Self Correction: I overlooked (on the top of a boing 747 BTW) mentioned in the previous poster's post. While air transport is much safer than land, it still seems there is a big risk of it being targeted by less-than-nice peoples.
A representative from Johnson Space Center here in Houston reported that transporting the shuttle from either of the alternate landing sites costs NASA approximately 1 million dollars each time it is moved.
I am really interested to know what method they use to transport it. I mean, how many times have you seen a semi carrying a shuttle down the interstate? I know its a rare occasion, but it would seem they would have to be as secretive as possible in moving it back to Kennedy.
Watching the shuttle land in Texas can be pretty exciting. I remember at least one time climbing on the house with the family and watching it streak across the sky.
Mostly, from my experience, the re-entry looks like nothing more than a fast moving, extremely high jet, unless something goes wrong. I remember watching the Colombia, not only was it very visible from my front yard, but it actually showed as precipitation on the Dopplar radars. That was one of the most interesting (but extremely sad) things I have ever seen.
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Self Correction: I overlooked (on the top of a boing 747 BTW) mentioned in the previous poster's post. While air transport is much safer than land, it still seems there is a big risk of it being targeted by less-than-nice peoples.
A representative from Johnson Space Center here in Houston reported that transporting the shuttle from either of the alternate landing sites costs NASA approximately 1 million dollars each time it is moved.
I am really interested to know what method they use to transport it. I mean, how many times have you seen a semi carrying a shuttle down the interstate? I know its a rare occasion, but it would seem they would have to be as secretive as possible in moving it back to Kennedy.
Watching the shuttle land in Texas can be pretty exciting. I remember at least one time climbing on the house with the family and watching it streak across the sky. Mostly, from my experience, the re-entry looks like nothing more than a fast moving, extremely high jet, unless something goes wrong. I remember watching the Colombia, not only was it very visible from my front yard, but it actually showed as precipitation on the Dopplar radars. That was one of the most interesting (but extremely sad) things I have ever seen.