[net.space] Margin of Error 4 Landings

brahms@trwspp.UUCP (04/24/84)

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Since the topic of shuttle landings have come up, I have a question:

	What is the margin of error for the shuttle when making a
deorbit burn?  e.g. If the deorbit burn is done 10 miles to late/early
(I would think there is a larger margin of error than this)
than it should be, would it still be able to land at its target?
  Conversely, when a shuttle does come out of orbit, how big
of an area (on the ground) can the target be in?

			-- Brad Brahms
			   usenet: {decvax,ucbvax}!trwrb!trwspp!brahms
			   arpa:   Brahms@USC-ECLC

ks@astrovax.UUCP (Karl Stapelfeldt) (04/27/84)

I can't answer your questions directly, but I think the fact that the shuttle
possesses the capability to fly 1100 miles of cross range (distance between
orbit ground track and landing site) makes up for any small error on the
de-orbit burn.