It took us about an hour to arrive at the next Presidential site on our agenda – President Lincoln and Soldiers’ Home National Monument. Next time, I will pose alongside that big bird! Without a doubt, I would like to return and visit Discovery again in the future. We could’ve easily spent the entire day there, but we decided to forge ahead with the Presidential agenda. There had to be hundreds of flight-related vehicles that were on display at the Hazy Center some were historic, while others were vintage. Colonel Paul Tibbets waves from the cockpit of the Enola Gay as he prepares to take flight towards Hiroshima. The cockpit of the Enola Gay where Colonel Paul Tibbets flew the plane into history. Another view of the airplane that helped end World War II. When Little Boy detonated 1,968-feet above Hiroshima, between 70,000 and 80,000 people were killed in the firestorm. The Enola Gay was the plane that dropped the world’s first atomic bomb that bomb was known as Little Boy. The huge plane, with a wing-span of just over 141 feet, was named after Colonel Paul Tibbets’ mother Enola Gay Tibbets. That airplane was a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber and was used to drop the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945. We were finished with the space portion of the Hazy Center and I was anxious to see one of the most famous military aircraft in history – the Enola Gay. I should have posed with this unit as Richard Nixon was positioned near the window as he spoke with the astronauts onboard the USS Hornet. When the three Apollo 11 astronauts returned to Earth in 1969, they were quarantined in the MQF for 21 days. A view of the top portion of the space suit worn by Apollo 15 astronaut James Irwin while he walked on the surface of the Moon. The Gemini 7 space capsule that was flown in Earth orbit in December 1965 by Frank Borman and James Lovell. Also in the vicinity was a space suit worn on the surface of the Moon by Apollo 15 astronaut James Irwin as well as the Apollo 11 Mobile Quarantine Facility. Near the shuttle, we saw the Gemini 7 space capsule that was flown by Frank Borman and James Lovell in December of 1965.
It was hard to leave the Shuttle Discovery, but there were a few more historic aircraft that we wanted to see before we headed back to D.C. Tom had to pose on a stairway in an effort to get the entire Space Shuttle Discovery into the frame. When my cameraman stood directly beneath the tail section of Discovery, it gave a better perspective of the orbiter’s actual size. The leading edge of Columbia’s left wing was damaged upon launch on Januand the orbiter was destroyed on re-entry on February 1, 2003. I spent some time thinking about the Columbia astronauts when we walked under the left wing of Discovery. It was on the left wing of Columbia where a suitcase-size chunk of foam insulation struck the orbiter and ultimately caused it to disintegrate upon re-entry killing all seven astronauts. At one point, when we stood near the left wing of Discovery, I thought about the shuttle Columbia. And how could I blame him? The Space Shuttle Discovery was amazing to see up-close, and we spent a lot of time walking on all sides of it. In this closeup view of Discovery, it’s easy to see some of the nearly 25,000 heat resistant tiles that covered the orbiter and protected it from the high temperatures of re-entry.Įven though I wasn’t photographed inside the Hazy Center, that didn’t stop Tom from posing alongside some of the famous air and space craft while Bob manned the camera. The view of the nose section of Discovery as seen from a viewing platform that was located above the front of the famed Space Shuttle.
#When did enola gay take off full#
As a matter of fact, Discovery spent a cumulative total of almost a full year in space. During Discovery’s 27 years of service, it had been launched and landed 39 times. When we learned more about the retired space ship, I was blown away even more. The top of my camera case was left open so I could see the exhibits and I was blown away by the sheer size of Space Shuttle Discovery.
Once we were through the doors of the massive complex, we headed straight for the Space Shuttle. That complex was an annex to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Udvar-Hazy Center that was located near Chantilly, Virginia. Even though there was no plan of me being photographed near any of the exhibits, I was excited that I would see three historic aircraft: The Space Shuttle Discovery, the Enola Gay, and the Gemini 7 space capsule. The Udvar-Hazy Center was home to thousands of aircraft, as well as some famous space craft. Udvar-Hazy Center, an annex of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, at around 11:00am on July 19, 2014. After all, I had stood where no bobble head has ever dared to stand – on the grave of President John F. Following our visit to Arlington, my mind was racing during the 45-minute ride to Chantilly, Virginia.