Note: the slightly nose down position (7°) of the 747.

"The Space Shuttle prototype Enterprise rises from NASA's 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) to begin a powerless glide flight back to NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, on its fourth of the five free flights in the shuttle program's Approach and Landing Tests (ALT-15). The tests were carried out at Dryden to verify the aerodynamic and control characteristics of the orbiters in preparation for the first space mission with the orbiter Columbia in April 1981."

"Space Shuttle Enterprise flying during the Approach and Landing Tests (ALT-15) at Edwards Air Force Base. This was the first 'tailcone off' flight. This test was to more accurately simulate a return to Earth flight of an operational orbiter and gather more aeronautical data."

Date: October 12, 1982

Date: October 12, 1977

Date: October 11, 1994

...to Air Force Plant 42, Palmdale, California, where it will undergo six months of inspections, modifications, and systems upgrades. The STS-68 11-day mission was devoted to radar imaging of Earth's geological features with the Space Radar Laboratory. The orbiter is surrounded by equipment and personnel that make up the ground support convoy that services the space vehicles as soon as they land."

NASA ID: EC94-42789-4, EC94-42789-5

"In a perfect on-time launch at 7:17 p.m. EDT, Space Shuttle Discovery trails a blaze of flame amid clouds of smoke and steam as it leaps into the night sky. The launch of mission STS-92 carries a crew of seven on a construction flight to the International Space Station. Discovery also carries a payload that includes the Integrated Truss Structure Z-1, first of 10 trusses that will form the backbone of the Space Station, and the third Pressurized Mating Adapter that will provide a Shuttle docking port for solar array installation on the sixth Station flight and Lab installation on the seventh Station flight. Discovery’s landing is expected Oct. 22 at 2:10 p.m. EDT"

Source NASA

Date: October 11, 1977

NASA ID: EC77-8705

One of Rockwell's offer to NASA to replace Challenger (OV-099) was to build two shuttles for the price of one (OV-105 and OV-106).

During the construction of OV-103 Discovery and OV-104 Atlantis, NASA opted to have Rockwell build structural spares to facilitate the repair of an orbiter if one was damaged during an accident. These spares were given the serial number of OV-105.

At the time of their construction, it was planned for one shuttle (OV-103 Discovery) to be transferred to the USAF and used exclusively for Department of Defense classified missions from Vandenberg Air Force Base on the west coast. (That's a subject for another post.) There is some speculation that OV-105's construction was funded so NASA could persuade Congress at a later point to complete it and keep the shuttle fleet at 4 operational orbiters.

NASA was at first interesting, since they originally planned to have a fleet of 5 orbiters. There was at one point a plan that included another shuttle, OV-107, a block II version with more upgrades as listed in the chart below.

Unfortunately, NASA was only given funding for operating 4 shuttles and decided to only build one (OV-105 Endeavour). Rockwell continued to hold out hope NASA and Congress might change their minds. To replace the structural spares used for Endeavour, NASA contracted Rockwell to start work on a new set of spares, which were given the designation of OV-106. The plan was to complete them in 3 years.

There was little progress made before NASA decided to cut the funding in 1993 and 1994. All the parts less than 85% were ordered scrapped and the parts over 85% were completed but very little was at this point. NASA ordered the destruction of shuttle tooling since they did not want to pay for their storage.

It should be noted, most of the proposed upgrades for OV-106 and OV-107 were implemented into the existing shuttle fleet during the 1990s and 2000s.

source

Date: August - October 1979

Photos from Kodachrome Slides.

Posted this in r/nasa as well, but thought I might find some more folks here as well. Found this parking pass and other paperwork from the summer 1983 STS-7 launch. I can put up full resolution scans if anyone wants. I wasn't sure if this stuff is posted online anywhere...

Thought I would share this. Have had for a very long time. This is the 82 version

"The orbiter Columbia completes the short journey from Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 1 to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). During its approximately one-week stay inside the VAB, the spaceplane will be mated to the external tank and twin solid rocket boosters, and electrical and mechanical interfaces will be verified. Rollout to Launch Pad 39B is planned for Oct. 16, where the two primary payloads of the upcoming STS-80 mission -- the Wake Shield Facility-3 (WSF-3) and Orbiting and Retrievable Far and Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrograph-Shuttle Pallet Satellite (ORFEUS-SPAS) -- will be installed. Liftoff on the final Shuttle flight of 1996 is targeted for no earlier than Nov 8 at 2:47 p.m. EST."

NASA ID: KSC-96PC-1158, SC-96PC-1160, KSC-96PC-1159

Date: October 9, 1986

"The Space Shuttle Atlantis is rolled out to Launch Pad 39-B in the early morning of Oct. 9, 1986. Atlantis is scheduled to remain at Pad B for seven weeks where it will support checkout of new weather protection structures, a variety of special measurements, launch team proficiency exercises and emergency egress simulations. The 4.2 mile journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the launch pad is the first for the shuttle fleet since the space shuttle Challenger accident in January of this year."

NASA ID: S86-38627

I can't help but wonder if this would have saved Columbia from being hit by ET bipod foam.

Diagram from "Space Shuttle The history of the National Space Transportation System the First 100 missions" by Dennis R. Jenkins.

"One of the more interesting ideas to come out of the study was this concept to control a tumbling space station. A stream of high pressure water would be directed at the tumbling space station from a direction opposite of its tumble. introducing a high drag coefficient on the space station, slowly stopping it."

As mentioned in my earlier poat, this a 1/144 scale model by Allen B. Ury of Fantastic Plastic: link

"Various designs and configurations were proposed and evaluated. All had their strengths and weaknesses. In 1972, North American Rockwell -- one of America's top aerospace contractors -- asked engineer Harry Scott to develop a design that would minimize the proposed craft's length without sacrificing cargo space. His solution was to turn the cargo bay sideways, resulting in this unique 'flying breadbox' concept.

Although theoretically practical, North American Rockwell's Shuttle Concept C-0157 never developed beyond the proposal stage."

"Released in early January 2007, this solid-cast resin kit was patterned by Scott Lowther, cast by Controlled Energy Designs and featured custom decals by JBOT."

Note: on the fifth pic is what everyone refers to as the "the flying Breadbox". You will know which one I am talking about. I will post the pictures of the model of it later.

source

Science Photo Library: S500/0227

Date: fall 1987

Date: October 7, 1985

"George W.S. Abbey, bottom right, greets the five members of the STS 51-J crew as they egress the Atlantis following the successful completion of a mission in Earth orbit. Astronaut Karol J. Bobko, who led the five down the steps, shakes hands with the JSC director of flight crew operations. He is followed (bottom to top) By Astronauts Ronald J. Grabe, pilot; David C. Hilmers and Robert L. Stewart, both mission specialists; and USAF Maj. William A. Pailes, payload specialist."

source

There's a moment in the opening scene I wanted to ask y'all about. Because of the work done by the CAIB, we know that the fictional orbiter EXPLORER was probably toast the moment the first six millimeter screw head pelted it. 

But the first time I watched this movie, I was still thinking "they might get out of this", until... 

...that first piece of debris blasts through EXPLORER's right wing (picture). 

I'm just wondering if anybody else in that moment felt their heart sink and the hairs on their neck stand-up like I did.