The Endeavour space shuttle has been in town for the previous 24 hours or so, having stopped in at Carswell for an oil change, some more windshield wiper fluid, and, if they have any taste at all, lunch at Kincaid's.
We all went out in the street yesterday to see the shuttle fly overhead, and my friend Derek took these pictures. Do you see it? I don't either, but this one was in with the other pictures.
Here's the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: The space shuttle Endeavour landed at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth at 3:10 p.m., its second of two scheduled Texas stops on its way home to Cape Canaveral, Fla.
It marks the first time the jumbo jet transporting the shuttle has landed at the base since 1997.
A large crowd of onlookers watched the landing on the base's 12,000-foot runway from nearby Spur 341.
The Endeavour is on its way back to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It will remain at the former Carswell Air Force Base overnight and is scheduled to take off at sunrise Thursday.
The modified 747 with the shuttle riding piggyback landed at midmorning at Biggs Army Airfield at Fort Bliss, near El Paso. The aircraft left Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., this morning.
Depending on the weather along the route, the shuttle will arrive at Cape Canaveral in Florida either Thursday or Friday.
Endeavour was supposed to leave California on Sunday, but a technical delay and bad weather postponed the trip. The shuttle landed at the California backup site on Nov. 30 after storms hit its main Florida landing site. The cross-country ferry is expected to cost more than $1.8 million.
That's all from the Star-Telegram, and that's all of Derek's photos. The rest of these came from a friend of a friend who got to watch the landing at Carswell. (We usually keep Derek chained to his desk, photoshopping pictures for freight claims.)
It took off again this morning sometime around 11:00, heading north instead of south, so no more pictures. Hope you enjoyed these.
4 comments:
Why do we need to go to the moon? I don't think we can afford it and since they allowed the Challenger to blow up by ignoring calls from non-executives, I've lost respect for the program.
Nice pictures but not much love for the program.
These pictures sort of remind me of the Aerosmith album cover for Pump, if you're familiar.
I loved them. Thanks.
Earth Lover Anon,
I wish that NASA would get out of the way and let private enterprise take it over.
Slacker,
When I see the shuttle, I always think of the basic concept implied on the "Pump" CD cover. (One of their better releases in the last 20 years, BTW.)
Francis,
You're welcome. We have a great vantage point for The Blue Angels, Space Shuttles, etc out on the west side.
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