Shuttle Greeting - #WitnessingHistory

The first and last time in history that 2 shuttles have been in the same (declassified) place at the same time. As you probably saw on Tuesday, Discovery made it's last flight, piggybacking on a specially modified NASA 747 from Florida to DC, making several fly-overs of national landmarks then returning to Washington-Dulles International Airport, where it was placed on permanent exhibit in the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum, replacing the prototype shuttle Enterprise (which will be transported to New York for display on the Intrepid). The photos below are from the ceremony in which the two switched places at Dulles, marking the only time in history that two shuttles have met. Senator/former astronaut John Glenn was in attendance to welcome the shuttle to it's new home.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …ontaylorphoto/7​094880967/

Jonathan Taylor wrote in post #14295378
The first and last time in history that 2 shuttles have been in the same (declassified) place at the same time.
...
The photos below are from the ceremony in which the two switched places at Dulles, marking the only time in history that two shuttles have met.

This is not accurate, I'm afraid. There have been multiple scenes with two shuttles since T&R began, plus several while the program was still active. The most recent instance was in 2008, when a shuttle occupied each launch pad (See STS-400). The most recent instance since T&R began was March 9th.

This is, however, the only time that Enterprise and Discovery have been seen together. I like #2... What a difference several dozen re-entries makes, eh?

Mike Deep wrote in post #14295652
This is not accurate, I'm afraid. There have been multiple scenes with two shuttles since T&R began, plus several while the program was still active. The most recent instance was in 2008, when a shuttle occupied each launch pad (See STS-400). The most recent instance since T&R began was March 9th.

This is, however, the only time that Enterprise and Discovery have been seen together. I like #2... What a difference several dozen re-entries makes, eh?

Thanks for the corrections - seems the folks giving the speeches made it to be something that it was not. nonetheless, it will most likely be the last time two shuttles are seen together due to the retirement of the shuttle program.

One of the NASA guys apologized for the charred appearance of the Discovery when compared to the Enterprise, and joked 'YOU try going through the atmosphere at 3000 degrees, 39 times and see if YOU don't get a little charred.'

shame theres more sky than shuttle though, IMO.

better more sky than more of the bajillion people that swarmed the tarmac, IMO

forreal though - the clouds were something epic today:

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Jonathan Taylor wrote in post #14295378
The first and last time in history that 2 shuttles have been in the same (declassified) place at the same time.

Mike Deep wrote in post #14295652
This is not accurate, I'm afraid. There have been multiple scenes with two shuttles since T&R began, plus several while the program was still active. The most recent instance was in 2008, when a shuttle occupied each launch pad (See STS-400). The most recent instance since T&R began was March 9th.

This is, however, the only time that Enterprise and Discovery have been seen together. I like #2... What a difference several dozen re-entries makes, eh?

Terrific shots Jonathan, but I have to agree with Mike.... I think in the excitement of the moment at the Udvar-Hazy Center there may have been a bit of "artistic license" in the dedication speech. There have, indeed, been many occasions when two, or even three, Orbiters have been in (practically) the same place at the same time. I guess it depends (a bit) on how you define "same place." For example, the three Orbiter Processing Facilities, and the Vehicle Assembly Building, at KSC are all located within a few hundred feet of each other, and there certainly have been many times when the "active" Orbiters where all there together. But Enterprise is special, and she has been separated from the other Orbiters for quite a while, so perhaps the speakers were trying to point out the fact that Enterprise & Discovery had never "appeared together" in the past. I sure wish I could have been there -- thank you for sharing your pictures on the forum!

Jonathan Taylor wrote in post #14295979
better more sky than more of the bajillion people that swarmed the tarmac, IMO

forreal though - the clouds were something epic today:

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Now that is a MAGNIFICENT photo!
It really emphasizes, IMO, the magnitude of this moment in time. Where we had these beautiful reusable manned spacecraft grounded when they should really still be flying. And now, we may never see another reusable manned LEO + long term orbit space craft in some of our lifetimes. It really saddens me

The space program always gave us that little extra glimmer of hope. Sad day indeed.

Go4EVA! wrote in post #14296023
Terrific shots Jonathan, but I have to agree with Mike.... I think in the excitement of the moment at the Udvar-Hazy Center there may have been a bit of "artistic license" in the dedication speech. There have, indeed, been many occasions when two, or even three, Orbiters have been in (practically) the same place at the same time. I guess it depends (a bit) on how you define "same place." For example, the three Orbiter Processing Facilities, and the Vehicle Assembly Building, at KSC are all located within a few hundred feet of each other, and there certainly have been many times when the "active" Orbiters where all there together. But Enterprise is special, and she has been separated from the other Orbiters for quite a while, so perhaps the speakers were trying to point out the fact that Enterprise & Discovery had never "appeared together" in the past. I sure wish I could have been there -- thank you for sharing your pictures on the forum!

I suppose this was the first and last time two shuttles were in the same place outside of Cape Canaveral. Did they ever have two shuttles at Edwards at the same time?

That was a very crowded and interesting ceremony. I put my pictures up in the NOVA thread. I was at the A&S 3 times this week. What a wonderful opportunity. I, too had a few with too much sky, but that's because it's hard to avoid it.

Beers wrote in post #14300922
I suppose this was the first and last time two shuttles were in the same place outside of Cape Canaveral. Did they ever have two shuttles at Edwards at the same time?

Off the top of my head, no, I cannot think of a time when two Orbiters would have been at Edwards at the same time. Two, or more, Orbiter vehicles were essentially "together" during their initial fabrication & assembly at Palmdale - but I'm guessing that's not what you had in mind.

SuzyView wrote in post #14300933
That was a very crowded and interesting ceremony. I put my pictures up in the NOVA thread. I was at the A&S 3 times this week. What a wonderful opportunity. I, too had a few with too much sky, but that's because it's hard to avoid it.

Um, sorry Suzie, but where is the NOVA thread? I'd love to see your pictures....

Here:

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=321311

Beers wrote in post #14300922
I suppose this was the first and last time two shuttles were in the same place outside of Cape Canaveral. Did they ever have two shuttles at Edwards at the same time?

Go4EVA! wrote in post #14301099
Off the top of my head, no, I cannot think of a time when two Orbiters would have been at Edwards at the same time. Two, or more, Orbiter vehicles were essentially "together" during their initial fabrication & assembly at Palmdale - but I'm guessing that's not what you had in mind.

Please allow me to amend my previous...

After a bit of head scratching, I do recall that on 4 July 1982, the Space Shuttle Columbia landed at Edwards AFB (Mission STS-4). At the same time, the Space Shuttle Challenger was atop the 747 Carrier Aircraft, preparing to fly to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. There was a big dedication ceremony with President & Mrs. Reagan, and at the conclusion of the President's speech, the 747 took off. So, yes, there were two Orbiters (Columbia & Challenger) at Edwards AFB on this occasion.