I live in California within an hour or so of Edwards, and was wondering if anyone knew if it were possible for civilians like me to go watch a landing of the space shuttle. How would I go about it?
Is it possible? Not since 9/11, unfortunately, but it used to be, and pretty cool, from what I understand.
Maybe they will ease up in a few months.
You could contact NASA to find out for sure. (Not that I’m doubting EJsGirl.) When I worked at EAFB they sent people waaayyy out to the boonies to watch the landing. Since I worked at Ridley Mission Control just across the street from the TPS hangars, I’d send off the final rawindsonde report to JSC and go up to the FAA hill. I had an excellent view of the landing, but the Shuttle would stop rolling behind a couple of large hangars so I couldn’t see it from the FAA hill.
I think nearly all shuttle landings are at Kennedy Space Center now. This saves the expense of flying the shuttle back to Florida.
Edwards is used as a backup only.
Mr. Moto: You are correct. I heard the booms yesterday and I forgot…