A stunning photo of Space Shuttle Discovery (OV-103), accompanied by a T-38 chase plane, during descent to a touchdown on Runway 17 at Edwards Air Force Base, September 5, 1984. The mission, STS-41D, marked Discovery’s maiden flight.
Very informative & enlightening reading:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-41-D
Credit: Wikipedia
And, disturbingly, the following from it caught my attention:
“Ominously, STS-41-D was the first Shuttle mission in which blow-by damage to the SRB O-rings was discovered, with a small amount of soot found beyond the primary O-ring. Following the Challenger disaster, Morton Thiokol engineer Brian Russell called this finding the first "big red flag" on SRB Joint and O-ring safety.”
Also:
forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=27635.0
Credit: NASA Spaceflight Forum website
I haven’t been able to find even a remotely similar photograph of this mission’s approach/descent. And, despite it looking a lot like the below linked image of STS-5, the hand annotation on the verso identifying it as “STS 41-D” is that of a knowledgeable previous owner/collector. Thus, I’m comfortable with the identification. Then again... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
The borderless photograph is in pristine condition.
