STS-2 Landing at Edwards AFB, CA

S81-39563 (14 Nov. 1981) --- This view of the space shuttle Columbia (STS-2) was made with a hand-held 70mm camera in the rear station of the T-38 chase plane. Mission specialist/astronaut Kathryn D. Sullivan exposed the frame as astronauts Joe N. Engle and Richard H. Truly aboard the Columbia guided the vehicle to an unpowered but smooth landing on the desert area of Edwards Air Force base in California. The view provides a good study of the high temperature protection material on the underside of the spacecraft which is exposed to the friction on the atmospheric entry on the return to Earth. Also note trails from the wing tips. Photo credit: NASA