WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

KSC-79PC-0046 The space shuttle orbiter 102 Columbia riding ?piggyback? on NASA 905, a 747 carrier aircraft, is only seconds away from landing on Kennedy Space Center?s Shuttle landing facility, ending a 2,400-mile ferry flight from California. The T-38 chase plane at left is flown by Donald K. Slayton, manager for the orbital fight test (OFT) program. Columbia will be used for the OFT program, and it will be manned by astronauts John W. Young and Robert L. Crippen the first time it flies in space. The vehicle assembly building (VAB) is in right background.