32 years ago today

[1995hoo]

The other issue about polar orbit launches out of Kennedy is that a launch to the south (as is normal at Vandenberg) would have had the SRBs landing in Cuban territory, so obviously not an option.

If you're interested in shuttle logistics, there's a novel called Shuttle Down by Lee Correy in which Atlantis develops a problem on a launch out of Vandenberg and makes an emergency landing on Easter Island. The book discusses lots of logistical issues in getting the shuttle back. The author (who used a pen name) worked for NASA and wrote the book to expose issues they were overlooking.

[Beltway]

The other issue about polar orbit launches out of Kennedy is that a launch to the south (as is normal at Vandenberg) would have had the SRBs landing in Cuban territory, so obviously not an option.
If you're interested in shuttle logistics, there's a novel called Shuttle Down by Lee Correy in which Atlantis develops a problem on a launch out of Vandenberg and makes an emergency landing on Easter Island. The book discusses lots of logistical issues in getting the shuttle back. The author (who used a pen name) worked for NASA and wrote the book to expose issues they were overlooking.

Does Easter Island have an airstrip long enough to handle the 747 that carries the shuttle orbiter?  Is there a port or dock that would handle a ship large enough to carry the orbiter?

I wonder if the Virginia spaceport was ever considered for polar launches.  The track heading south grazes the tip of Cape Hatteras, but doesn't cross land until the lower Bahamas about 2,000 miles from launch.

[kalvado]

The other issue about polar orbit launches out of Kennedy is that a launch to the south (as is normal at Vandenberg) would have had the SRBs landing in Cuban territory, so obviously not an option.
If you're interested in shuttle logistics, there's a novel called Shuttle Down by Lee Correy in which Atlantis develops a problem on a launch out of Vandenberg and makes an emergency landing on Easter Island. The book discusses lots of logistical issues in getting the shuttle back. The author (who used a pen name) worked for NASA and wrote the book to expose issues they were overlooking.

Does Easter Island have an airstrip long enough to handle the 747 that carries the shuttle orbiter?  Is there a port or dock that would handle a ship large enough to carry the orbiter?

I wonder if the Virginia spaceport was ever considered for polar launches.  The track heading south grazes the tip of Cape Hatteras, but doesn't cross land until the lower Bahamas about 2,000 miles from launch.

NASA actually paid to extend and improve Easter island runway. http://articles.latimes.com/1985-06-30/news/mn-70_1_easter-island

As for Virginia... Was there any launch activity - or plans for that - in 1970-s, when most Shuttle decisions were taken? Besides, we're talking about highly classified military payloads, and "AFB" is missing from the name of facility..

[abefroman329]

What was the plan for mounting the Shuttle to the 747 if the Shuttle had to make an emergency landing at another site?

[1995hoo]

What was the plan for mounting the Shuttle to the 747 if the Shuttle had to make an emergency landing at another site?

They'd have had to fly a mate-demate device to the site. It would have resulted in big delays in getting the Orbiter back, of course. (This is one of the issues addressed in the novel I mentioned above.)

They did this for one of the final missions (I'd have to look up which one) when it looked like bad weather was going to force a landing at White Sands–they shipped the device out there to be prepared. Ultimately they were able to squeeze in a landing in Florida instead. An emergency situation would have been far more complicated, of course.

[slorydn1]

What was the plan for mounting the Shuttle to the 747 if the Shuttle had to make an emergency landing at another site?

They would have had to bring the equipment necessary to lift the shuttle to mount it. I do seem to recall that there was equipment already staged at the TAL sites as well as Edwards AFB in CA.

Funny after all these years of living here I didn't find out until the last few missions that MCAS Cherry Point was actually one of several east coast emergency landing sites for a brief portion of the Ascent Phase.....

NASA used to have a treasure trove of documents available online through the Johnson Space Center portal that included actual manuals, mission briefings, space walk plans-you name it, for the last several Shuttle missions. It was easy to find before the last website redesign, I am not sure how to get to it now (if I find it again I will just edit this post with the link).



Edit: I found what I was looking for, enjoy: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/news/flightdatafiles/index.html

[1995hoo]

BTW, regarding the Wallops Island launch site in Virginia–obviously it not being a Defense Department facility was a major issue, but I wonder, is there room there for a long enough runway? One advantage the Air Force felt was important at Vandenberg was the space for a huge runway to allow a shuttle carrying a satellite to land (not just take off)–for example, if a shuttle captured a Soviet satellite and then landed. They indeed have a runway that's almost theee miles long (although, oddly, it's 16 miles from SLC-6). I'm not familiar enough with Wallops to know whether that sort of thing would have been feasible there.

Obviously, if there had ever been enough of a need for it, the White House probably could have ordered a polar-orbit launch out of KSC, although the closest they ever came was STS-36 launching to a 62° orbital inclination via a dogleg maneuver (which used additional propellant and thus reduced the payload capacity). If you want to read an interesting, if rather absurd, fictional story in which the president orders a polar-orbit launch from KSC, read Storming Intrepid by Payne Harrison. It's a Tom Clancy—style technothriller involving the space shuttle Intrepid becoming stranded in a polar orbit after a launch out of Vandenberg. I won't go into further detail about why it becomes stranded because that's a significant part of the plot. Pretty good book, even if the overall plot is rather unrealistic.

[Beltway]

BTW, regarding the Wallops Island launch site in Virginia –obviously it not being a Defense Department facility was a major issue, but I wonder, is there room there for a long enough runway? One advantage the Air Force felt was important at Vandenberg was the space for a huge runway to allow a shuttle carrying a satellite to land (not just take off)–for example, if a shuttle captured a Soviet satellite and then landed. They indeed have a runway that's almost theee miles long (although, oddly, it's 16 miles from SLC-6). I'm not familiar enough with Wallops to know whether that sort of thing would have been feasible there.

KSC didn't have a long enough runway until they built one, and in a wetlands area.  That is what would have been needed for the Virginia spaceport.  Also, KSC isn't technically a DoD facility, is it?  At least the part where the VAB, LC-39, and runway are.

[1995hoo]

But that doesn't answer the question: Would there have been space at Wallops? (That's a genuine question. I don't know and I'm not asking it to be contrary.)

[Beltway]

But that doesn't answer the question: Would there have been space at Wallops? (That's a genuine question. I don't know and I'm not asking it to be contrary.)

From review of satellite map views, probably so, either on the islands or on the mainland nearby.