Several space shuttles have stopped in Tucson. They have been on their way home after landing in California at Edwards Air Force Base. It’s only a 90-minute flight for the big Boeing 747 that ferries the shuttle on its top. Atlantis has stopped here in 1988 and 1996.
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1988 Star photo
Hundreds of spectators watched Atlantis takeoff.
In December 1988, Atlantis landed at Edwards, following a classified military trip to space. It then flew home to Florida with a stop in Tucson. A fresh NASA crew awaited it here to take it on to Cape Canaveral.
The media had been notified that Atlantis was coming here and hundreds of Tucsonans turned out to greet it and, about seventeen hours later, to send it on its way East. Atlantis’ departure was delayed about three hours due to foggy weather in Texas.
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When Atlantis came back here, in April 1996, the visit was a bit more dramatic. During an earlier attempt to get the craft back from Edwards, a warning light flashed five minutes after the 747 took off from Edwards. The airliner jettisoned fuel and made an emergency landing back at Edwards.
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1996 Star photo
Atlantis takes off after a very brief stopover.
It was discovered that there had been a small fire in one of the engines. That engine was replaced. For that trip, Tucson was chosen as a good stop to make sure there were no further problems. The 747, and its shuttle passenger, stayed at Davis-Monthan less than 2 hours. Long enough to check the engine and take on 40,000 gallons of fuel.
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