© John A. Chakeres

In the early days of manned spaceflight every mission did something that had never been done before. Every spaceflight seemed to be the first at something, the first American in space, the first American to orbit the earth, the first American to walk in space, the first man on the moon. And with the Space Shuttle, the firsts continued. The Space Shuttle was the first reusable manned spacecraft, the first to launch and retrieve satellites while in a space, the first to launch an American woman into space. And, between 1981 and 1986 NASA had four operational Space Shuttles, Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, and Atlantis. Those four vehicles comprised the first fleet of manned spacecraft.

These never-before-seen images represent a unique time in the history of human spaceflight which was filled with excitement and optimism about the future of space travel.  John wanted to create images that were majestic and symbolic and gave the viewer a sense of what was required to fly such a complex piece of technology. He was intrigued by how its design created a unique looking vehicle, and its final form was determined by its function. Realizing his vision of the project required John to invent his own tools; using the original Apple Macintosh computer, he designed remote camera triggering devices to start the motor driven cameras at the moment of launch. He also designed housings to protect the cameras from the harsh Florida environment. 

The project was never finished. It ended with the Challenger accident in 1986. It was hard to continue the work after witnessing this accident, and John decided to set the project aside. For more the twenty-five years these negatives were kept in storage and never printed. Shuttle flights resumed in 1988 and the last Shuttle mission was launched in 2011. With the program now part of history, Chakeres was encouraged to revisit the project. 

"I see these photographs as a time capsule of a unique time in the history of manned spaceflight. Between 1981 and 1986, the Shuttle program went from an R&D program to a fully operational commercial space program. With every launch I witnessed, it felt like I had a front row seat to the future. It was this excitement I hoped to capture in these photographs. The same excitement I felt when I was a little kid watching Alan Shepard and John Glenn go into space."  
-John A. Chakeres

The exhibition features 56 color photographs, from iconic portraits of the four shuttles, roll outs, flights, and a stunning launch sequence presented as a grid.  The book First Fleet: NASA's Space Program 1981-1986 was published in 2018 by Daylight Books, the publication coincided with the 60th anniversary of NASA, October 2018. Chakeres is available for gallery talks and book signing events, please contact us for details.