STS-3xx

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STS-3xx ( English S pace T ransportation S ystem ) was NASA's name for the space shuttle rescue missions that served the purpose of rescuing the crew of a damaged shuttle that was no longer capable of a successful reentry and landing such as B. on mission STS-107 . Rescue flights of this kind were never used during the life of the space shuttle.

Mission title

The designation STS-300 was used for the rescue missions STS-114 and STS-121 . Subsequent shuttle missions were given their own STS-3xx numbers. The last two digits of the mission for which the rescue shuttle was actually prepared were used. For example, if the Endeavor had been irreparably damaged during its STS-118 mission, Discovery would have had to start to bring the stranded crew back to Earth. Since the Discovery was being prepared for its STS-120 mission at the time , the mission designation would have been STS-320.

NASA also used the names LON (during the planning phase Launch On Need , Eng .: start if necessary ) and CSCS (Contingency Shuttle Crew Support) to clarify the purpose of the mission. However, the mission itself would have had an STS-3xx label.

Planning and training

The planning and training stipulated that the STS-3xx missions could be started at any point in time within 40 days. The crew of a damaged shuttle would have had to transfer to the ISS to cover this time. The damaged shuttle would have been brought to a controlled crash and burn up in the earth's atmosphere. From STS-121, however, it was also possible to undertake a remote-controlled landing approach with the aim of saving the space shuttle without endangering the crew.

In the event that the shuttle could not have reached the ISS, it was planned to bring the ISS to a lower orbit ( Joint Underspeed Recovery ).

List of rescue missions

The following rescue missions were prepared, not a single one had to be carried out:

mission Shuttle Rescue mission Rescue shuttle Remarks
STS-114 Discovery STS-300 Atlantis
STS-121 Discovery STS-300 Atlantis
STS-115 Atlantis STS-301 Discovery
STS-116 Discovery STS-317 Atlantis
STS-117 Atlantis STS-318 Endeavor
STS-118 Endeavor STS-320 Discovery
STS-120 Discovery STS-322 Atlantis
STS-122 Atlantis STS-323 Endeavor
STS-123 Endeavor STS-324 Discovery
STS-124 Discovery STS-326 Endeavor
STS-126 Endeavor STS-319 Discovery
STS-119 Discovery STS-327 Endeavor
STS-125 Atlantis STS-400 Endeavor Since this mission was devoted to repairing the Hubble Space Telescope , the ISS fell away as a safe haven. An STS-400 mission would have taken place instead .
STS-127 Endeavor STS-328 Discovery
STS-128 Discovery STS-329 Atlantis
STS-129 Atlantis STS-330 Endeavor
STS-130 Endeavor STS-331 Discovery
STS-131 Discovery STS-332 Atlantis
STS-132 Atlantis STS-333 Endeavor
STS-133 Discovery STS-334 Endeavor
STS-134 Endeavor STS-335 Atlantis

Scheduled mission sequence

  • T – 35 days: Flight control and leading NASA managers come to the conclusion that a shuttle in space is badly damaged and can no longer be repaired. Command to start the STS-3xx is given.
  • T – 25 days: The crew of the damaged shuttle has now transferred to the ISS at the latest. The damaged shuttle is remotely controlled by the ground station, maneuvered away from the ISS and either brought to a controlled crash over the Pacific or, if possible, landed at Vandenberg Air Force Base . With immediate effect, the crew of the shuttle and ISS must strictly limit their food rations in order to have as much time as possible before the rescue shuttle arrives.
  • T – 15 days: The rescue shuttle is driven from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to launch pad 39-A (until January 2007 to launch pad 39-B).
  • T – 10 days: The four-person rescue team (commander, pilot and two mission specialists) arrives at the Kennedy Space Center and has to stay in a semi-quarantine (similar to the Apollo program ) in order to avoid short-term illnesses that lead to further start delays could avoid.
  • T – 3 days: The final start preparations begin.
  • T – 1 day: Technicians fill the tanks of the shuttle on the launch pad with liquid oxygen and hydrogen.
  • T – 5 hours: The rescue team is driven to the launch pad in the orange starting space suits and taken to the rescue shuttle.
  • T – 3 hours: The countdown is stopped for the last time for the mission control decision “ Go / No Go ”
  • T = 0: start of the rescue shuttle
    A shuttle start
  • T + 2 minutes: disconnect the solid booster
  • T + 8 minutes: Shut down the main engine and disconnect the liquid fuel tank
  • T + 11 minutes: The rescue shuttle is in orbit.
  • T + 2 days: The rescue shuttle docks on the ISS after a thorough inspection of the heat shield.
  • T + 4 days (first possible day, provided there is no damage to the rescue shuttle): The rescue shuttle docks from the ISS, now with eleven astronauts (rescue crew plus rescued crew) on board.
  • D + 5 days: The rescue shuttle will brake ignite over the Indian or Pacific Ocean and land at either Kennedy Space Center or Edwards Air Force Base , California.
    A shuttle landing

A Russian, unmanned Progress spaceship has to replenish the now heavily shrunk supplies for the remaining ISS crew within a few days to a few weeks.

Shuttle backup plan

In addition, the whole planning was made more difficult by the fact that the Endeavor (OV-105) was in an "Orbiter Major Modification" period between December 2003 and mid- 2006, i.e. was largely overhauled. During this time, the two other NASA shuttles Discovery (OV-103) and Atlantis (OV-104) had to be available to each other as rescue shuttles . The same problem occurred after the Atlantis was initially no longer equipped with a docking mechanism after the build-up flight ( STS-122 ) in February 2008.

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