Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Path: utzoo!henry
From: henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: What happened to KSC Shuttle Landings
Message-ID: <1989Sep26.033841.2536@utzoo.uucp>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
References: <3410@questar.QUESTAR.MN.ORG>
Date: Tue, 26 Sep 89 03:38:41 GMT

In article <3410@questar.QUESTAR.MN.ORG> al@questar.QUESTAR.MN.ORG (Al Viall) writes:
>... Wasn't there alot of talk many years
>ago, of using the landing strip at KSC for all shuttle landings, and leaving
>Edwards and White Sands as the alternates?
>Are they still planning this, or has it been scrapped?

It's been scrapped, for the foreseeable future anyway.  The trouble is that
KSC is a lousy place to land a shuttle.  The weather is too changeable.  It
is not at all unheard-of for a small thunderstorm to come into existence in
the length of time between shuttle retrofire and landing.  The weather
at Edwards is both better and more predictable, and in addition the dry
lakebed provides an enormous emergency runway that is not too sensitive
to minor piloting errors.  The disadvantage is that ferrying the bird back
to KSC adds cost and delay; this is now seen as a worthwhile tradeoff.
-- 
"Where is D.D. Harriman now,   |     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
when we really *need* him?"    | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu