12 Space Shuttle Missions that Weren't - By James Oberg

"Matt Wiser" wrote in message
...

"David Spain" wrote in message
...

http://spectrum.ieee.org/aerospace/s...tle-missions-t
hat-werent

Many of these have been discussed here ad infinitum, but there are a
couple of
gems:

Cruising Home: Plan to transport shuttle via aircraft carrier...

Hands-Off Landing: Autopilot all the way to runway, but someone in
cockpit
had
to lower wheels [and presumably apply the brakes!]

Suicide Space Dive: Bringing down a damaged shuttle "the easy way"....

and finally my favorite:

Fire Maidens in Orbit: It was possible in 1998 to juggle the crew
manifest
to
put an all female crew on the shuttle. [Easy there Pat...] Presumably
tho'
given the training regime and close quarters it would have required the
launch
window to preclude certain times of the month...


http://www.straightdope.com/columns/...-cycles-of-wom
en-living-together-tend-to-synchronize

;-)

Dave

And the all-female crew idea died a quick death. The female members of the
Astronaut Corps fought that, and the Chief of the Office at the time
backed
them up.

We'll, they'd all have been wearing the same outfit.
--
Gordon Davie
Edinburgh, Scotland

"Slipped the surly bonds of Earth...to touch the face of God."