spacetoday.net: NASA exploring shuttle landing alternatives

Posted: Fri, Aug 1, 2003, 10:52 AM ET (1452 GMT)
STS-112 landing (NASA/KSC)

NASA is looking at alternatives to current shuttle landing flight paths that could result in shifting landings away from the Kennedy Space Center. Prompted by the Columbia accident, the space agency is performing its first thorough study of the risks posed to people on the ground by reentry. A study by consulting firm ACTA Inc. found that, although there were no serious injuries or deaths caused by debris from Columbia, the situation could have been much worse if the shuttle broke up slightly earlier, when its flight path took it closer to Dallas-Fort Worth, or a little later, when it would have passed near New Orleans. A more recent ACTA study, however, shows that it is unlikely even that type of accident would have caused casualties, the Orlando Sentinel reported. Edwards Air Force Base in California is the alternate landing site for the shuttle, but shuttle flight paths there can take the orbiter close to the Los Angeles area. The Sentinel reported that NASA is considering "long-shot" alternatives, including Vandenberg Air Force Base on the California coast as well as unspecified foreign landing sites, but most likely will do little more than revise the flight paths for landings at Edwards.