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From: space@ucbvax.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.space
Subject: Re: Shuttle Ditching
Message-ID: <8602151544.AA11436@decwrl.DEC.COM>
Date: Sat, 15-Feb-86 10:02:04 EST
Article-I.D.: decwrl.8602151544.AA11436
Posted: Sat Feb 15 10:02:04 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 21-Feb-86 04:29:54 EST
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Your article makes good sense to me.
It's important to get back to land (to save the orbiter),
so while a roll maneuver would quickly get the shuttle 
right-side-up, a long dive & loop would get it headed back to
the Cape.  Unfortunately, it has a lot of horizontal
speed away from land; the loop might be inefficient in converting
that to the reverse direction.

What we SHOULD have done is launched the thing from Texas
or La to pass OVER the Cape, so that the orbiter could easily glide
straight to Canaveral after an abort.
Hindsight sure is 20-20.... mike k