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  Space Shuttles - Space Station
  Longest possible shuttle flight without ISS

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Author Topic:   Longest possible shuttle flight without ISS
Max Q
Member

Posts: 331
From: Whyalla South Australia
Registered: Mar 2007

posted May 24, 2009 07:10 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Max Q   Click Here to Email Max Q     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
What would be the longest possible flight that the space shuttle could perform assuming an orbit that the International Space Station was unreachable?

OV-105
Member

Posts: 527
From: Ridgecrest, CA USA
Registered: Sep 2000

posted May 24, 2009 01:35 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for OV-105   Click Here to Email OV-105     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Columbia and Endeavour have extra hydrogen and oxygen tanks. I want to say the were added to Atlantis also. Then if you added the EDO palet that was lost on STS-107 it could last 21 to 23 days on orbit with a crew of seven.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 23493
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted May 24, 2009 02:01 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
If Atlantis had been damaged during the STS-125 ascent and it was deemed severe enough to rule out a repair, then the crew was equipped with enough supplies and consumables to stay 25 days in orbit. To do so, they would need to power down a number of systems with nothing really to do but sit there and wait.

As it turned out, Atlantis was not damaged and the STS-125 crew executed a successful Hubble servicing mission. They were slated to spend 10 days in orbit but were able to extend to a possible 14 days by powering down non-critical systems.

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