NASA Space Photography - NEGATIVE RETURN

NEGATIVE RETURN

NASA Space Photography

I was fortunate to photograph the Space Shuttle program for 23 years. From STS-26, the first Return to Flight mission following the Challenger accident, to STS-135, the final Space Shuttle mission. Launches, landings, rollouts, walkouts, astronauts, payloads, launch pads, sunrises, and sunsets. What an honor and privilege it was. Truly one of the major highlights of my life. Below are just a few of the thousands of photographs I shot over the years, some of my favorites. The friendships and memories I made will stay with me always. I miss this, tremendously.

Astronaut helmets being loaded into the Astrovan prior to the astronaut crew leaving the O&C building for the ride to the launch pad. STS-121.

Endeavour going to California.

STS-116 Rollout.

STS-117 rollout with Great Blue Heron.

Large thunderstorm building North of Kennedy Space Center. STS-120.

STS-133, Shuttle Discovery being towed off the runway following her final spaceflight.

Barbara Morgan, Teacher in Space Astronaut, Christa McAuliffe's backup. STS-118.

Vehicle Assembly Building.

STS-135, Launch Pad 39A during the final Shuttle launch.

STS-130 Rollout.

STS-135 launch, remote camera.

CDR Scott Altman and the STS-125 crew leave for the launch pad.

STS-123, Endeavour to Orbit. Published in National Geographic, 2008.

Launch Day, STS-119.

Endeavour, Final Ferry Flight to Los Angeles.

Space Shuttle Endeavour, STS-134.

Endeavour, Final Ferry Flight to Los Angeles.

Remote Camera Set-up 24 hours prior to launch.

Saturn V Stage II engines.

Shuttle Atlantis, Kennedy Space Center Visitor's Complex.

Shuttle Atlantis, Kennedy Space Center Visitor's Complex.

Somewhere in the marsh, setting remote cameras.

Mercury Redstone Rocket.

The End. STS-135, post launch. Never again will a Shuttle see this pad.

STS-116 Rollout.

Launch Pad 19, sight of every manned Gemini launch.

Launch pad 34, site of the Apollo 1 fire in 1967. RIP, Grissom, White and Chaffee.

Reflections. STS-122.

STS-119 following a launch attempt scrub.

STS-130 Early Rollout.

Shuttle Atlantis, Kennedy Space Center Visitor's Complex.

STS-133 Rollout.

STS-125, Atlantis.

STS-134, Endeavour.

STS-134, Endeavour.

STS-133, Discovery.

STS-134 Rollout.

Atlantis wing leading edge.

Space Walk of Fame, Titusville, Florida.

STS-134, Endeavour.

Birds scatter from the sound of a launch, 3 miles away.