STS-1 Space Shuttle Columbia

 

The readiness of the ARIA crews faced a major test during the first Space Shuttle mission.  The flight recorders aboard the shuttle had failed.  It soon became apparent as the craft was preparing to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere that unless something was done quickly there would be no way to record the shuttle’s heat shield re-entry performance data. 

An ARIA supporting cruise missile flight tests at Edwards Air Force Base was tasked to take off and receive and record the information.  While en-route to the zone, calls were made between mission control, ARIA control, and the aircraft to reconfigure the equipment to receive the data. 

A process that normally took three days on the ground was accomplished in just two hours while in the air.  ARIA saved that day for NASA.

Exerpt from Lieutenant General Robert F. "Bob" Raggio Speech
ARIA Reunion - National Museum of the Air Force - 5 May 2001
Source: ARIA Archive

ARIA Crew STS-1 Coverage
Source: ARIA Archive