NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center photos from the 1980s

PA-30 Twin Comanche - NASA 808 in hangar

Space Shuttle Simulator cockpit

F-15 #281 and F-104 #826 fly in formation during Space Shuttle tile testing.

F-15A #287 in flight

F-15A #287 flies formation with a T-38 chase over Edwards AFB.

The Space Shuttle Columbia touches down on lakebed runway 23 at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., to conclude the first orbital shuttle mission

Space Shuttle astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen (in tan space suits) are greeted by members of the ground crew after stepping off the Space Shuttle Columbia after STS-1

The Space Shuttle Columbia glides down over Rogers Dry Lake as it heads for a landing at Edwards Air Force Base at the conclusion of its first orbital mission

Large crowds gathered on Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards AFB to see the first landing of the Space Shuttle Columbia, completing its first orbital mission

Technicians towed the Shuttle back to the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center for post-flight processing and…

Technicians towed the Shuttle back to the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center for post-flight processing and…

Technicians towed the Shuttle back to the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center for post-flight processing and…

The Space Shuttle Columbia glides down over Rogers Dry Lake as it heads for a landing at Edwards AFB at the conclusion of its first orbital mission

Melvin Burke, Ike Gillam, Fitz Fulton, and Deke Slayton give the Space Shuttle Columbia a humorous sendoff before it's ferry flight back to KSC in Florida

Shuttle Enterprise Mated to 747 SCA on Ramp

Shuttle Enterprise Mated to 747 SCA in Flight

Liftoff of STS-26

CV-990 LSRA

X-29 Number Two in Flight Closeup of Spin Chute Mechanism

Pegasus Mated to B-52 Mothership - First Flight