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George Diller/NASA Public Affairs: To a space shuttle commander returning with

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a crew from orbit, the sight is unmistakable: three miles of straight, smooth concrete

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running northwest to southeast on the swampy shores of a triangular island on

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Florida's Atlantic Coast. It is NASA's Shuttle Landing Facility, a welcoming expanse

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that marked the finish line for space shuttle missions beginning in 1984.

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Landing Commentator: Touchdown.

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(Cheers)

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Stephen Frick/STS-122 Commander: It's a very different experience. I mean, the

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shuttle's coming in as a glider, so we're very interested after we do our deorbit burn

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on the other side of the world, basically, of tracking our progress very carefully

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across the Pacific and then across Mexico and the Caribbean as we come into the

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Kennedy Space Center. And then once you get close to the Kennedy Space Center,

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coming in on that steep dive, lining up with the runway and getting it touched down

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much faster than an airliner or even a tactical jet would touch down.

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George Diller/NASA Public Affairs: The largest and smallest airplanes of the day

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have used the runway for takeoffs and landings, but it was built for a winged craft in

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particular, one returning from space. That craft would become NASA's space 
shuttles.

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Larry Parker/Air Traffic Controller: When they built this particular runway, the orbiter hadn't

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been designed, it was still a concept, so they went about making the absolute best all-weather

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runway they possibly could.

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George Diller/NASA Public Affairs: At about 15,000 feet long and three hundred feet

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across, the Shuttle Landing Facility is among the longest runways ever built. It's also one of

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the strongest, thanks to concrete 16 inches thick in the center.

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Ken Hooks/Air Traffic Controller: Anything can land here, any aircraft, any weight class

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can land out here.

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George Diller/NASA Public Affairs: NASA began construction on the runway in April 1974

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about two miles northeast of the Vehicle Assembly Building, carving and shaping the strip out

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of the swamplands. The Shuttle Landing Facility opened to aircraft in 1976.

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Larry Parker/Air Traffic Controller: Yeah, you can see it for a long, long way. In fact, we've

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got pictures you can actually see this runway from space without too much problem on a nice

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clear day.

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George Diller/NASA Public Affairs: A space shuttle returns from orbit as a glider, so

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astronauts only get one chance to land the spacecraft.

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Ken Hooks/Air Traffic Controller: I had an opportunity to fly with the, what they call the

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Shuttle Training Aircraft, which goes up and makes practice approaches for the astronauts to

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train. And I had an opportunity to go up into that and actually make a dive as you would in the

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orbiter. And it's a normal aircraft is 3 degrees, we were doing anywhere from 19 to about 22

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degrees. So, it's just almost like a rock falling at the ground.

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George Diller/NASA Public Affairs: That's one reason the shuttle's runway was built with

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plenty of room to spare. Another is that the shuttle touches down much faster than an airliner.

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Shuttle wheels typically hit the runway at about 230 mph, compared to an airliner's landing

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velocity of around 150.

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James P. Dutton Jr./STS-131 Pilot: Well, yeah, it's a large aircraft, and so I sort of expected

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it would be a little bit more sluggish. And, you know, in rule, the STA is a little bit more sluggish

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than the actual vehicle was. So, when I took control, I actually got to make a few inputs. The

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nose needed to come up a little bit and rolled in a little bit, and during all those inputs, it felt

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more like a fighter than a heavy airplane. So, the controls are very responsive in the shuttle.

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Landing Commentator: Main gear touchdown.

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George Diller/NASA Public Affairs: To the people who watch over a shuttle's return,

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there's simply nothing like it.

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Larry Parker/Air Traffic Controller:  It's surprising how steep and how fast it's moving.

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You're used to looking at airplanes that are approaching at typically 120, 140 knots for a

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typical jet with a touchdown around 90. The orbiter's coming down on final at about 300 knots,

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about 18,000 feet a minute rate of descent and he's crossing the threshold at about 200 knots.

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So, it happens really, really fast.

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George Diller/NASA Public Affairs: On days when there is not a space shuttle returning, the

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airfield, or spaceport, is obviously not as busy, but there seems to always be something going on.

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Larry Parker/Air Traffic Controller:  Well, obviously we're not as busy as most other

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airfields. You know, we're not Chicago-O'Hare out here, but we do things that are totally

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unique in the air traffic control field. You don't work shuttle trainers at a normal airport, some

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of the experimental things that we've done, the research and development things, are pretty

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unique to this facility.

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George Diller/NASA Public Affairs: The runway at Kennedy has hosted renowned

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aeronautic explorers, including Steve Fossett and his "GlobalFlyer." Fossett took off from the

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Shuttle Landing Facility in February 2006 and completed a record-breaking solo flight around

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the world and across the Atlantic a second time. Exotic aircraft are not strangers to the ramp

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at Kennedy. Nor are strange aircraft combinations.

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Ken Hooks/Air Traffic Controller: The 747 with the orbiter is really impressive to me. It's

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almost more impressive to watch that land than to watch a launch because an aircraft like that

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carrying another aircraft can fly. That's amazing. When you look at the size of that, you just

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wonder how in the world that thing can get off the ground.

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George Diller/NASA Public Affairs: The runway also is used by vehicles without wings.

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Larry Parker/Air Traffic Controller:  So, it makes a great testbed for things like NASCAR

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who have been out here doing some straight line testing.

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Dan Olson/Aerodynamics Engineer: It's really been a nice facility so far for us to use. It's a

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very flat surface that works very well for us. The data that we're getting is very good. Not

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bumpy like a lot of the tracks we're used to.

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George Diller/NASA Public Affairs: For the air traffic controllers at NASA's Shuttle Landing

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Facility, the opportunity is one-of-a-kind.

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Ken Hooks/Air Traffic Controller: I remember looking across the river, they were getting

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ready for a moon shot. And I remember looking over there, thinking about that, never

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dreaming that I'd end up working right here and being part of this space program.

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Larry Parker/Air Traffic Controller:  That was really exciting, the first time you get to see a

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shuttle land, and it's something you never really get used to. It never becomes mundane, and

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you know, it's always an exciting thing whether it's a day landing, a night landing.

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George Diller/NASA Public Affairs: The shuttle's retirement will not end the Shuttle Landing

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Facility's career. The runway is already hosting space tourism and research firms conducting