al@questar.QUESTAR.MN.ORG (Al Viall) (09/26/89)
I just finished an article in Sept's. issue of DISCOVER which tells of alternate landing sites for the shuttles depending upon different variations of the flight path. I did not know there were sites in Spain and Northwestern Africa. My question to the board is this. Wasn't there alot of talk many years ago, of using the landing strip at KSC for all shuttle landings, and leaving Edwards and White Sands as the alternates? Are they still planning this, or has it been scrapped? Albert Viall -- | INTERNET: al@questar.QUESTAR.MN.ORG | FLASH: "Dan Quayle's face | | UUCP: ..!amdahl!tcnet!questar!al | seen on Mars" It Looks Puzzled| | "Uhh, Excuse me while I take a moment to adjust my tribble." | ------------------------------------------------------------------------
henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) (09/26/89)
In article <3410@questar.QUESTAR.MN.ORG> al@questar.QUESTAR.MN.ORG (Al Viall) writes: >... Wasn't there alot of talk many years >ago, of using the landing strip at KSC for all shuttle landings, and leaving >Edwards and White Sands as the alternates? >Are they still planning this, or has it been scrapped? It's been scrapped, for the foreseeable future anyway. The trouble is that KSC is a lousy place to land a shuttle. The weather is too changeable. It is not at all unheard-of for a small thunderstorm to come into existence in the length of time between shuttle retrofire and landing. The weather at Edwards is both better and more predictable, and in addition the dry lakebed provides an enormous emergency runway that is not too sensitive to minor piloting errors. The disadvantage is that ferrying the bird back to KSC adds cost and delay; this is now seen as a worthwhile tradeoff. -- "Where is D.D. Harriman now, | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology when we really *need* him?" | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu
jbayer@ispi.UUCP (Jonathan Bayer) (09/26/89)
al@questar.QUESTAR.MN.ORG (Al Viall) writes: >My question to the board is this. Wasn't there alot of talk many years >ago, of using the landing strip at KSC for all shuttle landings, and leaving >Edwards and White Sands as the alternates? >Are they still planning this, or has it been scrapped? After the Challenger they decided that there were too many risks involved to land at KSC (no alternate runway, swamp all around, etc) JB -- Jonathan Bayer Intelligent Software Products, Inc. (201) 245-5922 500 Oakwood Ave. jbayer@ispi.COM Roselle Park, NJ 07204
art@buengc.BU.EDU (A. R. Thompson) (10/08/89)
In article <1173@ispi.UUCP> jbayer@ispi.UUCP (Jonathan Bayer) writes: >al@questar.QUESTAR.MN.ORG (Al Viall) writes: > >>My question to the board is this. Wasn't there alot of talk many years >>ago, of using the landing strip at KSC for all shuttle landings, and leaving >>Edwards and White Sands as the alternates? >>Are they still planning this, or has it been scrapped? > > > >After the Challenger they decided that there were too many risks involved to >land at KSC (no alternate runway, swamp all around, etc) Did any of the shuttle flights ever actually land at KSC?
henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) (10/08/89)
In article <4468@buengc.BU.EDU> art@buengc.bu.edu (A. R. Thompson) writes: >>After the Challenger they decided that there were too many risks involved to >>land at KSC (no alternate runway, swamp all around, etc) > >Did any of the shuttle flights ever actually land at KSC? Yes, a few of them did. Before Challenger, NASA was trying quite hard to make KSC the primary landing site, although there were a number of diversions to Edwards for weather reasons. -- A bit of tolerance is worth a | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology megabyte of flaming. | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu
aviator@athena.mit.edu (Joakim Karlsson) (10/08/89)
In article <4468@buengc.BU.EDU> art@buengc.bu.edu (A. R. Thompson) writes: >In article <1173@ispi.UUCP> jbayer@ispi.UUCP (Jonathan Bayer) writes: >> >>After the Challenger they decided that there were too many risks involved to >>land at KSC (no alternate runway, swamp all around, etc) > >Did any of the shuttle flights ever actually land at KSC? Yes, at least to my knowledge. I've seen footage of it (courtesy of Imax), including a view from the cockpit. It looked liked landing on a carrier deck, minus a go-around option. Not much margin for error. Also, if I recall the account correctly fog covered the runway within one hour of the landing. Joakim Karlsson | iceman@bellerophon.mit.edu Flying Fanatic in Training | {backbone}!bloom-beacon!bellerophon.mit.edu!iceman "Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings"