On occasion I get to pretend I'm a journalist. This usually involves Diane sponsoring me for a coveted media pass to gain entry into various neat military and/or industry shows and events, but the quid pro quo is I need to produce an article on that gig for her to use in the next issue.
When I first started doing articles for her this wasn't a big deal. In fact it was quite helpful as if gave me something to write about for a month that didn't involve as much research as is required by some of the more historical pieces that I do.
But since she gave me my own column earlier this year, called "Retrospectives" for those who are curious, I've come to view those journalistic pieces as supplemental to my primary responsibility, which is, of course, providing a good story for my column.
I'm sure some would say, "Just like a writer; give him his own space and it goes to right to his head." While that may be true, I prefer to think of it as pride of ownership. It's my space with my name attached to it: I will do the best I can to write something worthy to fill it.
Whatever the reason, the result is there are some months where I will write two or even three articles for the same issue - and all on my own time. Yes, I know it's nuts, but that's the way it is. So if I don't respond to emails or Facebook queries right away, you'll know why: I'm burning the midnight oil on deadline.
But if I didn't do that, I would not get to be a part of this! And that makes it all worthwhile.
This article was originally published in the Northrop Grumman Engineering Department's in-house, on-line magazine Airspace, Vol.3, No. 22, September 2012. It is re-posted here with permission and has approved for public release case number 12-1831.
For added interest I got included in a couple of the L.A. Times team's 360 degree panoramic photo spreads. While it's a bit like "Where's Waldo," I am in the crowd scene in the bleachers and in the 747 SCA interior shots. The link is here:
Endeavour’s Homecoming Launches Statewide Shuttle-bration
By Tony Chong
The eagerly anticipated arrival of the Space Shuttle
Endeavour aboard its 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft to the Los Angeles
International Airport was finally accomplished on Friday, September 21, 2012.
Named after Captain James Cook’s “voyage of discovery”
vessel HMS Endeavour, Orbital Vehicle 105 Endeavour was built from structural
spares after the loss of OV-099 Challenger in 1986. Endeavour’s first mission
was STS-49, launched on May 7, 1992. She flew 25 missions in space with the
last, STS-134, occurring in May 2011.
The youngest shuttle in the fleet was also the only one
named as the result a national contest among elementary and secondary school
students. This heritage of involving and exciting children in the space program
and especially in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) will now be
the major focus of the decommissioned orbiter.
The California Science Center was a dark-horse winner in the
fierce competition to get a shuttle. But the CSC’s bid was bolstered by solid goals
and widespread community and political support. Added to the equation was that
Endeavour would be the only orbiter displayed west of the Mississippi. When considering
that the fleet was also built in Southern California, the win seems less
surprising than at first glance. The stage was set for Endeavour to come home.
Originally planned as a direct flight from Edwards Air Force
Base, where the 747 SCA and Endeavour were to spend the night before final
delivery, NASA was convinced during consultations with the museum to do a grand
tour of California, overflying famous landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge,
Shuttle-significant sites like Palmdale, where the vehicles were built, and
NASA facilities such as the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. The hope was
the tour would generate interest in the Shuttle and its new home in the
Exposition Park museum complex in Los Angeles. The result was nothing less than
spectacular.
Starting in the morning, the route took the Shuttle from
Edwards and Dryden up to Sacramento, then on to San Francisco’s famous Golden
Gate Bridge. After a pass over Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, the
flight plan took them over Monterey Bay, Vandenberg AFB and down the coast past
Malibu.
Turning inland the shuttle passed over Santa Monica pier and
began its Southern California tour, passing over many famous landmarks such as the
Griffith Park Observatory and Disneyland, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
Space-X in Hawthorne (the old Northrop site where 747 fuselages are still being
built) and the Queen Mary.
The response was staggering. One 747 crewmember confided
that he had never seen so many people at the Griffith Park Observatory. Spectators
jammed the sites along the route and many workers in the tall downtown
skyscrapers pressed their faces against the windows to see the Endeavour from
what must have seemed like a level viewing location.
The 747 made one early pass over the north runways at LAX at
the start of the L.A. tour. At the end it made one low and majestic pass over
the south runway and VIP viewing stand at the United Airlines maintenance
hangar before landing in triumph. To the stirring strains of Aaron Copeland’s Fanfare
for the Common Man, the 747 carrying Endeavour rolled to a stop, an
American flag proudly flying from an open hatch over the cockpit.
