A while ago, actually a few years back now, I had the rare opportunity to cover the Space Shuttle Discovery being ferried back to Florida from Edwards Air Force Base in California.

I was lucky to get these photographs. I knew that Discovery was going to be leaving Edwards soon since it had been diverted due to bad weather in Florida. These events are relatively rare and only occur if the shuttle has been diverted to Edwards because its primary landing site is unavailable due to weather that’s out of limits for a safe landing. I’m not sure, but I’m wondering if this was the last ferry flight from Edwards till now, probably not but not sure.

On a whim, I contacted NASA’s Public Affairs Officer (PAO) to see if I could get a press credential to cover the scheduled early morning takeoff from the desert base. I didn’t expect to get any kind of positive answer.

Anyway, the NASA PAO told me they didn’t sponsor press credentials, they facilitated press coverage. But in the conversation I told him I was retired military so he suggested I contact the base newspaper to see if they needed a photographer to cover the event. The scheduled departure was also on a Saturday morning so I was really hoping to help the newspaper staff on their normal day off. Turned out the base was glad I called and welcomed my help. So, just like that I was going to be a member of the press for one day…awesome!

I drove up to Edwards from San Diego where I live, less than a three hour drive and spent the night on the base at the Visiting Officer’s Quarters (VOQ). They had a vacancy and it was a bargain. The VOQ was also convenient since it was already on the base and I was going to have to get to our meeting point at the base main gate well before sunrise.

The Boeing 747 ferrying the shuttle atop the fuselage was due to take off just before sunrise the next morning. It was going to be a challenge to get decent shots in the low light before sunrise. I met the NASA PAO at the base’s main gate right around 5 a.m. with about 10 other members of the press who were there to cover the news of the day. To be really honest, I was intimidated beyond belief. There were professional photographers there from major papers like the LA Times and big news agencies including the Associated Press. I heard one of the guys was a Pulitzer prize winner, only got to talk to him briefly. These guys were there to make a living, I was there to get some good shots for the base paper. I was feeling the pressure.

After getting organized, we formed a vehicle convoy with a military police escort and made our way to the south end of Edward’s major runway. At points during the trip, we were on dirt roads as we made our way around the end of the runway and travelled north on the east side of the runway to the 12,000 foot marker on the apron.

Now my adrenaline was in high gear. I really had no idea we’d be this close to the action. As soon as we arrived and parked I started to get my gear ready when someone shouted that the 747 was on its way to the holding point and would be starting its takeoff roll in a matter of minutes or less!

Wait, I thought, I’m not ready. Now I had a taste of what it must be like to be a news photographer. The news doesn’t wait to be covered. It happens when its ready to happen…and I was well behind the curve.

I had time to grab my camera body, my short telephoto zoom and that was about it. I ran to the runway’s edge over the dry desert vegetation and sandy soil. How I didn’t trip in the low light still amazes me. All I saw was the 747 off in the distance making its turn to line up on the runway centerline at the other end with the aircraft landing lights briefly brightened as the high beam passed my eyeballs. Then, with no fanfare, we could hear its engines revving to full power as it began the takeoff roll.

It took only 20 seconds or so before it came to the point where we were all standing and by then was a couple of hundred feet high in the brightening but still blue pre-sunrise sky. It was an amazing sight to see the shuttle bolted to the top of an already huge aircraft fighting for airspeed, altitude and relative safety.

Looking back, I made lots of mistakes at this shoot. I wasn’t prepared like I should have been. My camera settings were all wrong, or at least not optimal. I was lucky to get the few decent shots that I did but I’m thankful for the ones I have. What an opportunity that was! What a great place to take photographs and what timing to be there at all!

As the last shuttle makes it final flight in a matter of a few weeks, I look back on my time covering one of the last ferry flights out of Edwards Air Force Base. I’m grateful I was allowed to do it and have a lot of pride in the thousands of people who make it all work. We live in a great country!

Thanks for reading!