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In the MIT OCW of Aerospace System Engineering lecture 14 at 37:40, Prof Jeffery Hoffman talks about ropeway from space shuttle that goes to a bunker and then they have to ride a military tank !

I want to know more about this procedure, is there any source for this information?

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  • $\begingroup$ For that lecture series, they got really expert people from Shuttle to give the talks. They may not be the greatest public speakers but they are supreme experts on Shuttle. $\endgroup$ Mar 4, 2019 at 17:31
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    $\begingroup$ Indeed ! I love to hear about problems and design solution of that era. $\endgroup$
    – zephyr0110
    Mar 4, 2019 at 17:39

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Yes, I am a source for this information :)

Here are some pictures I took of the escape system while standing on the launch pad tower during the STS-124 Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test.

The idea was that the crew would egress the Orbiter and run down a walkway to this platform. Then jump into the baskets, 2 people per basket. You can see the sign LEVER UNDER SIGN RELEASES BASKET

enter image description here

Pull the lever and the basket whizzes down a wire rope. Draglines drag in this pile of sand which serves to slow it down. Once it stops, the crew jumps out.

enter image description here

Then they get into the "tank" (really an M113 armored personnel carrier) and drive away.

enter image description here

Source: personal photos

It was never used and NASA management was afraid to have anyone actually test it out. But astronaut Charles Bolden (later the NASA administrator) insisted on testing it and did, becoming the first person to ever ride it.

It would have had to be a very slow emergency for the crew to be able to unstrap, climb out, open the hatch, run to the baskets, slide down, and get into the M113 before whatever was happening...happened

You can read more about how the "tank" was also used by rescue personnel here: Ground personnel proximity to space shuttle at launch?

Finally, here is a video of the last time the baskets were released.

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    $\begingroup$ Wow! Thank you so much for the answer and the information on this ! $\endgroup$
    – zephyr0110
    Mar 4, 2019 at 17:37

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