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From: allen@mmm.UUCP (Kurt Allen)
Newsgroups: net.space,net.columbia
Subject: Re: Shuttle Ditching
Message-ID: <578@mmm.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 28-Feb-86 09:18:47 EST
Article-I.D.: mmm.578
Posted: Fri Feb 28 09:18:47 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 1-Mar-86 23:10:51 EST
References: <573@ssc-vax.UUCP> <172@axiom.UUCP>
Reply-To: allen@mmm.UUCP (Kurt Allen)
Distribution: net
Organization: 3M Company, St. Paul, Minn.
Lines: 18
Xref: watmath net.space:6179 net.columbia:2542

In article <172@axiom.UUCP> paul@axiom.UUCP (Paul O`Shaughnessy) writes:
>NASA and its contractors have consistently maintained that a ditching
>of the shuttle during the SRB boost phase of the flight is impossible
>to perform survivably.

There are a few more scenarios that I have been made aware of recently, that
would preclude shuttle survival in case of a SRB failure. These are

1) If one of the SRB's fails to ignite at launch. As it is impossible
to stop the other SRB the shuttle would pinwheel uncontrollably, with
no possibility of survival.

2) The shuttle lands at 190 knots. It is not expected to maintain structural
integrity ditching in the ocean at this speed.
-- 
	Kurt W. Allen
	3M Center
	ihnp4!mmm!allen