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Author
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Topic: STS-107: Location of crew bailout (if possible)
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dabolton
Member Posts: 419
From: Seneca, IL, US
Registered: Jan 2009
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posted 01-29-2015 01:38 PM
  
If space shuttle Columbia's wing had held up long enough to allow a bailout and knowing that the left landing gear was probably useless, was there ever projections on where that would have taken place? Would they have guided it out over the gulf? |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 01-29-2015 02:00 PM
The Columbia Accident Investigation Board's report states: ...it was the consensus of the team that the crew would be directed to bailout using standard procedures, due to the unknowns concerning structural damage to the wing and the landing gear. If the wing is damaged, the most probable time for failure is during final approach and landing. The report doesn't mention the location of the bailout. I believe it would have been over the Atlantic Ocean. I have a vague recollection of a mention of the crew forgoing the s-turns and overshooting the landing site. |
dabolton
Member Posts: 419
From: Seneca, IL, US
Registered: Jan 2009
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posted 01-29-2015 04:09 PM
It would make sense that straight and level flight would have been preferable to g-loaded S turns. Due to the steepness of the re-entry, they would probably have been already passed the Gulf of Mexico when a bail-out is even doable. |
Skylon
Member Posts: 274
From:
Registered: Sep 2010
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posted 01-29-2015 07:24 PM
Fully aware of the unknowns but supposing Columbia made it thru peak heating with a deformed/damaged wing. Would the orbiter have maintained the same lift? I'd imagine the orbiter would lose altitude more rapidly than expected in that case. Would any ground based assets have been able to view Columbia and identify any damage to her, prior to approaching KSC? |
onesmallstep
Member Posts: 1310
From: Staten Island, New York USA
Registered: Nov 2007
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posted 01-30-2015 02:16 PM
As far as ground-based assets viewing a hypothetical damaged Columbia descent to landing; there would be some long-range cameras pressed into service at military (or even civilian) government installations. But I can foresee the best way in doing a close-up inspection of the orbiter during a landing to be a plane flying chase, perhaps scrambled from an Air Force or Navy base. Since 9/11, the rules have changed regarding interceptions of unknown 'bogeys,' but as this is clearly a known target and is an emergency, a jet scrambled in four or five minutes and in afterburner after takeoff could possibly reach an orbiter in time. |
dabolton
Member Posts: 419
From: Seneca, IL, US
Registered: Jan 2009
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posted 01-30-2015 02:48 PM
Compounding the bailout would be the crew exiting into the windstream containing debris being shredded from the vehicle. The escape pole only reached 9.8 ft below the hatch; enough to clear a undamaged wing but maybe not a damaged/deformed wing. |
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