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The wings WERE a military requirement but nothing quite that silly. It was to enable a launch from Edwards AFB in California, insert or extract a polar orbit pa
by excuse-me 14y ago
The wings WERE a military requirement but nothing quite that silly.
It was to enable a launch from Edwards AFB in California, insert or extract a polar orbit payload and land on US soil.
Importantly it allowed them to choose the orbital insert point while they were over US territory where nobody was watching precisely where it went.
- Rastafarian 14y agoSilly? It's a well known design requirement - the shuttle has to be able to enter the atmosphere, slow down and deliver a nuclear bomb over any target on Earth (e.g. Moscow).