ad info

 
CNN.comTranscripts
 
Editions | myCNN | Video | Audio | Headline News Brief | Feedback  

 

  Search
 
 

 

TOP STORIES

Bush signs order opening 'faith-based' charity office for business

Rescues continue 4 days after devastating India earthquake

DaimlerChrysler employees join rapidly swelling ranks of laid-off U.S. workers

Disney's GO.com is a goner

(MORE)

MARKETS
4:30pm ET, 4/16
144.70
8257.60
3.71
1394.72
10.90
879.91
 


WORLD

U.S.

POLITICS

LAW

TECHNOLOGY

ENTERTAINMENT

 
TRAVEL

ARTS & STYLE



(MORE HEADLINES)
 
CNN Websites
Networks image


Sunday Morning News

How Do Space Shuttle Commanders Practice Landing?

Aired October 22, 2000 - 8:24 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The space shuttle Discovery has left the International Space Station ready for its first tenants, due to arrive on November 2. During the 11 day shuttle sortie, the seven member crew attached two key components to the station and stocked in some supplies. Discovery is slated to come home to the Kennedy Space Center, as we just told you, 2:14 p.m. Eastern Time today. Crosswinds a bit of a concern. CNN, of course, planning live coverage.

Now a shuttle landing is the defining moment when a commander earns his salary or her salary. But even the most experienced shuttle drivers perhaps log only four orbiter landings in their career. So how do they practice, you ask? Here's how.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN (voice-over): Dressed for space but destined for less lofty heights, they are geared up to fly a modified corporate jet through some paces that would make a CEO's stomach churn.

UNIDENTIFIED ASTRONAUT: There on the back?

UNIDENTIFIED ASTRONAUT: Seven areas.

O'BRIEN: No, this is not your average Gulf Stream II.

UNIDENTIFIED ASTRONAUT: And we are ready.

UNIDENTIFIED ASTRONAUT: And we are cleared.

O'BRIEN: It's one of NASA's shuttle training aircraft.

UNIDENTIFIED ASTRONAUT: Rotate.

O'BRIEN: And veteran shuttle commander Brian Duffy (ph), who showed us how the STA handles just like the real thing.

UNIDENTIFIED ASTRONAUT: You got it?

UNIDENTIFIED ASTRONAUT: OK, I got it.

O'BRIEN: Which is to say it drops like a safe.

UNIDENTIFIED ASTRONAUT: Five thousand, get radar.

UNIDENTIFIED ASTRONAUT: Radar.

UNIDENTIFIED ASTRONAUT: Four thousand.

UNIDENTIFIED ASTRONAUT: Can't get speed at four.

O'BRIEN: With the landing gear down and the engines in reverse, the STA drops nearly twice as fast and six times steeper than a commercial airliner.

UNIDENTIFIED ASTRONAUT: In a free fire arm, the oil space again.

O'BRIEN: No, the approach to the runway at the Kennedy Space Center is not for the feint of heart.

UNIDENTIFIED ASTRONAUT: Five hundred boards 21, 400.

UNIDENTIFIED ASTRONAUT: You're down. Here. Going through that step.

UNIDENTIFIED ASTRONAUT: Two hundred, 270, orbiter gear is down.

O'BRIEN: Duffy is joined by trainers Alison Hickey and Ken Baker. He sits in the right seat with a regular array of controls and instruments while on Duffy's side, everything looks and feels like the world's most expensive glider.

BRIAN DUFFY: The first time you land the space shuttle, you've never done it before, for real, fortunately the way we train is that the commander will have had a minimum of 1,000 dives or 1,000 approaches in the shuttle training aircraft.

O'BRIEN: This shuttle veteran has now logged about 2,100 dives, as they are aptly called.

UNIDENTIFIED ASTRONAUT: Sixty, 50, 40, 40, 30 to 35.

O'BRIEN: Yet he is constantly honing his technique. In between dives, he pores over an instant score card spit out by the on board computer.

UNIDENTIFIED ASTRONAUT: I'm pretty happy with the profile.

DUFFY: You want to get to where you're consistent and you always want to be improving a little bit so if you make little tweaks to your technique, you want to make sure that you can be consistent with that because, you know, I want my last 100 dives to look exactly like my orbiter landing is going to be. So that's my goal.

O'BRIEN: The goal is to make the real thing seem very familiar, but don't call it matter of fact.

DUFFY: Are you kidding? Could you, can you imagine it being matter of fact when you say OK, I'm going to fly a $4 billion vehicle that's essentially irreplaceable and have the lives of seven people on board and you're in a glider and you get one shot at it? No, it's not matter of fact and it never will be, not for anybody who's ever in that condition.

UNIDENTIFIED ASTRONAUT: Five, four, five, roger.

O'BRIEN: With 10 dives complete, some through simulated clouds, others with failed instruments, Brian Duffy calls it a night, another day at the office for a space shuttle commander.

UNIDENTIFIED ASTRONAUT: Thanks for taking me flying, you guys.

UNIDENTIFIED ASTRONAUT: Enjoyed it. It was a nice experience. Enjoyed it. I hope everything goes smooth the rest of your time down here.

DUFFY: And on some days you're better than others. When I come home my wife sometimes looks at me and says well, how was your STA, you know? Did you have a good day or didn't you? And some days, you know, I can nail, I'll nail 10 for 10 and be perfect and other days I'll say well, they were all OK, but, you know, I was only happy, really happy with four or five of them. And so you strive to, you strive for 10 for 10.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Some days are better than others. The shuttle Discovery is scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center this afternoon. CNN's live coverage begins a few moments before 2:14 Eastern Time. That's 11:14 Pacific and hopefully NASA will have a good day and Brian Duffy as well. We wish him well. We'll be watching, we'll be grading him for points on the landing now that I know.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com

 Search   


Back to the top  © 2001 Cable News Network. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines.