From the Astro Scrapbook......

[kinetic (Steve)]

Hi all,

Well, I can't quite bring myself to throw out my Astro-Scrapbook that has been a part of my life for over 30 years or more.
It is a beaten up old foolscap folder, spine long gone, and held together with duct tape.
It has some of my earliest ramblings and drawings about space, rockets,
the first space shuttle flights, hand drawn charts of the sky where Halley's Comet
drifted through the months of 86/87 etc.

It has some of my earliest forays into astro-photography, printed in my own b/w darkroom I set up as an early teenager. I lived and breathed space as a kid.
What is there to inspire young kids now, with the lapse of such a huge manned space program such as the Shuttle, possibly drifting into a wilderness, maybe years or decades long?

As a side thought, just on the shuttle program, it has been 30 years
long. That is a long time for a craft to be flying.
I know the airframes of these 5 shuttles are far from original but even in
space terms it would be like Saturn Vs still flying in the late 90's

My dad was roughly my age when the first Shuttle flew in 81.
Now I'm the age he was, 30 years on and my son is roughly the age
that I was when I was so inspired by space.

I thought I would share maybe a glimpse of how passionate I was
as a kid, collecting everything I could about space. Here are some
clippings of just the first 3 Shuttle flights (STS-1,2,3) and the maiden flight of Challenger (STS-6).

What do you guys have in your scrapbook? Feel free to add.....

ps apologies for the poor scan quality of some

Steve

[kinetic (Steve)]

a few more...

[Ric]

I wouldn't be throwing that away Steve.

It's a bit of family history for your kids and their kids to read in future years.

Cheers

[gary]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the background story and scanned images of your clippings
from the early days of the Shuttle.

Originally Posted by kinetic

As a side thought, just on the shuttle program, it has been 30 years
long. That is a long time for a craft to be flying.

Another example of a airframe with a remarkable longevity is the Boeing
B-52 Stratofortress.

There were eight different production versions, the H model being the only version
in service today. However, the last H model rolled off the production line in Wichita
in June 1962! There are 94 remaining and the USAF plans to keep them in service
to at least 2040, some 78 years after production ended and 85 years after the
first B-52 originally entered service.

There are stories of the grandchildren of pilots that first flew them that are flying them
now. In the coming years, it may also transpire that the great-grandchildren of the
original pilots will be flying them.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Here's my contribution. Some very old pamhlets from STS5 and 6 and photos of Enterprise piggy backed on a 747. First trip of the orbiter to Europe in Paris Le bourget in the early 80s. Also a shot of the Ariane launcher prototype before ESA even had a space program.

[kinetic (Steve)]

Originally Posted by gary

Another example of a airframe with a remarkable longevity is the Boeing
B-52 Stratofortress.

There were eight different production versions, the H model being the only version
in service today. However, the last H model rolled off the production line in Wichita
in June 1962! There are 94 remaining and the USAF plans to keep them in service
to at least 2040, some 78 years after production ended and 85 years after the
first B-52 originally entered service.

Remarkable story Gary,

Marc, awesome...absolutely awesome

Here's a few pics from the early 80s space program my brother and I
were involved in at a secret clay pan in far west NSW
We even had a Shuttle, I'll see if I can find a pic of that....

Steve

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Very cool stuff guys, pays to keep things sometimes

Mike