RECALLING SPACE EXPLORERS AT ARLINGTON
John McGauley, Fort Wayne, IN
Most of us who share a love for space exploration share another thing in common. It is the unfortunate fact that the most extraordinary moments in spaceflight history – both triumphant and tragic – happened without us. Chances are that you were not sitting in Mission Control or watching from the Kennedy Space Center when Apollo 11 conquered the Moon. Some of you undoubtedly were, but most of us never made it there. People like me were just infants in 1969, dependent on black and white photos and the pages of history books to tell us about the moment when man first set foot upon another world. You were probably watching on television on August 12, 1977, when Enterprise touched down after the first free flight of the Approach and Landing Test series, proving that a brand-new vehicle called the Space Shuttle really could fly. It is unfortunately true that too many of us have gotten about as close to that particular orbiter as we have to the fictional starship of the same name.
Today, as a devoted student of manned spaceflight, I am well-versed in the historic mission of Gemini 7, the target of the first rendezvous between manned spacecraft and the first mission to stay aloft for the projectedlength of a mission to the Moon – 14 days. But in 1965, I was but a distant thought for two parents who had yet to meet. Needless to say, I also had to read about that one in the history books.
The same can be said about the great tragedies of America’s manned space efforts. Apollo 1 happened one-year, almost to the day, before I was born. The accidents that claimed Challenger, Columbia and their dedicated crews were spectacles that unfolded for me on television. The 51-L and STS-107 accidents broke my heart and stole my undying trust that NASA could never be beaten and that our astronauts always came home, no matter how tough things got and no matter what broke onboard their ships. But there was never a chance for me to go somewhere, to see the aftermath for myself and to properly mourn the loss of my heroes.
That all changed a few weeks ago. In mid-March, so that my wife Elissa could take a professional certification test related to her work, she and I traveled to Washington, D.C., for five days. Before I left, I decided that this would be the perfect chance to see the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum’s new Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, located at Dulles International Airport near Chantilly, Virginia. I also decided that it was time for me to visit the Challenger and Columbia memorials at Arlington Cemetery and to pay tribute to their crews in my own quiet, personal way.
Of course I knew from reading about the Udvar-Hazy Center that it was a showcase fordozens of great aircraft and spacecraft from the Smithsonian’s collection, most of which had never been displayed before because of their size and the limits of the NASM’s flagship museum on the National Mall.
After years of languishing in storage, the original Space Shuttle orbiter – the Enterprise – was there. Enterprise was only the beginning of an amazing list of spaceflight’s historic treasures that were to be found at Udvar-Hazy. Not knowing our way around the area all that well, my wife and I paid $12 each for a shuttle bus ride from the NASM to the Udvar-Hazy Center. That is a ticket that is well worth purchasing, as the ride is comfortable and reasonably fast, covering the 28 miles in about 45 minutes – not too bad at any time of the day in Washington, D.C., traffic. The convenience of the shuttle bus is reinforced by the fact that it drops you off right at the front door.
The Udvar-Hazy Center itself is located at the southern end of Dulles airport. Among its features is an observation tower that one can use to watch aircraft coming and going from the airport. It is well hidden from the surrounding area and it suddenly appears from among the trees as you arrive on the bus. The center itself from the outside looks much like an airport itself, with hanger-like buildings and a mostly glass exterior. Near the entrance, one of the first things visitors see is a gleaming sculpture named "Ascent," whose soaring, twisting look evokes thoughts of flight.
My visit came early on a Monday morning. Crowds were very small and we largely had the run of the new facility. Even though Udvar-Hazy features an amazing array of historic aircraft, I went there to see its spaceflight collection and one piece in particular – the orbiter Enterprise. The front entrance to Udvar-Hazy is actually one level above the museum floor, leading to catwalks that provide eye-catching panoramas of the building. As we entered, the walkway led us to an observation area that overlooked an SR-71 spy plane and, a little farther across the hall, Enterprise itself.
