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From: dbm@gothamcity.jsc.nasa.gov (Brad Mears)
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Re: KSC and tornados
Message-ID: <1991Apr12.140255.12789@aio.jsc.nasa.gov>
Date: 12 Apr 91 14:02:55 GMT
References: <1991Apr10.213011.8851@umiami.ir.miami.edu> <1991Apr11.161508.29856@zoo.toronto.edu> <27967@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU>
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In article <27967@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU>, bernhold@red8 (David E. Bernholdt) writes:
|> In article <1991Apr11.161508.29856@zoo.toronto.edu> henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) writes:
|> >In article <1991Apr10.213011.8851@umiami.ir.miami.edu> jdeitch@umiami.ir.miami.edu (Jonathan Deitch) writes:
|> >>... Would a shuttle on the launch pad be able
|> >>to withstand a tornado without too much damage...
|> >
|> >Probably.  The pad structure, nowadays, pretty completely encloses the
|> >orbiter, so the question is how the pad hardware would stand up to it.
|> >Such structures tend to be built for worst-case weather.
|> 
|> But one of the design constraints on the MLP transporter is that it
|> had to be able to bring the whole setup back to the VAB quickly enough
|> to avoid hurricanes or other severe weather, right?

IMHO - No, a shuttle on the pad would be severely damaged (destroyed) by a tornado
that got anywhere close to it.  The weather shroud is not sufficient to protect
against tornado-force winds.

While it is correct that the MLP can move the vehicle in time to avoid a
hurricane, there is no way that it can evade a tornado.

This is my first posting, so please excuse any irregularities or glaring errors.

Brad Mears
dbm@deltahp.jsc.nasa.gov