[ale] OT: Space Shuttle Columbia

[Rick Huebner]

I heard an interview where this question of a less invasive reentry was
asked.  Basically, the response was that NASA has already shaved as much
temperature exposure off of the re-entry sequence as is possible.  That is
key to reducing the stress on the airframe and protective systems acording
to the news briefing.  Basically, if there was a way to reduce the
temperature by any other method, they would do it rather than expose the
shuttle to higher temps.  Of course, there are always things that weren't
thought of so maybe there is an idea out there that was never thought of in
their quest for lower temp re-entries???

---
Rick Huebner
rick at rhuebner.com
http://ditchdoctor.dyndns.org:15001
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeff Hubbs" <hbbs at attbi.com>
To: ale at ale.org
To: <ale at ale.org>
Sent: Tuesday, February 04, 2003 11:40 PM
Subject: Re: [ale] OT: Space Shuttle Columbia


> > rendezvous or an "unusual" re-entry.
>
> This is just wild idle thinking, but could there be such a thing as a
> temp-limited re-entry?
>
> Everything about Orbiter re-entry is predicated on the notion of getting
> it down to a certain altitude, speed, and heading at a certain location
> on the Earth (essentially, the point of flare-out right before
> landing).  What if you threw that out, decided you didn't give a crap
> where it landed, and just tried to get it subsonic in an altitude range
> where the crew could bail out?  I can imagine some kind of repeated
> skipping operation, intentionally coming in a bit too shallow each
> time.  I wonder if the simulators can even handle such.
>
> - Jeff
>
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