4 ms·

Thanks! I’d seen about the bailout capability mentioned in passing, but had always wondered what it would be in practice (spoiler: a pole!). Also, I didn’t real

Thanks! I’d seen about the bailout capability mentioned in passing, but had always wondered what it would be in practice (spoiler: a pole!). Also, I didn’t realize a second engine almost shut down on STS-51-F . Per the links: “A particularly significant enhancement was bailout capability. Unlike the ejection seat in a fighter plane, the shuttle had an inflight crew escape system[12] (ICES). The vehicle was put in a stable glide on autopilot, the hatch was blown, and the crew slid out a pole to clear the orbiter's left wing. They would then parachute to earth or the sea. […] Before the Challenger disaster, this almost happened on STS-51-F, when a single SSME failed at about T+345 seconds. […] A second SSME almost failed because of a spurious temperature reading; however, the engine shutdown was inhibited by a quick-thinking flight controller. If the second SSME had failed within about 69 seconds of the first, there would have been insufficient energy to cross the Atlantic. Without bailout capability, the entire crew would have been killed.“

whycome 3y ago
> STS-51-F Why is the naming scheme of shuttle launches so bad
- dsr_ 3y ago
  https://www.nasa.gov/missions/space-shuttle/behind-the-space-shuttle-mission-numbering-system/ https://www.nasa.gov/missions/space-shuttle/behind-the-space...
  - whycome 3y ago
    Wow. It's crazier than I realized! I always wished it at least included the orbiter name in it. But I suppose the orbiter choice could change closer to actual launch. STS-41B-ATL2
- dabluecaboose 3y ago
  It's doubly confusing that STS-51-F, with the Challenger, is the only exercised launch abort; while STS-51-L is the famous launch disaster for which Challenger is most well known.
- bee_rider 3y ago
  I think I know this: the F means it doesn’t have an igpu, right?
  - iraqmtpizza 3y ago
    You're thinking of the XFX RX 7900 XTX
- TMWNN 3y ago
  Shuttle missions began and ended with simple numeric designators (STS-1, STS-2 ... STS-135). In between was the above system, because of triskaidekaphobia. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Space_Shuttle_missions#Flight_numbering https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Space_Shuttle_missions...>
  - vikingerik 3y ago
    To be fair, the previous history of American space missions numbered 13 did have a 100% rate of near-catastrophic failure...
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
    - fragmede 3y ago
      technically, sts-13 was a catastrophic failure, but they also technically renamed it.
      - jjk166 3y ago
        STS-13 was renamed to STS-41-C which was a reasonably routine mission.
        fragmede 3y ago
        you're right, my mistake. I was thinking of a different mission by that particular shuttle
  - mrexroad 3y ago
    > “As a result of the changes in systems, flights under different numbering systems could have the same number with one having a letter appended, e.g. flight STS-51 (a mission carried out by Discovery in 1993) was many years after STS-51-A (Discovery's second flight in 1984).[6] It wasn't until STS-127 in 2009 where the flight numbering system returned to a standard and consistent order.” Ouch, shortly after they get standardized and consistent flight numbers, the shuttle program gets cancelled. I guess computer science doesn’t have a monopoly over the difficulty of naming things.

whycome 3y ago

> STS-51-F Why is the naming scheme of shuttle launches so bad

dsr_ 3y ago
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/space-shuttle/behind-the-space-shuttle-mission-numbering-system/ https://www.nasa.gov/missions/space-shuttle/behind-the-space...
- whycome 3y ago
  Wow. It's crazier than I realized! I always wished it at least included the orbiter name in it. But I suppose the orbiter choice could change closer to actual launch. STS-41B-ATL2
dabluecaboose 3y ago
It's doubly confusing that STS-51-F, with the Challenger, is the only exercised launch abort; while STS-51-L is the famous launch disaster for which Challenger is most well known.
bee_rider 3y ago
I think I know this: the F means it doesn’t have an igpu, right?
- iraqmtpizza 3y ago
  You're thinking of the XFX RX 7900 XTX
TMWNN 3y ago
Shuttle missions began and ended with simple numeric designators (STS-1, STS-2 ... STS-135). In between was the above system, because of triskaidekaphobia. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Space_Shuttle_missions#Flight_numbering https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Space_Shuttle_missions...>
- vikingerik 3y ago
  To be fair, the previous history of American space missions numbered 13 did have a 100% rate of near-catastrophic failure...
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - fragmede 3y ago
    technically, sts-13 was a catastrophic failure, but they also technically renamed it.
    - jjk166 3y ago
      STS-13 was renamed to STS-41-C which was a reasonably routine mission.
      - fragmede 3y ago
        you're right, my mistake. I was thinking of a different mission by that particular shuttle
- mrexroad 3y ago
  > “As a result of the changes in systems, flights under different numbering systems could have the same number with one having a letter appended, e.g. flight STS-51 (a mission carried out by Discovery in 1993) was many years after STS-51-A (Discovery's second flight in 1984).[6] It wasn't until STS-127 in 2009 where the flight numbering system returned to a standard and consistent order.” Ouch, shortly after they get standardized and consistent flight numbers, the shuttle program gets cancelled. I guess computer science doesn’t have a monopoly over the difficulty of naming things.