This is a slightly different version of the story we originally prepared for The Points Guy website. All images courtesy of Ted Huett
exist”Waiting for the spaceship: Scenes from a shuttle-loving desert community,” photographer Ted Huetter documented thousands of people gathering to welcome the space shuttle back to Earth.
For 30 years, from April 12, 1982, to July 21, 2011, these five orbiters flew in space for NASA’s Space Transportation System (STS), or Space Shuttle, program. (The sixth space shuttle, Enterprise, was a test vehicle that did not go into space).
As NASA proudly points out, the space shuttle flew 135 missions and not only launched people into orbit multiple times, but also “launched, recovered and repaired satellites, conducted cutting-edge research, and built the largest structures in space – International Space Station”.
While all shuttle missions departed from the 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.
And, as photographer Ted Huetter documented Waiting for the spaceship: Scenes from a shuttle-loving desert community, Thousands of people will gather to welcome the space shuttle back to Earth.
“Some of the spectators are here because they helped build the space shuttle,” while many are from the greater Los Angeles area, “adventurous retirees from all over the country who make the trek from Florida to California in recreational vehicles to build the shuttle. The launch and landing are the end of the journey,” Hueter wrote.
But he also noted that “the only obstacle is that they have to watch [the landings] from a harsh stretch of desert about three miles from the runway. “
To accommodate the enthusiastic and dedicated spectators, the day before each scheduled shuttle landing, the Air Force will open an authorized viewing site where people can camp.
At that remote site, the military directed traffic and provided drinking water tanks, portable sanitation facilities, generators, street lights, first aid stations and command posts, “but generally maintained a low-key and friendly presence,” Hueter reported.
Hueter was working in Los Angeles and spent the 1980s trekking to the desert camping with space shuttle enthusiasts, completing eight space shuttle landings, starting with STS-4, the fourth Space Shuttle Columbia mission. Landing at Edwards Air Force Base, Independence Day, July 4, 1982. STS-4 was also the fourth space shuttle mission and the last test flight before the program officially became operational.
“Like most people at the public landing site, I came as a fan to experience some spaceflight history” rather than watch it on television, Hueter said.
Hueter brought his camera gear and camping gear with him on every shuttle landing adventure. The photos he took on these trips document not only a unique slice of the Space Age, but also the places where they were viewed and the people who were drawn there year after year.
His photos, taken on film in the pre-digital camera era, show not only the landing strip but also the diversity of RVs and tents, food and souvenir vendors, and people waiting, mingling, enjoying, and, finally, Welcome shuttle home. The footage he selected is organized into a composite of twenty-four hours at the campground, from the arrival of the first campers to the shuttle landing.
Here you can see the retired space shuttle
space shuttle atlantis The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center in Merritt Island, Florida, features vehicles in flight and dozens of interactive exhibits about the history, technology and impact of NASA’s space shuttle program.
space shuttle Discover On display at the Steven Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, Virginia.
space shuttle forge ahead Located at the California Science Center in Los Angeles, California, but cannot be seen due to ongoing construction of a 200,000-square-foot expansion of the main building.
space shuttle enterpriseNASA’s prototype orbiter, located at the Intrepid Museum in New York City.
space shuttle challenger It exploded shortly after takeoff on January 28, 1986. space shuttle Colombia It disintegrated upon return to Earth on February 1, 2003.
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