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From: bjax@grissom.larc.nasa.gov ( Bruce Jackson)
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle,sci.aeronautics
Subject: KSC trivia ->  Skid strip?
Message-ID: <1991Jun9.122905.8236@news.larc.nasa.gov>
Date: 9 Jun 91 12:29:05 GMT
Sender: news@news.larc.nasa.gov (USENET Network News)
Distribution: usa
Organization: NASA Langley Research Center
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Anybody know the origins, purpose, and capabilities of the "skid strip"
(NOT the shuttle landing facility!) at the Cape?  We're considering a
lifting body vehicle that might need to abort to a runway closer to the
launch pads than the shuttle landing runway.

Also, anyone know why the shuttle runway was built roughly 90 degrees to
the prevailing breeze?  What are the comparable costs between a runway
aligned properly, and a shuttle destroyed in a landing accident due to
extreme crosswind conditions?


--
Bruce Jackson <bjax@grissom.larc.nasa.gov> NASA Langley Research Center
             MS 489, Hampton, VA  23665     (804) 864-4060