alb@alice.UUCP (Adam L. Buchsbaum) (04/27/84)
There was some problem with this message before, I will will repost. The shuttle has emergency landing sites in Dakar, Senegal (primary abort landing during first phase of launch), Rota, Spain (former primary abort site), EAFB (primary abort after one orbit site), White Sands Missile Base (secondary abort after one orbit site), and a site in Japan. In the unlikely event that all of these are stricken by bad weather at once, the shuttle can land at any airport with a 15,000 foot runway (Orlando, most all of your international airports, military airports, etc.) So a place to land will never be a problem.
jao@ihopa.UUCP (Julia O'Keefe) (04/27/84)
Thanks to all for the information about alternative landing site possibilities. How's this for some historical perspective: Once upon a time, when I was looking around in a research library, I found some *very* old copies of "Aviation Week." These were *long* before it became "Aviation Week and Space Technology." There was an article by one of the Wright brothers on his view of the future of aviation. He envisioned a future in which it would be possible to fly safely across America. The technology would become so sophisticated, he felt, that planes would be capable of *gliding* safely for several miles after (inevitable) engine failure. So runways would be constructed every 10 miles all across the country to provide for safe emergency landings. -- Julia O'Keefe ..!ihnp4!ihopa!jao AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, Il.