The official welcoming ceremonies were emceed by Nichelle
Nichols, best known as Lt. Uhura on the original Star Trek t.v. show and subsequent
movies. Nichols spent many years as a NASA spokesperson encouraging and
recruiting female and minority candidates to apply to be astronauts. The
late-Dr. Sally Ride was one of Nichols’ many successful recruits. Mae Jemison,
the first female African-American astronaut – who made her inaugural flight on
Endeavour – cited Nichols’ portrayal of Lt. Uhura as her inspiration to become
an astronaut.
Several current and former astronauts, all past Endeavour
crewmembers, were in attendance, but did not speak. Actress June Lockhart –
famous for her role in t.v.’s Lost in Space, among others, was
also in attendance in support of the Endeavour welcoming, but she did not speak
either. Like Nichols, Lockhart helped recruit female and minority astronauts
for NASA.
Jeffrey Rudolph, the CSC president and CEO, spoke first,
outlining the museum’s plans for showcasing Endeavour in phases: first as a
temporary exhibit opening October 30 of this year in the Samuel Oschin
Pavilion. In five years the new Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center will open
with Endeavour displayed as a towering exhibit with real Solid Rocket Boosters
and faux External Tank in the launch configuration. The Center will feature
immersive experiences and hands-on exhibits designed to excite children in
space and STEMs.
Lynda Oschin, Samuel Oschin’s widow and head of the
foundation in his name, spoke next and detailed her conversion to the Shuttle’s
coming. Invited to the official hand-over ceremony shortly after the award to
CSC, she saw how excited the school kids at the event became when the
astronauts appeared.
“The kids just went crazy,” she recounted later. “And I'm
watching those children and thinking — I'm watching the next child who is going
into space … because they are going to see the shuttle, they're going to be
inspired by what they see … and they are going to do something in math and
science and engineering, the areas that my husband loved."
The result was a “transformational” gift to the CSC that
would allow an energetic start to the Air and Space Center named after her
husband. She then told the audience that a photo of her husband flew in
Endeavour on its trip from Kennedy Space Center to LAX.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villariagosa spoke next, followed
by Inglewood mayor James Butts. Both expressed great satisfaction in seeing
Endeavour come home, but both also addressed the issues many residents
expressed about the cutting down of trees to make way for Endeavour’s 12 mile
crawl through the streets of Inglewood and Los Angeles to the CSC site. The
trees will be replanted 2 for 1 by the CSC, and many “trash” trees in Inglewood
will be replaced by more desired species.
In the midst of the series of speakers, the sea breeze began
to pick up. At one point Nichols’ note blew off the podium and onto the stage.
Scrambling to recover her notes and find her place, she began to speak again
only to have her voice drowned out by a Korean Air Lines 747-400 taking off
from the runway behind her. Looking at the audience Nichols shrugged and
launched into an acapella rendition
of the famous choral part from the Star Trek theme music. Even though
she could be barely heard, the crowd went wild.
Lori Garver, Deputy NASA Administrator and one of Nichols’
recruits, presided over the Endeavour flag exchange between NASA and the CSC.
With a stage full of current and former astronauts and 747 SCA crew, the
handover was complete.
The audience was then free to board the 747 SCA and to have
their pictures taken in front of the two vehicles. It was indeed a memorable
event.
The results of the California grand tour could not have been
better. The excitement generated by the Shuttle produced a festive atmosphere
that was emotional and communal. It brought the region together like no other
happy event in recent memory. The amount of postings on Face Book pages, blogs
and emails from non-aviation enthusiasts certainly made this one of the most
photographed moments in Los Angeles history as well. Even the police were seen
taking lots of personal pictures.
But the bottom-line question is will the enthusiasm last in
the long term? If it does, this could prove to be a watershed moment in the
effort to interest kids in STEMs and aerospace. The long-term health of the
industry and the country’s future certainly depend upon it. As such, the best
parting wish should be for Endeavour’s new mission to be a complete success.
Welcome home, Endeavour; the future begins now.
References
For more on the California Science Center and the
forthcoming Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center, check these links: http://www.californiasciencecenter.org/Exhibits/AirAndSpace/endeavour/endeavour.php;
http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-092412a.html;
A synopsis of Shuttle history can be found here: http://history.nasa.gov/shuttlehistory.html
Tony Chong is a
historian, photographer and a contributing editor to Airspace. He leads
activities in the Aerospace Systems Display Model Shop and works in El Segundo.
