If there’s an avgeek, outer space lover, or avid reader in your life and you can’t decide what to get them as a holiday gift, consider purchasing this new book by photographer Ted Hueter. In “Waiting for Spaceships: Scenes from a Desert Community in Love with the Space Shuttle,” Hutter documents the thousands of people who would gather to welcome the space shuttles upon their return to Earth.
For 30 years – from April 12, 1982, to July 21, 2011 – five orbiters flew into space for NASA’s Space Transportation System, or Space Shuttle, program. These orbiters were Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantic and Endeavour. (The sixth spacecraft, Enterprise, was a test vehicle that did not go to space.)
NASA proudly notes that the space shuttles flew 135 missions. Not only did they launch people into orbit repeatedly, but they also “launched, recovered and repaired satellites, conducted cutting-edge research, and built the largest structure in space, the International Space Station.”
While all space shuttle missions took off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, more than 50 of them landed in the Mojave Desert at Edwards Air Force Base in California, about 100 miles from Los Angeles.
“Some visitors came because they helped build the shuttle,” Hutter wrote. He said that while many spectators came from Greater Los Angeles, “adventurous retirees from across the country made the trek from Florida to California in recreational vehicles, trips ending with shuttle launches and landings.”
He said: “The only obstacle was that they had to watch (the landing) from a harsh part of the desert about three miles from the runway.”
To accommodate enthusiastic and dedicated spectators, the Air Force will open an authorized viewing site the day before each scheduled shuttle landing where people can set up camp.
At that remote site, the military directed traffic and supplied potable water tanks, portable sanitation facilities, generators, streetlights, a first aid station and a command post, Hutter said. He further stated that they “generally keep a low profile and friendly appearance.”
Hutter was working in LA and traveled to the desert to camp with shuttle fans for eight space shuttle landings during the 1980s. He began on STS-4, the fourth mission for Space Shuttle Columbia, which landed at Edwards Air Force Base on July 4, 1982. STS-4 was the fourth Shuttle mission overall and the final test flight before the program was officially announced. operations.
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“I was there as a fan, like most people at the public landing site, to experience some space flight history,” Hutter said, “rather than watching it in person on TV.”
For each shuttle landing adventure, Hutter packed his camera gear along with his camping gear. The photographs he took during those trips not only record a unique slice of the space age, but also show the place to see and the people who are drawn to it year after year.
“I immediately fell in love with the photogenic atmosphere of the site and the people there,” Hutter said. He explained that every time he returned to the site, his first inspiration was as a space expert and second as a photographer.
That pair got along well. From 1982 to 1989, Hutter documented what he described as the site’s “quiet beauty, quirky charm and immaculate display of Americana” during eight shuttle landing attempts.
His images, taken with film in the era before digital cameras, show a diverse array of RVs and tents, as well as a landing runway; food and souvenir vendors; And a diverse group of people are waiting, mingling, enjoying and welcoming the shuttle home. Their selected shots are arranged to create a composite of 24 hours at the campsite, from the arrival of the first campers to the shuttle’s touchdown.
“Waiting for the Space Shuttle: Views of a Desert Community in Love with the Space Shuttle” includes a foreword by pilot and veteran NASA astronaut Tom Jones. It is available from Amazon and other book sellers for about $25.
Do you want to see retired space shuttles? Here you can find them.
spaceship atlantis Located at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Merritt Island, Florida. The vehicle is displayed in flight with dozens of interactive exhibits about the history, technology, and impact of NASA’s Space Shuttle program.
spaceship discovery It is from the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy can be seen in the centre.
spaceship endeavor Is at the California Science Center in LA. However, it is off-view while construction on a 200,000-square-foot addition to the main building is underway.
space shuttle enterpriseNASA’s prototype orbiter is in the Intrepid Museum in New York City.
The Space Shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff on January 28, 1986. Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated while returning to Earth on February 1, 2003.
