Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!usc!apple!mips!ultra!shj From: shj@ultra.com (Steve Jay) Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle Subject: Re: Dumb question #652 Message-ID: <1990Jun2.014849.287@ultra.com> Date: 2 Jun 90 01:48:49 GMT References: <376.26477BB6@ofa123.FIDONET.ORG> <24785@netnews.upenn.edu> <3286@rodan.acs.syr.edu> Organization: Ultra Network Technologies Lines: 23 In shafer@skipper.dfrf.nasa.gov (Mary Shafer) writes: >I went down to the runway for an SCA/Shuttle takeoff once and it >wasn't exactly zooming off into the wild blue yonder. It's pretty >heavy and, being a older 747, a little lacking in thrust compared >to the later models. When I lived in Tucson, the SCA/Shuttle landed at Davis Monthan a couple of times. About a week before the Challenger accident, it came through carrying the shuttle from the previous mission. The University Computer Center (where I worked) is directly under the approach path, less than 5 miles from the runway. Seeing the 747/shuttle first hand, regardless of the number of times you've seen pictures, is a breathtaking site. Anyway, some friends of mine went to the end of the DM runway to watch the takeoff. According to them, "wasn't exactly zooming off into the wild blue yonder" is an understatement. More like, "gosh, is that thing going to get off the ground at all??!!" Steve Jay shj@ultra.com ...ames!ultra!shj Ultra Network Technologies / 101 Dagget Drive / San Jose, CA 95134 / USA (408) 922-0100 x130 "Home of the 1 Gigabit/Second network"