paul@axiom.UUCP (Paul O`Shaughnessy) (03/21/86)
Now that the crew compartment has been recovered in a far less damaged state than had been expected (at least publicly) by NASA, I'd like to again ask the question that was discussed soon after the explosion - how survivable can the shuttle be made, within reason? I have read the accounts of how the crew compartment may have survived the explosion relatively intact. The lower deck appears to have been seriously damaged but the upper deck left intact. This tells me that the compartment is ruggedly built. I have also read that the compartment is attached to the shuttle hull in only a few places, much as an engine is mounted in a car. Would it be possible to eject the entire compartment from the top of the shuttle in the event of a similar catastrophe? I'm sure that the g forces involved would be wild, but perhaps survivable. Critical real-time information would also have to be available to the pilots. The entire capsule could deploy parachutes to land in the water. I don't know what sort of deceleration the capsule would experience upon ejection, so perhaps someone in the know could comment. Is this fantasy? What would be the cost in dollars and weight? What is the probability of ejection at the wrong time (in orbit or reentry) and would this outweigh the advantage? Could humans survive such a sequence? Knowlegable comment supported by some facts and calculation would be very interesting. Thanks in advance.
dbb@aicchi.UUCP (Burch) (03/28/86)
The B1-a had an escape pod system where the enire crew compartment would separate and come down on parachutes. It would be possible to completely redesign the shuttle to have this feature, but it is potentally more dangerous than the current situation; What if it separated at the wrong time, like in orbit?? -- -David B. (Ben) Burch Analyst's International Corp. Chicago Branch (ihnp4!aicchi!dbb) "Argue for your limitations, and they are yours"