Posts: 836
From: Lafayette, CA
Registered: Oct 2001

posted 12-21-2006 10:04 AM            

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Sounds like they'll put Discovery down at one of the three landing sites anyway, but -- given the weather and the supply situation -- what's the fourth?

I had a roommate once, who had been an USAF fireman, claimed that some AFB he worked at in Colorado was landing site #7; I didn't think they had a list that long, and I never quite trusted the guy, but I figure NASA's got a long list of these things.

Posts: 287
From: Louisiana
Registered: Jan 2006

posted 12-21-2006 10:15 AM               

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I guess any runway long enough *could* serve as an emergency landing site. I heard once that, and perhaps our resident Australians can confirm or deny, that Sydney Airport is considered an emergency landing site.

EDIT: I did find this link: http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/facility/sts-els.htm

EDIT AGAIN: More interesting links
French base named emergency shuttle landing site
European Landing Sites for Shuttle Flights
NASA Names North Carolina Airport Emergency Landing Site for Shuttle

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"I am sui generis; just leave it at that." - Huey P. Long

[Edited by collectSPACE Admin (December 21, 2006).]

Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 12-21-2006 10:33 AM               

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There isn't a specific #4: if KSC, EAFB and WWSH (White Sands Space Harbor) are unavailable and you cannot stay in orbit another day, then it becomes a choice among emergency landing sites, of which there is no pre-defined first choice. Trajectory and weather are factors in the real-time decision.

As to where they can land, there are the trans-Atlantic abort sites:

Base Aerienne, Ben Guerir, Morocco
Moron, AB, Spain
Zaragoza AB, Spain

And then there are emergency landing sites, including:

Amberley, Australia
Anderson AFB, Guam
Gander, Newfoundland
Keflavík, Iceland
Ormond Beach, Florida
Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia
Rio Gallegos, Argentina
Salisbury, Maryland
Stephenville, Newfoundland
Wake Island

Posts: 1896
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: May 2000

posted 12-21-2006 11:58 AM               

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While I don't know what order of sites they would look at 'next,' I have a gut feeling that Vandenberg would be near the top of that list.

VAFB is the site they would land at should the shuttle have to return unmanned.

Posts: 946
From: Washington, IL
Registered: Jan 2006

Posts: 1376
From: ridgefield, ct
Registered: May 2002

Posts: 5952
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001

Posts: 6210
From: Geneva, Switzerland
Registered: May 2006

posted 12-22-2006 08:58 AM               

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what about Istres (don't pronounce the "s" at the end, as I've heard some NASA commentators pronounce it like "istress"), France?

Chris.

[Edited by cspg (December 22, 2006).]

Posts: 583
From: Louisville CO US
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 12-22-2006 09:38 PM               

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Here's a handy list from the Entry Checklist: (copyright free).

See page 3-2. And print it out if you wish.
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/163525main_ENT_116_F_A_1.pdf

Also try this: Page 2-14 in the Flip Book and Google the three letter airport codes if you wish. http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/163524main_ASC_116_F_B_1.pdf

If anyone has spare time they could build a complete list based on the computers number for each site from recent missions. Possibly a recent Data Processing System Dictionary or the Flight Procedures Hanbook for Ascent, Entry or Deorbit Procedures could fill in the gaps...

Yes, I'm a Flight Data File nerd.

[Edited by kyra (December 22, 2006).]