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NASA Will Man Destruct Switch Just In Case

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the explosions-are-cool dept.

Ant writes "Popular Mechanics reports if the looming Discovery mission or any other between now and the spacecraft's retirement loses control, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is prepared to ditch it in the Atlantic ocean — or blow it up. The article also shows complete no-fly-zone maps and a photograph of the switch."

1 of 196 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Four Buttons? by yams69 · · Score: 1, Redundant

    I had heard once that there were two buttons the RSO had to use to blow up the shuttle, and that the first button activated an indicator in the cockpit that let the astronauts know what was about to happen. Perhaps the "Test" button also activated that light?

    I had also heard that the astronauts would visit the RSO before their flights with pictures of their families, just to be sure he knows exactly whose lives he would be affecting if he had to destroy the shuttle.