Topic: Shuttle Will Fly Over Heart of US for Monday Morning Landing Attempt

[sam]

If the weather cooperates, space shuttle Discovery will attempt to land in Florida Monday morning using a so-called "descending node" where the trajectory will take it across the heart of the continental US. "The neat thing about the descending opportunities is it's going to come across the country and folks will get a good opportunity, hopefully, to see the orbiter as it goes overhead," said NASA entry flight director Bryan Lunney. This flight trajectoray hasn't been used since before the Columbia disaster in 2003, to avoid flying over densely populated areas of the US. This descending node trajectory is favorable for adding extra crew time to the mission. The plan is for Discovery's braking rockets to fire for three minutes and 11 seconds starting at 7:43:20 a.m. EDT Monday. This will slow the shuttle by about 217 mph for a landing at the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center at 8:48:36 a.m. The second opportunity would be at 10:23:30 a.m.

http://www.universetoday.com/2010/04/18/shuttle-will-fly-over-heart-of-us-for-monday-morning-landing-attempt/

[Clive]

What about the volcanic ash??   

[sam]

doesn't affect you when you dont really have an engine...

[sam]

..that's the solution... no engines, oh wait!

[Simon]