Discovery Deorbit Burn And Ash
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Discovery Deorbit Burn And Ash
Would the planned Deorbit burn of Dicovery at aprox 11:43 GMT be affected by the current VA over Europe? I know the Shuttle usually flies what can only be descbribed as a hooligan 1A arrival due to the very high angle of descent. But does the path take it over europe?
Does it matter?
Does the Shuttle have air breathing engines?
Or are you considering leading edge erosion etc.
Does the Shuttle have air breathing engines?
Or are you considering leading edge erosion etc.
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Shuttle approaches are from the West, so over the Pacific if to Edwards, or over the southern US if to Kennedy. Recall that the debris field for Columbia was over Nevada, Texas, etc.
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Thanks for that. The landing has been postponed in any case. It was more a thought about abrasion of windows. The leading edges will be knackered enougth from the re entry, a bit of sand blasting prob won't make any difference.
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Darn rumbled! to much hanging around waiting to aviate. But that aside looks like discovery will be spending yet another day in orbit with FG and RA an the vicinity of Kennedy. Looks like even astronauts are gonna be stranded as well! 
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Would the planned Deorbit burn of Dicovery at aprox 11:43 GMT be affected by the current VA over Europe? ............................................................ .....................................................The deorbit burn is accomplished entirely out in space, in orbit. The shuttle rocket uses onboard fuel and oxidizer so nothing external is 'ingested'.................................................. .....................The shuttle launches to the east, taking advantage of earth's rotational velocity as a boost on takeoff, and therefore orbits west-to-east. this means it always re-enters the atmosphere west-to-east. Hence the descent across the Pacific, the rest of North America, and approach to Florida from the west.
