2-860-749 - Heritage Space/Heritage Images

Mattingly and Hartsfield Salute President Reagan, Edwards Air Force Base, California, USA, 1982. Columbia Space Shuttle astronauts Commander Thomas K. Mattingly, foreground, and Pilot Henry W. Hartsfield salute President Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy, as the astronauts begin the customary walk-around inspection of the orbiter after landing. Mattingly and Hartsfield were the first to land the Shuttle on a concrete runway. The landing proved that the shuttle could return safely to a precisely targeted location on Earth.