The Delayed Columbus Laboratory Abort Philosophy
Named after the famous Genoa explorer, the Columbus Laboratory that will be the European Space Agency’s cornerstone on the International Space Agency will move the European space experimental facilities forward in gigantic leaps. Presently, January 10th of the new year is the planned launching of the laboratory onboard the Atlantis Space Shuttle. And as with all other previous launchings, there will be several aborting options available if an engine failure occurs or other problems develop within the system. This abort philosophy has in mind the safe recovery of the orbiter and laboratory payload.
Several types of aborting modes are available to the team: abort-to-orbit (ATO); transatlantic abort landing (TAL); return-to-launch-site (RTLS); abort once around (AOA); and the landing abort mode. A short description follows in the following section:
(1) The first one, the abort-to-orbit mode, is used if there is a partial loss of the main engine thrust. The thrust needs to be late enough to permit “reaching a minimal 105 by 85 nautical mile orbit with the orbital maneuvering system engines.” According to the NASA report, the engines need to boost the shuttle to a safe orbital altitude.
(2) The transatlantic abort landing requires the loss of one or more engines midway through the planned orbital flight. Forced landings will occur in Zaragoza, Spain; Moron, Spain; or Istres, France. But weather conditions are required to be acceptable at these sites or the forced landings will not work.
(3) A return-to-launch site requires that one or more engines shuts down early, and not enough energy is required to reach Zaragoza. The shuttle will pitch itself toward Kennedy, usually within gliding distance of the Shuttle Landing Facility. The weather conditions in this type of aborting mode require an acceptable forecast for a possible RTLS landing at KSC 20 minutes prior to liftoff.
(4) The abort once around mode will become the selected choice if the shuttle cannot reach enough of an orbit, or lack the desired propellant to perform a de-orbit burn. Yet, it will have enough energy to circle the Earth one time and land about 90 minutes after liftoff.
(5) A landing mode is the alternate landing site that is offered for the STS-122 mission instead of the Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility. The alternate landing sites would be at Edwards Air Force Base in California, and the White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico.
This entry was posted on Thursday, December 27th, 2007 at 10:28 am and is filed under Mission Objectives, Space Agency News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
