Belisarius
Obsessed with reality. Why?
In the latest issue of the Spanish magazine Espacio there's an article by Javier Casado (a respected aeronautical engineer and author on space issues in this country) in which he makes the following revelation:
Wayne Hale, former Flight Director for STS flights told him that there were two dramatic incidents of forced landings at Edwards in 1990 and 1991. None of the details were ever made public. Hale refused to name the missions but Casado put together the details to make the following report.
1) On flight STS-31, the mission which launched the HST, on landing approach to Edwards shuttle Discovery faced headwinds which made the speeds drop way below nominal. The touchdown was made at 176 knots (325 km/h), while the mininal safe landing speed is 195 knots. Hale received a phone call from the angry mission commander (unnamed, but it would be Loren Shriver) two hours later, accusing him of placing the lives of the crew in peril. April 29, 1990.
2) The more serious incident occured on the return of STS-37 which launched the Compton Gamma Telescope, and was also an approach to Edwards, this time made by Atlantis. A combination of turbulence at 7,000 feet and crosswinds made the approach untenable and the landing was switched to the dirt runway. But even that wasn't enough. Atlantis touched down 500 metres short of the runway on lake bed, at only 157 knots. If this had happened at KSC, the shuttle would certainly have been destroyed by impacting in the swamplands.
OK, that's the story. Does anyone have any evidence on it one way or the other?
Wiki substantiates the second story but says they touched down only 600 feet short: "Had the landing been attempted at the Kennedy Space Center, the result would have been a touchdown on the paved underrun preceding the runway and would have been much more obvious".
They say obvious, Casado says fatal.
STS 31 landing vid (looks normal to me)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYyIdPVYNHs
No vid available for STS-37
Wayne Hale, former Flight Director for STS flights told him that there were two dramatic incidents of forced landings at Edwards in 1990 and 1991. None of the details were ever made public. Hale refused to name the missions but Casado put together the details to make the following report.
1) On flight STS-31, the mission which launched the HST, on landing approach to Edwards shuttle Discovery faced headwinds which made the speeds drop way below nominal. The touchdown was made at 176 knots (325 km/h), while the mininal safe landing speed is 195 knots. Hale received a phone call from the angry mission commander (unnamed, but it would be Loren Shriver) two hours later, accusing him of placing the lives of the crew in peril. April 29, 1990.
2) The more serious incident occured on the return of STS-37 which launched the Compton Gamma Telescope, and was also an approach to Edwards, this time made by Atlantis. A combination of turbulence at 7,000 feet and crosswinds made the approach untenable and the landing was switched to the dirt runway. But even that wasn't enough. Atlantis touched down 500 metres short of the runway on lake bed, at only 157 knots. If this had happened at KSC, the shuttle would certainly have been destroyed by impacting in the swamplands.
OK, that's the story. Does anyone have any evidence on it one way or the other?
Wiki substantiates the second story but says they touched down only 600 feet short: "Had the landing been attempted at the Kennedy Space Center, the result would have been a touchdown on the paved underrun preceding the runway and would have been much more obvious".
They say obvious, Casado says fatal.
STS 31 landing vid (looks normal to me)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYyIdPVYNHs
No vid available for STS-37
