NASA Original Kodak C-Print — Space Shuttle Columbia Atop Boeing 747 SCA, White Sands Departure, 1982

The wheels of the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft are still kissing the lakebed — gear down, four engines churning a wall of dust against the desert flats, the Fra Cristobal range rising behind — while Space Shuttle Columbia rides piggyback on its ferry cradle, "United States" lettering sharp along the fuselage, the NASA tail markings clear above it all. This is the departure: April 6, 1982, White Sands Space Harbor (Northrup Strip), Doña Ana County, New Mexico, the SCA lifting Columbia off New Mexico soil and beginning the ferry flight back to Kennedy Space Center.

The photograph comes directly from the collection of a White Sands Missile Range employee — someone with firsthand access to the operation documented here. The terrain confirms it: the pale Tularosa Basin flats, the distinctive desert mountain silhouette, and the scale of the scene are unmistakable to anyone who knows this ground. STS-3 had diverted from Edwards Air Force Base after flooding closed the California site, touching down on Runway 17 at Northrup Strip on March 30, 1982 — the only Space Shuttle mission ever to land in New Mexico. Columbia sat on the lakebed for a week before the SCA took it back. This print records the moment it left. Printed on Kodak chromogenic paper — confirmed by the repeating verso watermark "This Paper Manufactured by Kodak" — the warm C-print tonality is consistent with original NASA-era photographic production of the early 1980s. No NASA caption, date, or photographer credit appears on the verso.

From the collection of a White Sands Missile Range employee with direct access to the STS-3 SCA departure operations at White Sands Space Harbor, April 1982.

STS-3 holds a singular place in New Mexico history: the only Space Shuttle mission to land in the state, and White Sands Space Harbor the only Shuttle landing site outside Florida and California ever used in the program's operational history. Ferry-flight photography of an orbiter atop the SCA ranks among the most visually commanding imagery of the Shuttle era. A print tied by provenance to a WSMR employee and confirmed to document the White Sands departure sequence carries regional significance well beyond the generic space-photo market.

CONDITION

Very Good. The print presents with a warm overall color cast consistent with chromogenic aging of the period; image surface is clean with strong tonal detail throughout. Verso is blank apart from the repeating Kodak paper watermark, with light handling and minor surface specks consistent with age and storage.

DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS

• Image/Sheet: 8.5" × 11"
• Process: Chromogenic color print (C-print)
• Paper: Kodak — verso watermark reads "This Paper Manufactured by Kodak"
• Subject: NASA Space Shuttle Columbia atop Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, SCA departure sequence
• Site: White Sands Space Harbor (Northrup Strip), White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico
• Date: April 6, 1982 — STS-3 SCA departure
• Verso: No NASA caption, stamp, date, or photographer credit present
• Provenance: Collection of a WSMR employee