Those who have seen the Space Shuttle in other venues, during rollovers, taxi flights or even launches, are used to seeing orbiters from a great distance. Among the Udvar-Hazy Center’s greatest featuresis how close visitors can get to Enterprise. It is just outside an arm’s reach from the observer, on the other side of a knee-high railing that traces the orbiter’s outline. There are no glass walls here to impede your view of this piece of history. You can peer into the wheel wells and nearly stand beneath the very wings that proved that a Space Shuttle could really glide back from space. Just to the side of the orbiter, a few feet from the crew compartment hatch stands a glass case that holds a flight suit worn by Fred Haise and a helmet worn by Joe Engle while they were crewmembers during the Approach and Landing Tests.
Having seen a few launches in person, I know the power and majesty of watching the Space Shuttle rocket away from the Earth. Yet it was still awe-inspiring to stand next to an orbiter, craning my neck to see it top and bottom and back to front, and imagining the power required to loft something so big into orbit. It was also nice to see that Enterprise, after spending so many years in storage, looks from the outside as if it has been well cared for. There is a pictorial display nearby that describes work that the Smithsonian did to restore the appearance of the orbiter after it arrived, fixing peeling paint and even removing her OMS pods for a future restoration.
We all know the crucial place that Enterprise holds in the history of the shuttle program. It flew the ALT series in 1977, verified the launch pads at Kennedy Space Center and Vandenberg Air Force Base and underwent all manner of other tests to make sure that the shuttle could fly safely. It is hard not to be touched to see it at Udvar-Hazy and realize that it is still contributing nearly 30 years after it first flew off the back of a 747. As it sits today, Enterprise is missing some key pieces – leading edge panels from both wings. These pieces were removed in 2003, after the STS-107 accident, caused by a piece of External Tank insulating foam that struck and damaged one of Columbia’s reinforced carbon-carbon leading edge panels. The leading edge panels on Enterprise are made of fiberglass since Enterprise never flew in space and did not need a full thermal protection system. But they made a major contribution to figuring out what downed her sister ship.
After years of languishing in storage and even sitting outside for months in the Florida sun (the orbiter once sat on display alongside the Kennedy Space Center’s Saturn V in the parking lot of the Vehicle Assembly Building), Enterprise finally holds the place as a centerpiece of spaceflight history that it earned years ago.
As a person in my late 30s, the Space Shuttle program is the first American manned spaceflight effort that I really remember. But as a committed student of all things spaceflight, I have studied it all and know its history well. At Udvar-Hazy, I had my first chance to come face-to-face with pieces of that history. We have all seen the “Hornet + 3” photo of Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins peering from the window of the Mobile Quarantine Facility after returning from the Moon. This little known piece of history, a 20-foot Airstream trailer, has returned from the dusty pages of history books for display in the Udvar-Hazy Center’s space hall. It takes very little imagination to peer through the windows of the Mobile Quarantine Facility and see the faces of the explorers who spent their first days back on Earth inside its shiny aluminum walls. The Apollo 11 Command Module itself sits inside the NASM’s original building in downtown Washington. But two components of CM “Columbia” that one might assume had been forgotten or lost long ago have returned to public view at Udvar-Hazy. The flotation bags that righted the Command Module after splashdown and the flotation collar attached to it by divers to make sure it remained afloat have been mounted to a boilerplate CM a few steps away from the Mobile Quarantine Facility.
So it goes everywhere you look at Udvar-Hazy. The pages of history became three-dimensional reality. The Gemini 7 capsule sits right next to an unflown piece of space trivia – the Freedom 7 II Mercury spacecraft that Alan Shepherd would have flown on a three-day mission had the program not ended when it did. Because that flight never happened, Shepherd would wait another 10 years for his second space flight. I will admit to more than a little delight at seeing in a display of crew effects the Omega Speedmaster wristwatch that Michael Collins wore on Apollo 11. It just so happened to be identical to the watch I wore on my own wrist that day, a 2003 purchase I made after wanting an Omega for many years. After all, it does say “The First Watch Worn on the Moon” on the back. How much better does is get for a devoted space collector?
