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<\/font>The concept, which was completed as far back as 2004 \u2013 possibly as part of NASA\u2019s post Columbia (STS-107) review process \u2013 is officially classed \u2018\u2026to develop a design for a system to enable autonomous landing of the Orbiter in the event a \u2018Safe Haven\u2019 of the crew was declared.\u2019 It is also known as the Remote Controlled Orbiter IFM cable.<\/font> <\/p>\nThe NASA system is a simple \u2018box of tricks\u2019 that will take over the human interaction with Discovery\u2019s GPC (General Purpose Computers) via electrical cables plugged her into the flight deck panels, allowing for Air Data Probe Deploy, Landing Gear Deploy, and deployment of the Drag Chute to be commanded via the AORP. <\/font><\/p>\n The AORP would be used in a scenario where an orbiter has suffered damage on ascent. Once the undesirable call has been made by Shuttle managers on the ground, Discovery\u2019s crew would take up the \u2018safe haven\u2019 of the International Space Station (ISS). <\/font><\/p>\n While Atlantis would be prepared for her LON (Launch On Need) rescue mission, known as STS-300, to bring the crew home from the ISS, Discovery would have the box installed, before being commanded to undock from the station, to make way for the subsequent arrival of her sister.<\/font><\/p>\n Previous plans involved the damaged orbiter to de-orbit into a watery grave in the Pacific Ocean, but now she\u2019ll have a fighting chance to return home in one piece, without risking the lives of her crew. <\/p>\n This is not only a desirable option to save a couple of billion dollars worth of tax payers money being sent to the bottom of the ocean, it is also a welcomed option for those that work with \u2013 and care for \u2013 the orbiters, many of whom openly class their beloved orbiters as part of the NASA family.<\/p>\n Due to an STS-300 scenario deeming Discovery to be at risk of disintegrating on re-entry, Flight Directors will likely have the option of waving off the return of Discovery \u2013 almost certainly to Edwards Air Force base in California \u2014 if she had controllability issues during re-entry. That would lead to a ditching in the ocean. <\/font><\/p>\n The role of the Flight Directors at the Johnson Space Center in such an unmanned re-entry and landing will be crucial, as they help guide the orbiter back home in a never previously attempted scenario.<\/font><\/p>\n NASA educational resources (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n Should she make it home, AORP would not only allow for Discovery to be saved, but the data gained from her risky return would prove to be invaluable for any future assessment on a damaged orbiter\u2019s ability to survive \u2013 where Columbia failed during her ill-fated re-entry in 2003. <\/font><\/p>\n While this extra capability is simple \u2013 and more so an obvious step for Shuttle managers to take \u2013 NASA has been very tight lipped on making the media and public aware of AORP\u2019s existence. <\/font><\/p>\n However, upon learning of the AORP Project was completed October 2004, both the United Space Alliance PAO Tracy Yates and the modification\u2019s named contact, Johnson Space Center\u2019s Michael T Garske, said they were unable to comment \u2013 and recommended inquiring to NASA PAO. A request for information, sent five days ago (to NASA PAO) prior to this publication, has not received a response.<\/font><\/p>\n While NASA may be wary of the media twisting this modification as a potential concern NASA has over the remaining flights of the Shuttle, the extra capability of the orbiters through AORP should be seen as encouraging.<\/font><\/p>\n AORP could also prove useful during emergency scenarios \u2013 such as an incapacitated crew on the flight deck \u2013 during the final stages of landing, in which an orbiter has only one chance to complete its landing.<\/p>\n So serious was the damage, it was unlikely she would have flown again \u2013 especially given the cost of the repair work. Buran, sadly, was later destroyed when her hanger roof collapsed on top of her, due to the weight of heavy snow.<\/p>\n **Resource: Buran Historical Pages**<\/em> <\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The first ever Shuttle mission to fly with an official rating of \u201cunacceptable risk\u201d, STS-121 will debut a concept that will allow Discovery to land herself in an STS-300 \u201cSafe Haven\u201d scenario. The Autonomous Orbiter Rapid Prototype (AORP) is a modification that matured to full RCO (Remote Control Orbiter) \u2013 which allows the orbiter to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42030"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42030\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}To record, the only orbiter that has completed an unmanned landing came during the one and only flight of the Soviet Shuttle orbiter Buran, although her flight \u2013 which was fully unmanned from launch to landing \u2013 employed a very complex style of remote control, unlike the AORP. <\/font><\/p>\n
<\/font>Back in February, NASASpaceflight.com asked NASA PAO\u2019s Kyle Herring about this modification\u2019s status, to which he commented: \u2018The capability currently does not exist for the shuttle to return to earth uncrewed, but there is some engineering work ongoing that potentially might provide the technical capability at some time in the future.\u2019<\/p>\n
Noting back to Buran\u2019s unmanned landing, lessons can be learned by saving an orbiter from a simple ditching. Buran herself managed to make it back to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kahazstan, even after serious in-flight damage. <\/p>\n