Personnel from NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center and Edwards Air Force Base conducted a training exercise this past weekend that would enable them to effectively handle the rescue of a Space Shuttle crew in the unlikely event of a landing mishap at the base. The exercise was designed to train fire/rescue and medical crews in aiding the Shuttle crew in exiting the Shuttle after a simulated landing mishap on or near the Edwards runway and escaping from the mishap area. The exercises are held periodically to familiarize new personnel with Shuttle landing and crew rescue procedures and to acquaint the rescue team with new Shuttle recovery equipment designed to cool and purge the orbiter within an hour of touchdown. The Shuttle Discovery is targeted for liftoff on mission STS-114 to the International Space Station within a launch window between May 15 and June 3 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Although Kennedy is also the primary landing site for Space Shuttle missions, Edwards remains the alternate landing site in case weather or other situations preclude a landing in Florida.
PHOTO EDITORS: Publication-quality photos to support this release are available for downloading from the Internet at: http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/STS-Misc/index.html
For more on returning the Space Shuttles to flight and mission STS-114, log on to: www.nasa.gov/returntoflight
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Leslie Williams
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center
Phone: 661/276-3893
Leslie.A.Williams@nasa.gov