Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Path: utzoo!henry
From: henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer)
Subject: shuttle landing sites
Message-ID: <1988Oct10.224026.12802@utzoo.uucp>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
References: <15991@ames.arc.nasa.gov> <6400010@cpe>
Date: Mon, 10 Oct 88 22:40:26 GMT

In article <6400010@cpe> tif@cpe.UUCP writes:
>I thought they didn't have to land in california anymore.  Was this
>for extra safety on this second "first" flight?  Were there weather
>problems forcing the landing in california?  Did I miss an announced
>explanation?  Am I completely mistaken?

Edwards is officially the primary landing site for the shuttle now.
KSC is third or fourth on the list.  The trouble is that the east coast
of Florida is, in some ways, a lousy place for a spaceport.  The weather
there is too volatile.  It can change significantly between shuttle
retrofire and landing time.  Sudden thunderstorms, in particular, are
common.  (This is why KSC is a favored site for lightning research.)
Edwards, on the other hand, has excellent and highly-predictable weather,
which is one reason why it was chosen for a flight-test base in the first
place.

This is one of the issues that came up in the post-Challenger reassessment
of safety questions.
-- 
The meek can have the Earth;    |    Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
the rest of us have other plans.|uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu