Warbird Information Exchange

no victory roll???

Any idea who was at the controls on that landing? I have always admired the shuttle drivers. That has to be one of the most challenging feats in aviation. No room for error on those approaches

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Jeff

Frederick W. “Rick” Sturckow (Colonel, USMC)

Sturckow was commissioned in December, 1984. An Honor Graduate of The Basic School, he earned his wings in April, 1987. Following initial F/A-18 training at VFA-125, he reported to VMFA-333, MCAS Beaufort, South Carolina. While assigned to VMFA-333 he made an overseas deployment to Japan, Korea, and the Philipines and was then selected to attend the Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN) in March, 1990. In August of 1990 he deployed to Sheik Isa Air Base, Bahrain for a period of eight months. Sturckow flew a total of forty-one combat missions during Operation Desert Storm. In January, 1992 he attended the United States Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB, California. In 1993 he reported to the Naval Air Warfare Center- Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland for duty as the F/A-18 E/F Project Pilot. Sturckow also flew a wide variety of projects and classified programs as an F/A-18 test pilot.

He has logged over 4,790 flight hours and has flown over 50 different aircraft.

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"Everyone wants to live here (New Jersey), evidenced by the fact that it has the highest population per capita in the U.S..."

I'm not certain but I think Mr. Gleason may be referring to the space station and not the orbiter program with that comment above. I guess he will have to clarify for certain himself.

Correct,Sir..no problem re: orbiter program. the space station is a money pit. If they indeed cure something that has taken the lives of many close to me, you have my heartfelt apologies.......somehow I am not holding my breath on this issue.

how did we ever get by without the ribbed swimsuit and the improved golfball?

Are there bits of the Challenger and Columbia in any museums yet?

I have a piece of the Columbia in my game room. It is NOT a piece of it from the last mission. I got it from NASA a few years ago.

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Director

No.

Challenger is stored / sealed in an abandoned missle silo semi-permanently. It is neatly stored so that if access were ever necessary, people would not find an enormous mess.

Columbia is neatly preserved in a room high up in the vehicle assembly Building at Kennedy. Access is restricted. There is some debate about putting select pieces in a museum in the future...maybe. Stay tuned.

From Collectspace.com:

To display or not to display: NASA will decide soon whether museums should be allowed to display Columbia debris, the Associated Press reports. Several cities have written asking for pieces for their own memorials, and curators at the National Air and Space Museum have been holding informal discussions. NASA has already decided that researchers will have access to the debris for study. Unlike the Challenger wreckage, which was interred in two silos at Cape Canaveral, the 84,000 pieces of Columbia recovered will be stored in an air conditioned, 10,000 square foot room on the 16th floor of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at Kennedy Space Center.

Apollo 1 is in storage at Langley AFB under lock and key. There was talk of putting it on display a few years ago but NASA killed that idea pretty quick.

From Collectspace.com:

NASA moves Apollo 1: NASA moved the Apollo 1 command module and its related materials on Saturday approximately 90 ft. from the Langley Research Center secure storage container where it sat for 40 years to a newer, environmentally-controlled warehouse. NASA determined that due to its age the container could not be maintained. The command module, damaged in the 1967 Apollo 1 fire, its heat shield, boost protective cover, and the 81 cartons of hardware and investigative data occupy 3300 cubic feet. In 1990, plans were announced and then cancelled to store the capsule in the Cape Canaveral, FL abandoned missile silo where shuttle Challenger debris is interred. The capsule remains restricted to public viewing.

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"Everyone wants to live here (New Jersey), evidenced by the fact that it has the highest population per capita in the U.S..."

I think that it would be fine to display the capsule as long as it is in a way that honors the men. As for the Challenger and Columbia pieces, I am not sure how that would go. Is the capsule in one piece? I know it was taken apart for the investigation.

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Director

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"Everyone wants to live here (New Jersey), evidenced by the fact that it has the highest population per capita in the U.S..."

Wow! I got a very odd feeling when I saw the capsule.

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Director

I think (could be wrong) Gus Grissom's wife wanted it displayed in the Astronaut Hall of Fame a few years back but NASA refused to release it for public display. Theres a debate about it every now and then. Who knows what will happen with the passing of enough time...

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"Everyone wants to live here (New Jersey), evidenced by the fact that it has the highest population per capita in the U.S..."

It could be (if presented right) a monument in a museum to all of the brave people that risk their lives for the good of space exploration.

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Director

Jeez, it's just a machine.

It would me MUCH, MUCH better to have these things on deisplay as a memorial, rather than boxed up in a storage complex somewhere.

How does that honor the lost astronauts??

I think the (unsaid) bottom line is that NASA doesn't want it's mistakes on public display even if the families are ok with it...

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"Everyone wants to live here (New Jersey), evidenced by the fact that it has the highest population per capita in the U.S..."