Shuttle Landing Facility
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| NASA Shuttle Landing Facility | |||
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| IATA: TTS – ICAO: KTTS – FAA: TTS | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Private | ||
| Owner | National Aeronautics & Space Administration | ||
| Location | Titusville, Florida | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 10 ft / 3 m | ||
| Coordinates | 28°36′54″N 80°41′40.2″W / 28.615°N 80.6945°W | ||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 15/33 | 15,000 | 4,572 | Concrete |
The NASA Shuttle Landing Facility (IATA: TTS, ICAO: KTTS, FAA LID: TTS) is an airport located on Merritt Island in Brevard County, Florida, USA. It is a part of the John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC), and is used by the NASA Space Shuttle for landing, as well as takeoffs and landings for the NASA training jets, and civilian aircraft, such as the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.[1][2]
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[edit] Facilities
The Shuttle Landing Facility covers 500 acres (2.0 km2) and has a single runway, 15/33. It is one of the longest runways in the world, at 4,572 m (15,000 ft), and 91.4 metres (300 ft) wide.[1] Additionally, the SLF has 305 metres (1,000 ft) of paved overruns at each end.[1] The Mate-Demate Device (MDD) for use when the shuttle is transported by the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft is located just off the runway.[1]
The runway is designated runway 15, or 33, depending on the direction of use. The runway surface consists of an extremely high-friction concrete strip designed to maximize the braking ability of the Space Shuttle at its high landing speed, with the paving thickness 40.6 cm (16.0 in) at the center.[1] It uses a grooved design to provide drainage, and further increase the coefficient of friction.[1] The original groove design was found to actually provide too much friction for the rubber used in the Shuttle's tires, causing failures during several landings. This issue was resolved by grinding down the pavement, reducing the depth of the grooves significantly.
A local slang name for the runway is the "Gator tanning facility", as some of the 4000 alligators living at Kennedy Space Center regularly bask in the sun on the runway.[3]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f NASA (2007). "Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF)". NASA. http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/facilities/slf.html. Retrieved on November 7, 2007.
- ^ NASA (2007). "Shuttle Landing 101". NASA. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/launch/landing101.html. Retrieved on November 7, 2007.
- ^ NASA (2008). "Alligators and Rocketships". NASA. http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/shuttleoperations/alligators/kscovr.html.
[edit] External links
- Kennedy Space Center: Shuttle Operations
- Shuttle Landing at Googlepages.com
- Resources for this airport:
- AirNav airport information for KTTS
- ASN accident history for TTS
- FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
- NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
- SkyVector aeronautical chart for KTTS
- Shuttle Landing Facility is at coordinates 28°37′05″N 80°41′45″W / 28.61798°N 80.695953°WCoordinates: 28°37′05″N 80°41′45″W / 28.61798°N 80.695953°W
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