# What Would NASA Do If The Shuttle Spiraled Out Of Control Toward Populated Areas? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 16, 2011, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-nasa-do-if-the-shuttle-spiraled-out-of-control-toward-populated-areas/589295 "2011-07-16T23:51:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-nasa-do-if-the-shuttle-spiraled-out-of-control-toward-populated-areas/589295/21 "2011-07-19T15:28:16Z")
> [@Francis\_Vaughan](#): > > The more crazy abort idea, added after the Challenger accident involved somehow getting the orbiter into a stable glide, and then bailing out; using an extendible pole to direct the crew safely away from the orbiter, thence parachuting down. I don’t think anyone took this seriously. In principle it was to be used if no runway was available, or for some reason the orbiter could not safely land. This is the [In-flight Crew Escape System](http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/reference/shutref/escape/inflight.html) (ICES) as mentioned above, and demonstrated more-or-less realistically in the otherwise absurd Clint Eastwood film, _Space Cowboys_. Nobody believes that it is of any practical use, but it satisfied the Rogers Commission and United States House Committee on Science, Space and Technology recommendations to “take measures” to improve crew response to an abort level anomaly, and was the only practical measure short of a complete redesign of the Orbiter crew cabin. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-nasa-do-if-the-shuttle-spiraled-out-of-control-toward-populated-areas/589295/22 "2011-07-19T20:11:08Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Specifically, it’s got an ocean to the east (the direction they launch in when possible). Jules Verne figured that out, 'way back in 1865: [From the Earth to the Moon - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_the_Earth_to_the_Moon#Similarities_to_NASA.27s_Apollo_program) ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-nasa-do-if-the-shuttle-spiraled-out-of-control-toward-populated-areas/589295/23 "2011-07-21T04:10:32Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Except that fragmenting the Orbiter vehicle would produce greater, not less, hazard. It seemed plain to me that Machine Elf was using the phrase “blow up” colloquially – that is, to sacrifice the Orbiter through whatever procedure. I certainly was. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-nasa-do-if-the-shuttle-spiraled-out-of-control-toward-populated-areas/589295/24 "2011-07-21T10:37:23Z")
> [@Cliffy](#): > > It seemed plain to me that Machine Elf was using the phrase “blow up” colloquially – that is, to sacrifice the Orbiter through whatever procedure. I certainly was. The is no practicable means of “sacrificing” an already out of control Orbiter Vehicle–whether by explosive ordnance, incendiary charges, separation mechanisms, et cetera–that will not result in greater hazard due to dispersal of large pieces of debris. As I explained previously and, I thought clearly, even if the vehicle were projected to land in a heavily populated area, the preference would still be to bring it down as a single body to localize the hazard to people and structures on the ground. The mass of the vehicle doesn’t simply disappear regardless of how you “sacrifice” it. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-nasa-do-if-the-shuttle-spiraled-out-of-control-toward-populated-areas/589295/25 "2011-07-21T11:45:58Z")
I’d say it’s a moot point now. ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-nasa-do-if-the-shuttle-spiraled-out-of-control-toward-populated-areas/589295.md?page=1)