My Spacesuit began getting warmer as my pilot and I descended toward the Earth in our U2 spyplane. Behind us was the wildest photoshoot one could imagine, and had it not been for the video, many would not believe it. While the altitudes at which we did the photoshoot remain classified, the fact that the main camera body was rendered inoperable due to the pressure (or lack thereof) at such altitudes should tell you it was pretty far up there. However, just because the LCD screen from the camera was done didn’t stop me from recognizing that we had just done something very special. I took a couple of minutes to look at the beautiful sight of Earth in all of its curved splendor. I wanted nothing more than to return back to the base that we had launched from, kiss my wife, and have a drink.
However, in the time that we slipped down out of the stratosphere into the beautiful blue oxygen of the atmosphere, I took the time to reflect on what I had accomplished with my best friend, Riley. Riley was my German Shepherd, whom I was lucky to have had for nearly 13 years. He was my shadow, my pillow, and my stability in the face of any stress or fear. He passed away two years prior to the flight, but knowing that flight was a future possibility, I promised him I would go to the edge of Earth to be near him again. It is for this reason that when the Air Force told me I could take along something sentimental, I chose to bring his tag in the leg pocket of the spacesuit.
As I sat peacefully with the shoot behind me, I took out Riley’s blue dogbone tag, held it in my glove, and told him that we did it. The subsequent image is the only time I lifted the radiation visor to show my face during the flight. This was the moment for the flight that I let myself have—the rest of the time had been for everyone who worked so hard to make this mission happen.
It is with that in mind that I am honored to announce that the project has won the coveted Communication Arts Photo Annual. More than just a physical award, the Photo Annual represents an appreciation of the work that has been created. For this project and this award, that appreciation is for the pilots who flew the U2 Dragon Lady in ways that hadn’t been done before, for the ground crews that made sure we had a viable aircraft that was ready to take us far far away, to the squadron that prepared our spacesuits to keep us alive in the hostile environment above, to the many friends that filmed it so that we could show the world what went into the flight, to my best friend Mike that stood by me from day one, to my daughter that told that it was okay for Daddy to go to Space, to my wife that let me be scared and helped me hold my head high through it all, and to Riley for always stood by me. We did it.
Thank you.
