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If you have an AvGeek, outer space enthusiast, or avid reader in your life and can’t decide what to get them as a holiday gift, consider buying this new book by photographer Ted Huetter. In “Awaiting Spaceships: Scenes from a Desert Community in Love with the Space Shuttle,” Hueter documents the thousands of people who will gather to welcome the space shuttle upon its return to Earth.

For 30 years — from April 12, 1982 to July 21, 2011 — five orbiters flew into space for NASA’s Space Transportation System, or Space Shuttle program. These orbiters were Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantic and Endeavour. (The sixth space shuttle, Enterprise, was a test vehicle that did not go into space.)

NASA proudly notes that the Space Shuttle flew 135 missions. Not only do they often carry people into orbit, but they also “launched, recovered and repaired satellites, conducted cutting-edge research and built the largest structure in space, the International Space Station.”

While all space shuttle missions took off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, more than 50 of those missions landed in the Mojave Desert at Edwards Air Force Base in California — about 100 miles from Los Angeles.

“Some spectators came because they helped build the shuttle,” Hueter wrote. He noted that while many spectators came from greater Los Angeles, “adventurous retirees from around the country made the trek from Florida to California in recreational vehicles, bookending the trips with shuttle launches and landings.”

He added: “There was only one difficulty that they had to look at [the landings] About three miles from the runway through a rugged stretch of desert.”

To accommodate enthusiastic and dedicated spectators, the Air Force will open an official viewing area the day before each scheduled shuttle landing where people can set up camp.

At that remote location, the military directed traffic and supplied drinking water tanks, portable sanitary facilities, generators, streetlights, a first aid station, and a command post, Hütter reported. He added that he “generally keeps a low profile and a friendly presence.”

Hütter worked in LA and trekked to the desert to camp with shuttle enthusiasts for eight space shuttle landings during the 1980s. It began with STS-4, the fourth mission for Space Shuttle Columbia, which landed at Edwards Air Force Base on July 4, 1982. STS-4 was also the fourth shuttle mission overall and the final test flight before the program was officially considered. Operational

“I was there as a fan like most people at the public landing site, to experience some spaceflight history,” Hueter said, “in person rather than watching on TV.”

For every shuttle landing adventure, Hütter packs his camera gear with his camping gear. The photographs he took during those trips not only documented a unique slice of the space age but also the viewing sites and the people who were drawn to them year after year.

“I quickly fell in love with the site’s photogenic atmosphere and the people there,” Hueter said. He explained that whenever he returned to the site his first inspiration was as a space nerd and second as a photographer.

That pairing worked well. From 1982 to 1989, Hütter documented what he described as the site’s “quiet beauty, eerie charm and incredible display of America” ​​during a tour of eight shuttle landings.

His images, taken with film in an era before digital cameras, show landing runways alongside a diverse array of RVs and tents; food and souvenir vendors; And a diverse group of people waited, mingled, enjoyed and welcomed the shuttle home. From the arrival of the first campers to the touchdown of the shuttle, their chosen shots are organized to create a composite of 24 hours at the campsite.

“Waiting for Spaceships: Scenes from a Desert Community in Love with the Space Shuttle” includes a foreword by pilot and veteran NASA astronaut Tom Jones. It is available from Amazon for about $25 and from other booksellers.

Want to see a retired space shuttle? Here you can find them.

Space Shuttle Atlantis Located in the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Merritt Island, Florida. The vehicle is on display in flight, along with dozens of interactive exhibits about the history, technology and impact of NASA’s space shuttle program.

Space Shuttle Discovery Steven F. of the National Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, Virginia. Udwar-hazy is seen in the center.

Space Shuttle Endeavour is at the California Science Center in LA. However, it is out of sight while construction on a 200,000-square-foot addition to the main building is underway.

Space Shuttle EnterpriseNASA’s prototype orbiter is at the Intrepid Museum in New York City.

The space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after takeoff on January 28, 1986. On February 1, 2003, Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated while returning to Earth.