Nov 12 1987
From The Space Library
NASA announced that two Shuttle crew escape systems would be tested in November at the Naval Weapons Center in China Lake, California, using dummies and Navy volunteers. NASA is to make a decision early in 1988 on which-if either-of the two systems would be installed aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery.
One of the escape systems involved the installation of two-foot-long tractor rockets that would extract the astronauts through an open hatch. The other system consisted of a telescoping slide pole that would extend through the hatch for the crew members to slide down, away from the disabled spacecraft. The crew would be connected to the rocket or the slide pole with a lanyard.
Neither system would be of use in a Challenger-type explosion that occurred without warning. But either could function in the event of a main engine failure aborting the mission during launch. Both systems require the Shuttle to be equipped with a hatch that can be blown off the spacecraft in an emergency. (NASA Release 87-170; H Chron, Nov 13/87; H Post, Nov 13/87; NY Times, Nov 14/87)
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