4 ms·

Yup, or worse, we could be mourning the loss of two shuttles and their crews.

• firebones 13y ago
  Isn't the shuttle capable of being run autonomously? I know it can be landed without human intervention, but isn't the crew more or less cargo for the whole trip as well (except for tasks such as running experiments)? Not that there wouldn't be volunteers and a reputational benefit to sending a solo or two-man crew up.
  • tanzam75 13y ago
    The American Space Shuttle was intentionally designed to require a human to flip the landing gear switch. The autopilot was capable of doing everything up until that point -- the S curves, the approach, the flare. The Soviet Buran could land autonomously.
    • gizmo686 13y ago
      >The American Space Shuttle was intentionally designed to require a human to flip the landing gear switch. Why?
      • tanzam75 13y ago
        The astronaut corps wanted to say that the Shuttle required a human at the controls. Since STS-121, the second return-to-flight mission, Shuttles have carried a data cable that would allow the landing gear to be lowered by the flight computer. However, this cable is not installed by default, and would be plugged in only if the crew had to leave. In 2003, this capability would not have been available to Columbia. If the crew left, then it would have been the end of Columbia.