In short, the Udvar-Hazy Center is a remarkable place. For so many of us who have learned about much of spaceflight history through the history books, there is finally a place to see it face-to-face. To get the full enjoyment from your visit, give yourself at least three or four hours to see the entire facility.
While I was somewhat prepared for my visit to Udvar-Hazy, I was not prepared for our trip to Arlington National Cemetery. I have known about the 51-L and STS-107 memorials for some time, and made a specific point of going to see them while we were in Washington. If you are not up for the D.C. traffic, the Metro train system has an Arlington stop that leaves you just a short walk from the front gates.
The shuttle memorials are close to Arlington’s Memorial Amphitheater, which is a long walk from the visitor’s center, but a comfortable one that is made even more so by the majesty and beauty of the rolling hills of the cemetery. But if you are on a tight schedule or unable to make the walk, a sightseeing tour is available that makes stops in several locations throughout the cemetery. The shuttle memorials are located at the corner of Memorial Drive and Farragut Drive, at the end of a short walkway. There you come face-to-face with the real price of exploration. Almost close enough to touch are the names and faces of the Columbia and Challenger crews, engraved in relief on bronze panels affixed to granite monuments. Out of luck, although the cemetery was busy that day, I soon found myself standing there with only my wife. On a cold, quiet hilltop, I finally got to shed a tear and offer a quiet word of thanks to 14 people whom I had never met, but to whom I am grateful for serving the cause of exploration.
I was told before I went on this trip that the shuttle memorials were a moving sight. But why is that so? Maybe it is because they are the only places where you can still see these intrepid crews, together, happy and ready to take on the heavens. There they are the smiling faces of astronauts dedicated to pushing back the limits of what mankind can do beyond the boundaries of his world. It is a touching image, much more so than one we had to watch over and over on those terrible days, of lives and vehicles being torn apart in the skies over Florida and Texas.
As I stood there, I heard my wife over my shoulder reading the names of several STS-107 crew members. I looked up, and just beyond the granite monuments were the graves of Laurel Clark, David Brown and Michael Anderson. I scanned for a moment and noticed, just to the left of the STS 51-L memorial, the grave of Challenger’s commander, Dick Scobee. I had no idea they were there, and it took my breath away to come face to face with so much history all at once.. Memorials are one thing, but the people and those stark white headstones make it come to life. It was hard to stand there quietly and survey the scene without shedding a tear or two. It really did make the cost of exploration come to life.
While I never intended to find these graves, I did come looking for one in particular. Being a resident of Indiana, I trekked across the way to visit the grave of Mercury, Gemini and Apollo astronaut Gus Grissom. There are more than 285,000 people buried at Arlington. Yet the task of finding one in particular is easier than you might think. Inside the visitors’ center, you can inquire about specific locations. You will be given a map with the location noted. There is also extensive assistance on the Internet for finding astronauts buried at Arlington. After finding the gravesite of fellow Hoosier Grissom, I was again surprised to find that he and Apollo 1 crewmate Roger Chaffee are buried next to one another. I ran my fingers across a few of the letters on Grissom’s headstone and went on my way. Over 30 plus years of following the space program, I have written and read much about Grissom. I came to admire him greatly as the pioneer that he was. Now I had been able to go to his graveside a pay a moment of quiet tribute.
For those of us who care about and carry big hopes for manned spaceflight, a trip like this is a must. It is like the difference between lying in the sun and tacking up a picture of the beach in your office window. Seeing our spaceflight triumphs – and tragedies – on television or reading about them in the history books will never be enough. []
Editor's Note: Thanks to Bill York for encouraging John McGauley to write this article and for preparing it for publication. Excerpts appeared on the CollectSpace.com website.
For more information on the astronaut memorials in Arlington National Cemetery, go to: For Arlington Cemetery go to: John McGauley can be reached at: .