No Products in the Cart
-
FREE SHIPPING on all US orders over $40
Captures the unique community of shuttle fans camping in the Mojave Desert, celebrating the dawn of the New Space Age.
Waiting for Spaceships vividly portrays a forgotten community of pilgrims who camped on a barren patch of California’s Mojave Desert to witness space shuttles come to Earth. It was during the 1980s and the dawn of the first New Space Age. The location was Edwards Air Force Base—endless miles of wild desert protecting the world’s top spot for military test flights. Photographer Ted Huetter camped with the shuttle fans for years, and his endearing images of the people there take us back to a precious time at a place like no other.
On the day before each shuttle landing, Edwards allowed any number of strangers to park, camp, and while away their time at a desolate viewing site a few miles from the shuttle runways. The visitors had to leave after the spaceship arrived. But while they were there, something magic happened, and they established a community. Kindness and eccentricities flowered. American patriotism was unabashed. All shared some hope for the future and a moment of wonder. The pilgrimages lasted only a decade. Huetter’s photos remind us of this special time in American culture and spaceflight history.
Ted Huetter’s visual storytelling has given personality to the history of aviation and spaceflight for decades. Since the 1970s his work has been seen in magazines ranging from Newsweek to Air & Space Smithsonian. He is the coauthor of Edwards Air Force Base, a contributing writer and photographer in five other aviation books, and since 2008 Huetter has been the photography and PR lead for the world’s largest independent aerospace museum, Seattle’s The Museum of Flight. A pilot for over 45 years, the subtleties of flight influence his art with unique perspectives on the essence of humanity and the environment.
