STS-1

While digging up my Halley's Comet photographs, I came across some even older images. From April 1981.

STS-1. The first launch of the Space Shuttle.

I was a student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and a friend and fellow student, Scott Parks, had been an intern at NASA the previous summer. And he knew George Low, who was the president of the college and had run the Apollo program for NASA.

And thus, Scott, myself, and Jim Hill, one of my roommates, found ourselves on an air conditioned bus, heading toward the VIP viewing section. (Not the VVIP section, where the famous people were. But good enough for us.)

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We drove down from Troy, NY to Jim's grandparent's place in Florida near the space center, straight through, no stops. And it wasn't until the Carolina's that we learned that Jim didn't have a drivers license (Scott got the VIP passes, I had a car, and Jim had a place for us to stay). We were skipping school and not having a third driver was problematic. Especially for the trip home.

The shot above was from two days prior to the actual launch, as the launch was delayed. Computer issues if I recall correctly. This too was problematic as we had to get back to school for a test (we were all physics majors and had the same test for the same class). We were getting worried that we would have to leave before the launch, and that our trip would be for naught.

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We rode that bus out to the viewing site three times. And as they say, third time is the charm.

Ignition (bigafy to see the flames under Columbia).

Liftoff (no need to bigafy to see the flames now).

Thanks to the notch cut in the trees we could see the launch from the start. And shortly thereafter we heard it. It was loud. Very loud.

But we expected that.

What we didn't expect was that we FELT it. A rumbling that shook ones being. Quite awesome.

And then there was the cheering as the Shuttle program was finally off the ground. 

And while the Shuttle program would not live up to the promise, and suffer multiple tragedies, that was in the future.

Today was for celebration.

And celebrate we did as we watched as Columbia had near flawless liftoff into orbit.

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We made it back in time for our exam, Scott and I alternating driving duties and trying to sleep as we drove through the night. I do not remember how I did (driving, sleeping, or on the test). But as I graduated with a BS in Physics I must have done ok. And I got to see the first shuttle launch.

I had always hoped to get back for another launch, but that is yet to be (and, of course, would be for something other than a shuttle). I did make it back to Kennedy Space Center, and to the Space Shuttle exhibit. It was a fun visit. But not the same.

I'm still hoping that someday I'll experience that rumbling again.