multiple shuttles

Rick wrote:

If they'd known Columbia was damaged, could they have gotten a second
one up there before running out of food water or oxygen?

No. The actual limit wasn't consumables for the crew BTW, but
reactants for the fuel cells. The need to keep components in the aft
compartment and OMS pods warm makes for a heavy load. If the OMS pods
freeze, it's Game Over.

Can 2 shuttles dock, or would they have to spacewalk from one to the
other?

Spacewalk.

D.
--
Touch-twice life. Eat. Drink. Laugh.

http://derekl1963.livejournal.com/

-Resolved: To be more temperate in my postings.
Oct 5th, 2004 JDL

wrote:

there has been in the top secret mission moonraker

When the time came for Bruce Willis to save the earth from impending
asteroid, they had 2 shuttles launch from the same launch complex. I
guess one of the 2 pads used to have the ability to support 2 launch
platforms on either side of the fixed structrure.

Those were the 2 titanium skinned shuttles SR-51s if I remember
correctly) and they launched within seconds of each other.

One was destroyed while crash landing on the asteroid, but the other did
make it safely back to earth. NASA has never shown it publically since.


Seriously though, say they needed two shuttles to go to the station at
the same time, could they launch 2 shuttles inside the same launch
window ? Would the shuttles have sufficient separation to ensure one
doesn't get showered on by the exhaust of the other ?

If they had one shuttle launch say 2 minutes after the first one, would
the trail of smoke from the first one cause problems for the second one
? (are there still abrasive aluminium particles in the path ?)

On Jun 26, 9:41*pm, Brian Thorn wrote:
On Thu, 26 Jun 2008 07:18:57 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

Have there been more than one in orbit at the same time ever?

No. The closest was one week between the landing of STS-71 and the
launch of STS-70 in 1995.

Brian

There was a possibility of two orbiters on orbit at the same time in
1986 for the missions deploying Galileo and Ulysses.

On Jun 27, 1:03*am, John Doe wrote:


Seriously though, say they needed two shuttles to go to the station at
the same time, could they launch 2 shuttles inside the same launch
window ?

No. Separate days. Range and tracking systems are set up for one
vehicle. Same with mission control as far as launch support

schreef op 27-6-2008 :
On Jun 27, 1:03*am, John Doe wrote:


Seriously though, say they needed two shuttles to go to the station at
the same time, could they launch 2 shuttles inside the same launch
window ?

No. Separate days. Range and tracking systems are set up for one
vehicle. Same with mission control as far as launch support

Other question:

Normally MCC is at the JSC in Houston, but the LCC at KSC also can be
used as MCC (in case of failing or emergency evacuation of
MCC/Houston).

This almost happened when a hurricane came too close to MCC/Houston a
few missions ago...

So technically there are 2 separate MCC's available?

André wrote:
schreef op 27-6-2008 :
On Jun 27, 1:03 am, John Doe wrote:


Seriously though, say they needed two shuttles to go to the station at
the same time, could they launch 2 shuttles inside the same launch
window ?

No. Separate days. Range and tracking systems are set up for one
vehicle. Same with mission control as far as launch support

Other question:

Normally MCC is at the JSC in Houston, but the LCC at KSC also can be
used as MCC (in case of failing or emergency evacuation of MCC/Houston).

This almost happened when a hurricane came too close to MCC/Houston a
few missions ago...

So technically there are 2 separate MCC's available?

Technically, yes, but that is not the preferred solution if NASA really
were to have two shuttles in space at the same time.

There are multiple flight control rooms in MCC-Houston and they would
simply use two of those.

Jorge R. Frank wrote:

There are multiple flight control rooms in MCC-Houston and they would
simply use two of those.

Is the telecom "system" able to differentiate data/telemetry coming from
2 shuttles (this packet comes from endeavour, that packet comes from
atlantis) ? (similarly, can they target a specific shuttle when sending
commands ?)

On Jun 27, 4:34*pm, John Doe wrote:
Jorge R. Frank wrote:
There are multiple flight control rooms in MCC-Houston and they would
simply use two of those.

Is the telecom "system" able to differentiate data/telemetry coming from
2 shuttles (this packet comes from endeavour, that packet comes from
atlantis) ? (similarly, can they target a specific shuttle when sending
commands ?)

yes and yes

No. The actual limit wasn't consumables for the crew BTW, but
reactants for the fuel cells. The need to keep components in the aft
compartment and OMS pods warm makes for a heavy load. If the OMS pods
freeze, it's Game Over.

RCS I could understand - you don't want to get near to a tumbling
Orbiter. But OMS in that situation? Methinks not.

Jan

On Jul 2, 6:42*am, Jan Vorbrüggen
wrote:
No. *The actual limit wasn't consumables for the crew BTW, but
reactants for the fuel cells. *The need to keep components in the aft
compartment and OMS pods warm makes for a heavy load. *If the OMS pods
freeze, it's Game Over.

RCS I could understand - you don't want to get near to a tumbling
Orbiter. But OMS in that situation? Methinks not.

Except for the FRCS, the RCS relies solely on the propellant in the
OMS pods tanks.
-Mike