First shuttle launch from KSC done by TODAY newspaper in 1978
March 11, 2018, marks the 40th anniversary of the launch of the first space shuttle from Kennedy Space Center.
Most of you probably think the first shuttle launched on April 12, 1981, but that’s not entirely accurate.
The first launch was a mini-shuttle commissioned by TODAY newspaper (predecessor of FLORIDA TODAY) editorial staff from the parking lot of the KSC Visitor Complex – not too far from where the modern day rocket garden sits.
This historic achievement came about as a result of good professional relationships between TODAY staffers and key personnel at KSC.
How the event, which was called “Will It Fly?” or “Baumbach’s Folly,” unfolded came about as the space shuttle program in the late 1970s was having difficulty meeting timelines for launching the first shuttle.
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One of my copy editors suggested that I go to a toy store and buy a model space shuttle rocket and put it together so the NASA personnel and contractors working on the real project would get some ideas on how to move the project along more quickly.
I purchased the shuttle model and started to put it together in my home office. Once the shuttle was assembled we mentioned the project to then-director of public information at NASA, Hugh Harris.
Hugh asked where the launch would take place and I told him my front yard. He suggested launching it from KSC, but I said that would probably never happen.
Hugh had other ideas. He made it happen, and so we turned our attention to launching from KSC property.
In a reversal of roles, it was decided that the editorial staffers at TODAY would be the rocket specialists and that the NASA personnel and contractors would serve as the news media. The launch site was identified as the parking lot of the visitor center.
There was a pre-launch news conference with TODAY editorial staffers, along with my wife, Diane – who served as launch director – answering hardball questions from the NASA and contractor “reporters.”
We then moved out to the parking lot launch site. There were about 600 people who showed up for the launch because the Associated Press had run a story about the project and they thought it was the real space shuttle launch. You could imagine the surprise of many in attendance.
Our son, Douglas (known today as actor Cullen Douglas), who was 10 years old at the time, served as the commentator (he was given a tutorial by Hugh) while our daughter, Elisa, who was 6 years old, served as the weather specialist and released a hot air balloon to check wind conditions.
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We were delayed for a short time by a boat that wandered onto the range.
How could that happen in a parking lot, you ask?
Air Force Capt. Rocky Rabb, who served as the Air Force public information officer at Patrick Air Force Base, placed a small plastic toy boat next to the mini shuttle and then asked an officer who served as an Air Force helicopter pilot what he would do in such a situation.
The pilot looked down at the toy boat and shouted “go away” and then reached down and removed the boat.
With the range clear, it was time for launch.
Lee Scherer, who was the NASA director of the Kennedy Space Center, was also present. He was asked if he would permit the liftoff of the mini shuttle.
“It is with great trepidation that I will permit the launch,” he said.
After the 10-second countdown by our son, launch director Diane pressed the launch control button and the mini shuttle took off, rising to an incredible height of 150 feet. The shuttle separated from the rocket engines and then it landed across the parking lot without any damage.
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Following the launch there was a post launch news conference and the “reporters” said they were very impressed with the successful flight.
It would be three years and a month before another shuttle would fly – you know, shuttle Columbia on April 12, 1981.
The history books say that was the first shuttle launch, but now you know the truth.
The original shuttle still resides in the Baumbach Hall of Fame in Viera.
Baumbach was TODAY’s aerospace editor from 1977-80.
