Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle Path: utzoo!henry From: henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) Subject: Re: Will we lose another orbiter Message-ID: <1990Apr11.041856.21663@utzoo.uucp> Organization: U of Toronto Zoology References: <1990Apr6.024844.16083@utzoo.uucp> <2836@rodan.acs.syr.edu> <1990Apr8.050005.23425@utzoo.uucp> <450@gazette.bcm.tmc.edu> Date: Wed, 11 Apr 90 04:18:56 GMT In article shafer@skipper.dfrf.nasa.gov (Mary Shafer (OFV)) writes: > ... Can the crew survive a belly landing, > can the vehicle survive such a landing... > >It's highly probable that the crew will survive and that the vehicle >will survive with only minor damage. Airliners land gear-up fairly >often, are repaired, and fly again quite nicely, for example, and the >Shuttle is much sturdier than an airliner... Sure about that, Mary? My impression was the other way around: the orbiter is relatively fragile. Certainly a ditching in water is considered completely unsurvivable, with serious structural failure likely (unless the assessments have been revised radically since the Rogers report); that's why the crew now has a bailout system. I can't find a definitive statement about a belly landing, although (astronaut) Paul Weitz told the Rogers commission: "My feeling is... strong that the Orbiter will not survive a ditching, and that includes land, water, or any unprepared surface..." >I've always thought that a landing accident is somewhat likely, BTW, >but I think it likely that the vehicle won't be destroyed, just >damaged. The crew is very likely to survive, probably uninjured. As I recall, both NRC and OTA (in studies on future shuttle operations) hinted that a hard landing was the single most likely reason to write off an orbiter, and that the crew would quite possibly survive. -- With features like this, | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology who needs bugs? | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu