17. What are the procedures to evacuate the Shuttle if there is a problem? (A K2S Question)
From The Space Library
When the orbiter is on the ground awaiting lift off, astronauts have access to the emergency exit system. It's positioned 195 feet above the ground, at the same level as the orbiter access arm, and includes seven baskets suspended from seven slide wires that extend to a landing zone 1,200 feet to the west. After the astronauts climb into the baskets, a braking system, catch net and drag chain slow and then stop the baskets as they slide down the wire. The angle of the slide wire causes the baskets to move the astronauts as far away from the Space Shuttle as possible. The braking system stops the baskets from hitting the ground too hard. Once launched, the spacecraft can make an emergency return to Earth, with the astronauts staying inside and exiting just as with a normal landing. If there were a problem inside the orbiter, however, the astronauts wouldn't want to wait to touch down. They would want to get out much faster than that, so they would use the in-flight crew escape system. At an altitude of about 30,000 feet, astronauts would pull a handle that turns on the depressurization valve in the crew compartment bulkhead. This equalizes the cabin pressure and outside air before the side hatch is released. At 25,000 feet, the hatch is jettisoned and two telescoping sections of the aluminum and steel escape pole deploy through the hatch. Each crewmember hooks a Kevlar strap onto the pole, jumps out the hatch opening, slides down the 10-foot pole and goes into a free fall until the parachute opens to ease the journey to the ground. It takes approximately 90 seconds for a crew of eight to bail out of the Space Shuttle, and by that time, the vehicle is at 10,000 feet altitude. If the Space Shuttle has made a safe landing, but the astronauts need to exit the vehicle immediately, they can use the emergency egress slide. This operates much like the emergency slide on commercial airplanes, inflating with a self-contained supply of air. The slide allows a safe exit to the ground within one minute of the hatch opening. As a backup, the secondary emergency egress allows the astronauts to lower themselves to the ground over the side of the Space Shuttle, once they've escaped through the left overhead window of the orbiter. This window is equipped with pyrotechnic firing circuits to quickly remove the windowpane.
Answer provided by Futron Corporation
Question and Answer extracted from the book Kids to Space - by Lonnie Schorer
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