Trev-MUN here!
So, despite the fact that NASA's grounded the Space Shuttle fleet after their new observation cameras saw insulation foam still flying off parts of the tanks, Shuttle Discovery still managed to make it back safely. After landing, the Shuttles get a piggy-back ride back to Kennedy with NASA's own 747 carrier craft. Most of the time they don't ever get close to where I live
(which is, as of this writing, the Texas-Oklahoma reigon, somewhere northwest of Dallas ... what, you'd think I'd outright say what town I live in? :D ).
This one particular flight was different. Due to weather conditions the carrier craft diverted to a local United States Air Force military base, Altus AFB. I was born and raised an "air force brat" (meaning that one of my parents (my dad) was in the Air Force and thus I have no 'home state,' but rather lived on various military bases as my father was transferred around), and some of my early childhood was spent at Altus. It's also in Oklahoma, not too far a drive from where I currently live (which ironically is ANOTHER USAF base, since we got transferred here and my father retired).

Anyway. Long story short--for the sixth time in the Shuttle's history of missions, they were stopping at Altus. I HAD to see it.
I mean, this is the most exciting thing that's happened in Texoma.

Especially with the Shuttle's planned retirement in a decade or so, this kind of thing doesn't happen often enough to pass up. Heck, this is the closest I've been to an operational spacecraft. I've got a lot of photos to share, too. Enjoy them!

A shot of Altus AFB from the city's side of the flightline. On the other side's, er, well, an endless expanse of farmland and explosive cows. Romanov's plans to use hypnotized cattle just didn't work out ... Anyway, Altus is actually a lot bigger than what that pic might suggest; most of the base facilities are hidden by the screen of trees there.

A better closeup of the flight line. We used the entrance on this side of the base to get in and watch the Shuttle come in.

This picture was taken later outside the base, but you can see how the flightline just extends on and on. USAF bases are usually like that, but that goes for Altus especially, as it's where the United States Air Force keeps a portion of its transport and logistics aircraft (at least until that base realignment program goes through)--so the base is huge enough to handle massive cargo craft like the C-5 Galaxy and tankers like the KC-10 Extender and KC-135 Stratotanker.

Though you can't see it in the photos I took--see that car? There were TONS of them lined up on the side of the road. I swear, people from a 100 mile radius came to Altus to watch the Shuttle land and take off.

... Despite that, for some reason the base has a bunch of helicopters. I'm not talking the utility helis like, uh, that one they call the Pave Low. I'm pretty sure that copter behind the fence is an AH-1 Cobra of some kind. Attack helicopters. What the heck are those doing at an Air Force base, of all things? (For the record, the USAF is not responsible for attack helicopters. For the American military, the United States Army and Marine Corps handle combat helis.)

We managed to get pretty close to the flight line--not all that close considering, but enough to get some good screenshots (Yes, I called it screenshots, pipe down!). Our view of the Shuttle coming in was blocked, though, so the first opportunity to get shots was as it was taxiing in. You can kinda see it here, behind that C-5 Galaxy (big mofo of a plane, ain't it? Its cargo bay can hold an eight-lane bowling alley). Don't worry, I got a lot of better shots of the Shuttle. I just like that Galaxy shot.

They should name one of them C-5's "USS Enterprise D," just for the hilarity.

Keep your pants on! There's a real good pic of it coming up! That's a KC-135 Stratotanker in the foreground, by the way. One of the older refueling aircraft in the USAF. You can see the base's security police, too. Security has to be tighter than normal with a Shuttle--you know how fragile that aircraft is? I used to gape hearing how the F-117 Nighthawk's stealth signature would be ruined if you touched it bare handed; you can puncture a Shuttle's heat tiles with your finger. Yikes!

Here's a pretty good shot. I got better, though.

This is probably the best shot I have; the Shuttle and its carrier came back around after taxiing down the runway.

... and continues to taxii down the other way.

Pretty interesting contrast here, huh? The United States' current man-in-space vehicle, on top of a 747, flanked by the world's third (or was it second?) largest cargo aircraft, and ... well, a run-of-the-mill tanker. (I bet tanker crews're gonna kill me for that, if they ever read this :D )

We went over to where it parked--well, tried to anyway. Drove over to a golf course and hiked it across the base. Shuttle tourists had pretty much clogged nearby roadways leading to the base's control tower, which is close by where the Shuttle's carrier stopped for refueling. This is as far as we were allowed to go (note the rope). Any further, and, well. We'd get booked, Dano!

Speaking of which, I took a few pics of Altus AFB's control tower. Smile, you're on Candid Trev-MUN's Camera! *cackle*

In Soviet Altus, tower photographs YOU.

I should've taken some additional pictures of Altus AFB itself, but I didn't have much film left. We left the base and parked out by the highway with the tons of other spectators, as the Shuttle was getting ready to take off, headed for Louisiana where it'd refuel again and then go for Florida. Here's a good shot of the base's flightline, with the Shuttle on the righthand side.

And after almost an hour's wait, it paid off! DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNN *tankrush.ytmnd.com music*

*Austin Powers voice* YES! *snapshot* YES! *snapshot*

*gape* NO! NO!

Eh well, that's all I got; the film ran out then. It was fun to see it while it lasted! Hope these pics were of at least mild interest to all ya'll. I'm a big space nut (and a military/general aviation nut), so this was a must-see event of awesomeness. Even if it wasn't Shuttle returning from orbit, it was still Shuttle ... piggybacking.

Peace!