2 ms·
Not in the Pacific, but RAF Machrihanish could also be used.
by dboreham 4y ago
Not in the Pacific, but RAF Machrihanish could also be used.
- dotancohen 4y agoThat's nowhere near the ground path of a polar launch from either Vandenburg nor the Cape on the first few orbits, though.
- dboreham 4y agoTrue, I was responding to your post "the only...nations...".
- dotancohen 4y agoOh, I see, thanks. Yes, most (maybe all) shuttle rollouts were less than the 10000 length of the Machrihanish runway, but that's really cutting it close. SLF Florida is 15000 feet. But I guess if the situation is so bad that the shuttle needs to come down outside the US, it's probably not going to be used again so why not mow the grass at the end of the runway.
- dboreham 4y agoAccording to wikipedia Machrihanish was "certified" as an emergency shuttle landing site. Local rumor is that it was used for SR-72/Aurora, black project flights. Lots of conspiracy theories, e.g. https://www.theregister.com/2000/07/10/top_secret_us_plane_caused/ https://www.theregister.com/2000/07/10/top_secret_us_plane_c...