Photo Captions
1. The United Airlines
maintenance hangar at LAX was loaned to the CSC for the Endeavour homecoming
ceremony. Note the welcome home banner under the United banner and the t.v.
monitor tracking Endeavour’s progress. Photo
credit: Tony Chong
2. One of United’s
Boeing 737-900 extended range airliners was occupying the spot where the
Shuttle would go after the de-mate process. The company used the opportunity to
have the guests tour the interior of the aircraft before the ceremony. It was
due to go back into service before the night was over. Photo credit: Tony Chong
3. Two large cranes
were brought in to facility the de-mate process. The yellow structure is the
support brace that attaches to the Shuttle. Note the taller section, which is
the aft end of the brace. The procedure dictates that the Shuttle be nose on to
the wind, thus the alignment as shown. Photo
credit: Tony Chong
4. A close up of the brace support. Photo credit: Tony Chong
5. Endeavour will be
placed on this large trailer for transport to the CSC site in Exposition Park.
Speed will be about 2 mph. The tires have independent articulation to allow
extremely precise maneuvering around corners and tight spots. Photo credit: Tony Chong
6.The crowd begins to
fill in the seats and bleachers as the Endeavour starts its southland tour. A
Jumbotron screen tuned to live network coverage kept the audience apprised of
the Shuttle’s whereabouts, with great shots from the ground and air. Photo credit: Tony Chong
7. As seen by this
image, the low pass down the south runways was indeed low. At this stage of the
tour the 747 SCA was accompanied by two F/A-18A chase aircraft. Photo credit: Tony Chong
8. The first really
good live view of the Endeavour and 747 SCA that the crowd got was indeed
impressive. Several in the VIP audience began to whoop and cheer. Note the two
outsized endplate fins attached to the tips of the horizontal tails, giving the
SCA its distinctive appearance. The plates are used to add more lateral
stability when carrying the Shuttle. Photo
credit: Tony Chong
9. The 747 SCA turns
off the runway and onto a crossing taxiway, giving the audience a nice head-on
view of the stack. While difficult to see, the rise behind the vehicles is
loaded with people and cameras. Note the American flag and flight engineer
popping out of the hatch above the cockpit. Photo credit: Tony Chong
10. Turning on the
crossways taxiway afforded the only opportunity for a sun-side shot of the
Endeavour. For most of the day shooting was into the sun. The aircraft light up
beautifully from this angle. Note the large faired travel cone in the back of
Endeavour. That will be available to any museum that wants it after this
flight. Photo credit: Tony Chong
11. A close up of the
cockpits of both vehicles. Note the mission markings on the 747 fuselage.
According to CSC officials the Endeavour will not be washed or prettied up.
They want to present the vehicle as she was after her last flight. Photo credit: Tony Chong
12. The 747 SCA
prepares to stop in front of the crowd. In actuality the vehicle will come to a
halt with the nose obscured by the Jumbotron. This is the last clean shot from
this vantage point. Photo credit: Tony Chong
13. The flag hand-over
ceremony had all the attending astronauts and SCA crew members on stage. The
three people in the front row are, from left to right, Nichelle Nichols, event
emcee and actress, Lori Garver, NASA Deputy Administrator, and Jeffrey Rudolph,
CSC President and CEO. Photo credit:
Tony Chong
14. A close up of the
mission markings on the side of the 747 SCA. The markings are on both sides of
the aircraft. The markings in front of the hatch, not seen in this shot, are
the SCA crew names. The final disposition of the two SCA aircraft is still
evolving. N911NA is currently at NASA’s Palmdale facility and is scheduled to
be utilized as spare parts for SOFIA. Eventually it is supposed to go to
Edwards AFB as a display with the NB-52B at North Gate. This aircraft, N905NA,
is rumored to be used for carrying future projects. Note the Boeing Phantom Ray
mark on the left. Photo credit: Tony
Chong
15. The interior of a
747-100 from the aft pressure bulkhead looking forward is quite spacious when
the interior is stripped out. Heritage Northrop built over 1000 747 fuselages
in Hawthorne before the commercial aerostructures side was sold to the Carlyle
Group in 2000. This is what all those fuselage segments look like when
assembled. Photo credit: Tony Chong
16. A radio-controlled
model of the 747 SCA with Shuttle was on display inside the aircraft. The model
was used to test the flight characteristics of both vehicles during separation
prior to trying it out on the real thing. Note the propeller on the inside
engine nacelle. Photo credit: Tony Chong
17. The number of tiles
on the underside of a Space Shuttle is impressive. Also quite noticeable is the
scarring and damage from the last reentry, as is the extensive weathering from
operational use. Photo credit: Tony
Chong
18. A tighter close up
of the nose reveals more tile details. Each tile is individually marked with
its own serial number and placement code. The Shuttles proved to be very
maintenance heavy. Note the discoloration on the nose cap, explained to the
author as due to the weathering from the airstream during the transit from
Kennedy Space Center to LAX. Photo
credit: Tony Chong
Approved for Public Release: Northrop
Grumman Case 12-1831, 10/22/12
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