Arriving at Ellington, it was a brilliant and thankfully clear April afternoon in Southeast Houston. Which meant, it was lucky that we didn’t have cloud cover, rain, or nasty odors coming from Pasadena, Texas City, or the Houston Ship Channel!  Hah!

Columbia sat proudly atop the SCA with several dozen people milling about, looking up and pointing at the black-and-white bird.

As I walked through the gate and showed my badge, Rusty broke away from several people he was talking with and met me. He laughed at my slightly slack-jawed look, as this was the first time that I’d been this close to an actual Orbiter. All of my experience to-date had been from the confines of Mission Control, so being this close to a real flown spacecraft brought out the 12-year-old in me. 🙂

Of course, in full tourist mode, I had my camera with me (at the time, my first “real” camera – a commercial starter SLR, the Canon T50). He told me to go on up the stairs and “strike a pose”.

I certainly wasn’t about to pass that up, so bounding up the stairs to the top, I spin around and give my cheesiest grin. Fortunately in the photo to the left, I don’t look *too* ridiculous. (hush)

As he met me at the top of the stairs and gave me back my camera, I took a quick shot of Columbia’s nose. It was an excellent reminder for me of the reality of spaceflight and the toll that entry took on the heat tiles covering this reusable spacecraft.

This is where it got fun. 🙂

Stepping into the interior, the very small forward section wasn’t unlike other commercial passenger jets I’d been in before or since. There were nice First Class seats, overhead bins, carpeting (grin), etc. Instead of a small wall and dividing curtain separating First Class from the “peasants”, there was nothing – just a large open space reaching all the way back to the aft exit (more on that later).

Also instead of a lovely Flight Attendant (still referred to as “Stewardesses” in the Politically Incorrect mid-90s, heh), a very serious Marine stood at attention at the base of the spiral staircase that led to the 747 upper deck (and cockpit).

My LSO buddy flashed his credentials, said “He’s with me”, and proceeded up the spiral staircase. With a glance at the Marine (who gave me a quick stare of evaluation), I followed and into the cockpit!

Now, my experience in cockpits to date had been in (1) simulators, (2) very small single-engine prop planes during my private pilot lessons, and (3) occasionally peeking in as I walked back to my seat on a commercial flight. NOTHING had prepared me for the complexity of a 747 cockpit nor for the sudden realization of how *high* we were above the tarmac!

My uncle flew numerous planes in his military and civilian contractor career, but even he said that landing a 747 required a “special set of skills” because of how high the cockpit was above the landing gear!

Now, if that had been the only thing on this phase of the tour, I would’ve been satisfied, but Rusty told me to turn around. The overhead access panels had been opened for both ventilation and for the amazing view that I was about to have.

Standing on a jumpseat, I stuck my head out and was face-to-nose with Columbia!

To this day, I kick myself for not breaking out of my space fanboy stupor and actually taking some photos of that vantage point. Sadly… I probably just stood there, grinning vapidly and drooling.

Oh.

Remember those three attach points I’ve mentioned earlier?

They mimic the existing three attach points the Orbiter used to mount onto the External Tank.  One forward and two aft, forming a natural triangle of support.  

On the rear attach point directly above the exit, there was some stenciled words in black against the white attach mount.

Taking out the camera and snapping a few pictures (including zooming in as best I could), it was clear what the stenciled letters said:

PLACE ORBITER HERE…

BLACK SIDE DOWN

Important safety tip, kids!

It wasn’t until 2012 that I’d get to be up-close-and-personal with an Orbiter again (Discovery at the NASM in Washington DC).

So many memories…

Thanks for reading. Drop me a line if you have any questions!