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18 votes
2 answers
9k views

Challenger Shuttle: could the crew have survived?

Some sources point out that the shuttle cabin stayed intact following the solid rocket booster explosion, and that in fact, it is likely the crew died upon the cabin impact into the ocean. The space ...
Jan Stuller's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
650 views

Is a low-altitude, stable glide really absolutely needed to bail out of the space shuttle?

After the Challenger disaster, the Space Shuttle astronauts were outfitted with pilot spacesuits equipped with parachutes and internal emergency oxygen supplies, and the space shuttle was equipped ...
ikrase's user avatar
  • 9,517
8 votes
1 answer
6k views

Were ejection seats on the Space Shuttle a practical safety system?

The first four STS missions were flown by Columbia with two pilots and had ejection seats as an option. These seats were eventually disabled (by STS 5) and removed (by STS-61-C). They could only be ...
Ezra Bailey's user avatar
  • 2,900
8 votes
1 answer
672 views

When have astronauts been launched without launch escape system (tower)?

The Vostok spacecraft used by Yuri Gagarin seems to have had an "ejection seat". The Soyuz launcher has an escape tower, which at least once saved its crew. The space shuttle of course did not have ...
LocalFluff's user avatar
39 votes
4 answers
16k views

Why didn't the Space Shuttle have a launch escape system?

Since the very beginning of space exploration, rockets had some sort of Launch Escape System (LES). From this Wikipedia article, we know that Mercury and Apollo had an escape tower, while Vostok and ...
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