Space Shuttle Challenger

[tiktaalik]

For the longest time I loved this shot. Then I scanned it in and found numerous flaws when I really looked at it.

Oh well.

This was taken in the early 1980s (obviously not a new photo) at the landing of the Columbia after its fourth and final test flight. There was a big event at Edwards Air Force Base with the Enterprise mockup, the Challenger on display, and a speech from Ronald Reagan.

Had to clean up a lot of damage in PS. The negative had a weird color cast in one corner and lots of dust and scratches. It's also shocking how much grain there was and I think I truly appreciate now just how spoiled we are with low-noise digital cameras.

http://www.pbase.com/image/82972707/large.jpg

Taken with a Minolta SRT101 (I probably used that camera for over 20 years and only put it away when the mercury batteries it used were no longer available) and a Tamron 35-210mm lens. I used to think that lens was the best thing ever...

I feel so old.

[rabbs]

I like it, and can live with it's flaws. Just think of the 80's as the good old days and at least we got to live through them.

[kaitanium]

beautiful nevertheless, thanks for sharing!

[PhotosGuy]

That's a nice shot, & a good conversion.

[Desertraptor]

Great shot of a long lost friend. I still miss seeing her rocket skywards. I think Challenger was my favorite for some reason I cant quite pin down.

I was at Kennedy last March hoping to see a launch but it was cancelled due to the hail damage. I hope to see a launch before they retire them off.

Thanks for taking the time to scan that shot. I'd certainly treasure it if it was one of mine.

[2005GLI]

cool shot. I still remember when i was in kindergarten in NYC and our playground was atop of columbia university medical center. A similar seen flew south over the hudson river.

[EOSAddict]

I remember our teacher bringing a TV into the classroom to watch Columbia in '81... a TV in the classroom - wow! :)

Nice shot... seems a long way away now!

[BSBXTi]

Great shot! Its so neat to see pics from the past come up :D

[RCoulter]

Awesome photo and conversion!

[Dusty]

That's awesome, thanks for sharing it !

[bandit69]

I was there that day, but no camera. A buddy and I drove up the night before from San Diego with some beer and pop tarts in the car. The next morning the folks with the RV's were cooking bacon and eggs, suddenly the pop tarts weren't looking so good. I thought it was summer (around July) but my memory may be fading. I remember the traffic jam from the main viewing area was hours long, then all of the sudden the Challenger on the back of NASA's 747 does a flyby over the crowd.

[Click-it]

That would have been awesome to see.

[tiktaalik]

I believe it was July. I stayed over night in a camper with my folks (and yes, the bacon was wonderful :D )

I was in the Army viewing area which had one a great view.

Thanks for the comments everyone. I'm back to totally treasuring this photo.