[X] My Assistant

[Stu]

Today is the 25th anniversary of an event which some say shaped the modern space age - ah, but for better or for worse? I hear many cry. Well, lots of different opinions on that, but what can't be argued is that when it happened the blast-off of the very first orbital shuttle, Columbia, was incredibly exciting and, for many people like me, extremely moving too.

I have very sharp and fond memories of that time. As a space mad teenager I was buzzing with excitement and anticipation about the launch of the shuttle, and had followed the program through from the very first "Approach and Landing Tests" - when Enterprise was dropped off the back of that 747 to test how it would land - and by the time launch day came I was almost unbearably excited and nervous. I remember the first launch attempt was made on a school day, and I ran home from school so fast, after a day of endless clock-watching, only to find the launch postponed. But that was good news, because it meant I was able to watch it live when it finally happened the following Sunday, and - I'm sure to my family's frustration! - I took over the TV for almost the whole of launch day, insisting it remain tuned to the live launch coverage. I'll never forget how, with his Hollywood idol, clean-cut looks, complete with dazzling smile, Bob Crippen contrasted with Young's rather "weathered" look as they strode out together to the bus that would take them to the shuttle. They looked magnificent! Then the seemingly-endless wait for launch, the clock ticking so, so slowly...

And finally, just seconds to go. Columbia looked so beautiful, so graceful standing on the pad. Completely white - orbiter, rockets and fuel tank, because inthose early days they actually painted the enormous external fuel tank white to match the orbiter and SRBs (they leave it unpainted now of course) - she looked like some kind of swan standing there, yearning to race skywards... Then the countdown reached zero, and huge billows of grey and white "smoke" (actually steam, I know now!) came shooting out from beneath the shuttle, accompanied by a deep, thrumming sound as the engines flared to life... then she was rising, slowly, very slowly, a brilliant flaring light shining beneath her, the glow of the three main engines pushing her upwards... By the time she cleared the tower I recall I was in tears at the sight of it, because - having been aware of but not personally attached to the Apollo missions, and the launches of the Saturn 5's, because of my young age - shuttle was MY spaceship, it just felt like a piece of me was in it somehow, and now, finally, she was thundering skywards...

I sat there, on the floor in front of the TV, watching Columbia punch into the sky, riding a column of white smoke, with the teeth-jarring crackling of her engines and rockets spitting out of the TV speaker, and you know, I believed that a New "Space Age" had begun... Maybe this was it, I thought, a new start. And even when the TV news reported that night that Columbia had lost 16 tiles and damaged a further 148 on the climb into orbit I wasn't worried; heck, I knew it would take a lot more than a few missing tiles to worry My Ship, and when she glided in for a landing after 36 orbits of Earth, to the acclaim of the world, and when Young and Crippen literally bounded down the steps, beaming from ear to ear, pumping each others hands, I thought that yes, maybe we would actually see people back on the Moon by the time I left school; maybe astronauts would be exploring Mars when I "grew up", and I'd be able to watch their adventures live on my TV... Maybe I'd be one of them myself!

Of course, things didn't quite work out like that. We lost proud Challenger and her brave crew just five years later, and faithful Columbia herself - my beautiful, swan-white Columbia - disintegrated as she glided in for another perfect landing just a few years ago. The schedule has slipped, the willpower diminished, the passion faded. Astronauts won't bound across the Moon's dusty surface for at least another decade, and Mars seems as far away as ever, and I am beginning to doubt that I'll live to see the first humans stand on her rock-strewn surface.

Shuttle has critics by the legion now, and yes, there's a case to be made for shuttle having delayed more important, bolder manned space missions, delayed technology advancements etc... but for one day let's just give the Swans a break eh? Let's tactfully avert our eyes from budget sheets and timetables and just remember the wonderful images and achievements we've all enjoyed in our past. Let's think back and remember the pictures of astronauts spacewalking in that cavernous payload bay... of the Hubble being launched and then repaired... of the exquisite, balletic dockings with MIR and ISS... of thunderous launches and graceful landings... of seeing the shuttles themselves flying through the sky from our own gardens and backyards, marvelling at how there were people on "that star"...

In time I'm sure all those memories will fade. But I'll never forget the first flight of Columbia on that heart-in-my-mouth Sunday - and as we mark the 25th anniversary of her maiden flight, I'll remember how I felt on that glorious day when, watching Columbia ride a pillar of spitting, howling fire into the bright blue sky, I thought that surely, if we could build something that beautiful and that powerful, then anything was possible...

[BPCooper]

Bob, great shots. I would love to see more if you have any.