Wow!
I just skimmed the updates to the STS-121 article on Wikipedia and noticed something that was surprising and cool –
STS-121 will be the first shuttle mission to carry a 8.5-meter cable designed to connect the flight deck manual controls used during landing to an avionics bay in the middeck allowing mission controllers to land the shuttle unmanned if required.
Source: Space.com STS-121 article, cited in STS-121 Wikipedia article
Source: Space.com STS-121 article, cited in STS-121 Wikipedia article
Obviously, landing the Space Shuttle unmanned would not be a desirable result for this mission but it is interesting that they’ve established a method for doing this in the event of the crew abandoning the Shuttle and using the ISS as a “safe haven”.
On another note, check out Flickr for various photos of STS-121, many of which were taken by various employees associated with the Space Shuttle program.
Permalink
« STS-121, RTF Mission #2 | Awesome Launch! »
Life is Good
