Behind every great achievement is a support team that makes the incredibly difficult (and sometimes seemingly impossible) a reality. Such has always been the case with NASA's manned space program. From Alan B. Shepard Jr.'s first subor- bital Mercury spaceflight on May 5, 1961, to the present-day Space Shuttle Program, one im-portant part of NASA's team-effort approach has been its Aircraft Operations Division (AOD). Based at Ellington Field in Houston, it's a unique flight department with aircraft, pilots, and responsibilities unlike any in the world. Sitting literally next door to Houston's sprawling Johnson Space Center, Ellington Field looks every bit the former Air Force base it is, right up to the massive KC-135 mounted on a pylon that greets visitors arriving via the main entrance on Aerospace Boulevard. Acres of reinforced concrete ramps and rows of perfectly aligned T-38N tandem-seat supersonic trainers parked on the tarmac near the AOD hangar support this impression.
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