“”The dream is alive…”
John Young – after landing STS-1
In 1974 NASA purchased two commercially outfitted 747-100s from American Airlines. The first step was to modify them. The economy seats were removed, leaving the first class seats for VIP passengers, the fuselage was reinforced, mounting struts were installed on top and the fuel tanks were enlarged. Most crucially, vertical stabilisers were added to the elevators and an ejection seat system was installed in the cockpit. Things were about to get bumpy. Initially these 747s launched the shuttles during early testing, but most of their work was ferrying the craft between Edwards AFB in Texas where they landed and Kennedy Space Centre in Florida where they launched. Just to be clear NASA officially referred to these space vehicles as Orbiters. Yet ironically, the 747s were officially referred to as SCAs, Space Shuttle Aircraft. #dontcallthemshuttles #letsmakelemonade
Pen Paint and Scalpel 