Space Forum / Shuttle / March 2005

From the story at:
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/print?id=606743

NASA Instituting Crowd Control on Shuttle

NASA Instituting Strict Crowd Control to Better Protect Public During
Shuttle Launches, Landings

By MARCIA DUNN
The Associated Press

Mar. 23, 2005 - NASA said Tuesday it will institute strict crowd
control for space shuttle launches and landings, and rely more on a
seldom-used touchdown site in New Mexico, to better protect the public
once flights resume in a few months.

Columbia's breakup during re-entry forced a re-evaluation of the space
agency's public safety policy. More than 85,000 pounds of debris
rained down on Texas and Louisiana as Columbia headed toward its Cape
Canaveral landing strip in February 2003. No one was injured by the
falling pieces.

"Philosophically, what we're trying to do ... is to ensure that
whatever it is we're doing, does not add significantly to the overall
risk that the public already accepts," said Bryan O'Connor, chief of
safety and mission assurance and a former shuttle commander.

No one on the ground has ever been hurt by a U.S. spaceflight.

O'Connor said that when Discovery lifts off on the first post-Columbia
flight, as early as mid-May, it will be the first shuttle mission in
which public safety is factored into deciding where to bring the
spacecraft home.

Kennedy Space Center will remain the primary landing site, but only if
the shuttle has no problems that might endanger people on the ground,
such as a problem with the flight-control system or damage to the
ship's thermal skin.

In that case, the shuttle would be directed to White Sands, N.M., a
remote, dusty missile range that has seen a shuttle landing only once,
back in 1982.

"This is a risk trade," O'Connor said. "You'd have to be sure that all
other things being equal, that you have good weather there, that
there's not some other matter like, for example, crew safety or you're
about to run out of consumables because you've already been on orbit
for a couple of days, waiting to come down. All those things will be
factored in, but for the first time now, public safety will be one of
those factors."

As for shuttle launches, the number of people allowed to gather at the
three- to four-mile safety perimeter will be greatly reduced, as will
the size of the crowd at the Kennedy runway for landing. NASA will
also bar people from being beneath the final glide path.

Unlike an airplane, a space shuttle glides to a landing and cannot
change its flight path once the braking rockets are fired one hour
before touchdown.

In unveiling the 288-page plan, NASA said it is looking increasingly
difficult to stick to the May 15 launch date for Discovery, which is
still in the hangar undergoing last-minute repairs and inspections.
Shuttle program manager Bill Parsons said he will re-evaluate the
launch date in mid-April.

The delays in getting the shuttle ready to be moved to the launch pad
a step now targeted for early April are for technical reasons, such as
wiring inspections and landing-gear checks.

As far as meeting the Columbia Accident Investigation Board's 15
recommendations for resuming shuttle flights, seven have been fully
met and another is on the verge of being fulfilled. Of the remaining
seven, virtually all of the necessary paperwork has been submitted to
the task force that is overseeing NASA's return-to-flight effort.

The task force will meet March 31 to consider NASA's progress.

NASA estimates the return-to-flight expenses will exceed $1.6 billion.

On the Net:

http://www.nasa.gov/returntoflight/main/index.html