Space Forum / Shuttle / June 2007

We didn't really have two distinct shocks here in Lancaster.  Rather,
the two kind of ran together.  I'm wondering if we'd have heard the
booms down in Palm Desert or if it would have been too high to for the
shock to reach the ground.  Of course, they had a nice sharp double
boom out at Dryden.

I kind of had to laugh in commiseration, sitting in my nice
air-conditioned house, at how everyone out on the runway was standing
in the only shade, under the Orbiter, when the crew came out and left.
It was probably over 105° on the concrete and there wasn't any other
shade at all.  

I can remember going to an Edwards Open House one year when the Santa
Anas were blowing and it was about 95° and dead calm.  The most
popular airplane on the ramp was the C-17; everyone wanted to stand in
the shadow of its big T-tail, which was outside the roped-off area.  I
ended up volunteering to stand with the SR-71 and answer questions so
I could use its shadow.  In the morning I was answering questions from
under the starboard wingtip and in the afternoon from the port wingtip
(the nose was pointed south, obviously).

Mary "Not that there's that much shade in the desert, of course"