From Earth to Moon
STS-115 under Xenon lights on launch pad 39B, Sept. 2005. Photo John Post Manhattan Beach photographer John Post goes out of his orbit to photograph natural and manmade wonders It was the first day of July, 2011, and the United States space shuttle program was drawing to a close. The shuttle Atlantis was scheduled to lift off one week later, on July 8. After that, it would be the end of an era, and America would not be sending astronauts into space for the foreseeable future. “Several weeks earlier I had resigned myself to the fact that I was never going to see another space shuttle launch live,” says John Post. While his reputation rests largely with his panoramic views of South Bay beaches and piers, as well as his gallery in downtown Manhattan Beach, Post is also a seasoned world traveler with two very special passions. As he describes them, one of these is his “celestial photography of solar eclipses,” and the other his “terrestrial photography of space shuttle launches.” Solar eclipse and baobab tree, Zimbabwe 2001. Photo John Post He’d racked up five solar eclipses, but it looked like his encounters with the space shuttle would end its run at four. Having already…
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