Replies to post #41039 on World Surveillance Group Inc (fka WSGI)

[audreyhepburn]

Poke,
Good point! Here is info and you are right!
http://www.edwards.af.mil/faq/docs_html/aircraft.html
4. When will the space shuttle make its next landing? May I come to see it?
Answer: We frequently allow people from off base to view the landing, however we usually receive very little warning that a space shuttle will land at Edwards. There's usually not enough time after the decision is made to drive from outside the immediate area in time for the landing.

What that means to you, in practical terms, is that you have to be willing to gamble to make it in time. By following the space shuttle’s progress through NASA’s public information line, [phone], NASA’s Web page, www.nasa.gov, or NASA TV (available on many cable outlets) you’ll know potential landing times and dates. You should also track weather forecasts for NASA’s primary landing site in Florida. If the weather's poor in Florida, NASA will then consider other landing alternatives. Often, NASA will wait a few days for Florida weather to clear, rather than land the space shuttle elsewhere. The decision to land at Edwards can come as late as an hour or two before the landing.

While we can't guarantee we'll always open the base for future landings, we can say we'll always consider it. If you head to Edwards before NASA has decided to send it to Edwards, your drive may be in vain. We've had several fairly recent landings but went about four years prior to that without a landing. We generally don't open the base before a landing is confirmed.

[m2ugly2fish]

I think they had to postpone the shuttle because
the strat was floating around and they did not want to run into it.
now that they moved it to edwards it will be launched and tested.

hey you never know, after all they did say they would help us and it is a great help not to run into the strat.

its sunday.
amen
glty

[pokestake]

This confirms it. Edwards is by necessity in stand-by mode during a shuttle launch. This would have clearly delayed strat testing the last two weeks, imo.

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/reference/shutref/events/aborts/aoa.html

Abort Once Around
The AOA abort mode would be used when vehicle performance has been lost to such an extent that either it is impossible to achieve a viable orbit or not enough OMS propellant is available to accomplish the OMS-1, OMS-2 and deorbit burns. AOA would also be used in cases in which a major system problem (cabin leak, loss of cooling) made it necessary to land quickly. In this abort, one OMS burn would be made to adjust the post-MECO orbit so that a second OMS burn would cause the vehicle to deorbit and land at the AOA landing site (Northrup, Edwards Air Force Base or Kennedy Space Center.. Thus, in an AOA, the orbiter would circle the Earth once and land approximately 90 minutes after lift-off.

Several options are available to perform an AOA. Selection of the OMS-1 targets would be based on whether the abort were caused by a MECO underspeed, a system problem or an OMS/RCS performance problem. Selection of the OMS-2 targets would depend on whether a MECO underspeed existed and its magnitude. (The AOA OMS-2 burn is really a deorbit burn.) One set of targets would result in a steeper trajectory than would the other as the vehicle enters the atmosphere (entry interface); thus, this trajectory is referred to as a steep AOA. This is a more normal trajectory and stays well within the vehicle's thermal limits after it penetrates the atmosphere. It would require more delta velocity and consequently more propellant for the deorbit burn. Thus, if the MECO underspeed were severe or if both OMS helium tanks had failed, the shallow AOA targets would be used, resulting in a more shallow trajectory at entry interface and placing the vehicle closer to the skip-out boundary and its thermal limits.

The flight crew would determine that an AOA is required by Mission Control Center call and by checking the OMS-1 target solution against the OMS targeting cue card. Depending on the kind of AOA required, the crew would load the required OMS-1 targets and execute the burn. They would then position the software mode to OPS 3 and load the appropriate OMS-2 (deorbit) targets. After the burn is executed, the flight crew would fly to a landing at the preplanned site, much as they would for a nominal entry.