After the trip to Bodie, and resting for a week, Dan took me to Edwards AFB where he works. Wanted to show me some of the equipment they used when the shuttle landed here in California. Funny, I’ve been visiting my brother since ’04 and this is the first time I’ve taken a tour. Turns out that the base that hosted the space shuttle when it couldn’t land in Florida is starting to look a little sad and abandoned. At least those portions of the base that were used exclusively by the shuttle. The date of these pictures is 12-22-11. First we toured Dan’s office, he works for NASA as an environmental Engineer, making sure that the properties remain unpolluted or mitigating areas that were previously polluted. Containment in some areas, clean up in others, prevention in still others…you know the drill. Then we checked out a cart and drove around visiting buildings. Finally, after picking up some hard hats, and finding someone with a key to the gate, we made our way out to the towering gantry where the space shuttle was serviced after landing. Several days after a landing, and the craft had cooled off from the re-entry, and the toxic gases and fluids had been reclaimed, the shuttle would be stood on it’s tail while technicians, engineers, scientists, and the like would inspect it nose to tail. Repairs, maintenance, and modifications were done, as well as getting the shuttle ready for it’s flight back to Florida on the back of a jumbo jet.
One of the display aircraft on the base. Most of them have some sort of history. This is at the front gate.
More historical aircraft...
A ground dwelling Owl.
This is the kind of wildlife that lives around here. They almost went extinct. These little guys often steal a rodents hole, dig it out, use the escape tunnels too. Only a few steps from the parking lot, but not to frightened of my visit.
Just chillin'. They usually hunt at dawn or dusk.
This is NASA? Use to be a daycare building.
My bro in his office. Can't see any beer, full or empties. Poor working stiff.
Still working...
Off to visit the rest of the base.
That big plaque over the door, and the door itself, was saved from the first astronaut training building and reinstalled here.
NASA Shuttle escort plane.
We’d grabbed a battery powered shuttle car (like a golf cart) at Dan’s office and wandered around to various buildings while Dan checked on stuff here and there. We also had to find some hard hats…but many places we went to were like they were abandoned. It was a regular work day, but the staff is kind of like a skeleton crew now so some places it was hard to find people. And as we went from place to place, the car got harder and harder to start up.
And there's the shuttle gantry off in the distance.
There’s a fence all around the gantry so we had to find someone with a key. Eventually we found someone and they drove out and unlocked the fence for us.
But first a stop at the vehicle used to service the shuttle and offload astronauts.
I believe Dan said that this is a very special rig where only 4 or so were ever made. It’s still in excellent condition and has several unique systems on it. Good design practice for when we return to the moon, I suppose.
OK, we finally get to the gantry. Well, to just outside the fence...we're waiting for the guy with the key.
Off in the distance, planes in storage. Many of them with historical significance.
We climb aboard the elevator for the ride topside.
You get a much better view of those planes from here. The walkways in the gantry were all expanded metal and I haven’t been on anything built like that at this height in decades so it was a little hair raising, but it would not have taken long to get my confidence back.
Desert, desert everywhere.
That dry lake bed in the distance can suddenly become a lake with the right weather patterns.
So we wander around a while.
That opening there just beyond the fire extinguisher is the elevator. Getting kind of rickety. Moves too fast, bounces around, etc. They could have designed a ‘load sensing’ elevator to modulate it’s speed and power, but I guess at the time they have more important things to worry about.
Here's where they docked the shuttle.
More gantry stuff.
Big crane to move stuff around.
Coming back down, looking toward the SW.
That’s quite the desert there. Not something you’d want to be stranded on for very long. It was December when we visited the base so the weather was a little chilly. But imagine living here 100 years ago and having to feed yourself. Scarce resources. Barely enough for the little critters that live here. But believe it or not, there are some historical buildings from the 1900’s close to this spot. They’re on the base so they’re protected and whatnot, but they aren’t really museum quality places I don’t think.
Off to the west.
The dry lake bed is fascinating. How’d you like to have to hike across that? With a 60 pound backpack?
Here I am enjoying the scenery.
Down at ground level, the shuttle fits in that hole there.
More planes.
My brother had a story about most of these planes and why they were here, it was all very interesting, but I don’t remember what was special about them at all. Something about them being involved in some historic event…like the first this or the first that, or flown by someone famous. I should have written it down I suppose. Hey, if you want to know, get your own guide. Or let me know, and I’ll make my brother give you a tour.
And another.
Even if you don’t know why they are historic, they’re still cool looking.
Memory is fading...
Pretty, huh?
What's that?
As we leave the gantry area.
Big ass jet.
Hmmm...mystery aircraft of some kind.
Spy plane I bet.
Back to return our hard hats.
And Another famous plane of some kind. Funny wing. Big smile tho.
An old shot of Dan, Monica, & Barbara (work in Dan's dept.) back where there was a shuttle in the gantry.
Ahh, time for a beer. I wouldn't touch a Bud but they had other beers.
Well, that’s the trip to Edwards AFB. Since the shuttle program is shut down now, we’ll soon all forget that this place once helped humans get into space and return. Sad really.