Approach and Landing Tests. Were a series of. And flight trials of the. Conducted in 1977 to test the vehicle’s flight characteristics both on its own and when mated to the. Prior to the operational debut of the Shuttle system. Vintage 1st generation photograph, paper by Kodak, watermark: This Paper Manufactured by Kodak. This photograph was once part of the Rockwell international archives, has a label on the lower right: ORBITER 101/747 CARRIER AIRCRAFT- FIRST CAPTIVE FLIGHT (FEBRUARY 18, 1977). (please see close up photos for details of the photo, which is in very good vintage condition, the measure is 8 “x 10″).