordon Fullerton has passed away. Photo Credit: NASA
Yesterday’s passing of Gordon Fullerton, aged 76, was not unexpected, for he had suffered a debilitating stroke three years ago and his health had been particularly fragile in recent weeks. However, the loss of a man who had literally made aviation his […]
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By Emily Carney, on August 21st, 2013 Space shuttle astronaut Gordon Fullerton has passed away. Photo Credit: NASA
Astronaut Charles Gordon Fullerton passed away today, Wednesday, Aug. 21, at age 76. Colonel Fullerton was known for his career pioneering the space shuttle as one of its first test pilots, as well as his later career as a research pilot.
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