Atlantis successfully touches down at Edwards

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Jason Hernandez
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
Space Shuttle Atlantis safely returned to Earth when it landed at Edwards on June 22, which concluded STS-117's assembly mission to the International Space Station.

Because of unfavorable weather, the orbiter landed at Edwards, its secondary landing site, instead of its primary landing site at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

"The weather at Kennedy was not looking good for a landing," said George Grimshaw, NASA's Chief of Shuttle and Flight Operations Support office. "The weather was also forecasted to be unsuitable at Kennedy and alternate locations for Saturday. Edwards had good weather forecasted on June 22, so it was decided to bring it down then."

Edwards provided support as the secondary landing site for space shuttle operations. NASA and Department of Defense crews were prepared in advance for the possibility of a shuttle landing.

"Our job is to constantly be in a ready mode for shuttle landings at Edwards," Mr. Grimshaw said. "The Air Force side ensures the landing field is cleared and the temporary runway contractors had shut down operations."

Brig. Gen. James Hogue, Air Force Flight Test Center Contingency Response team director, and base operations ensured the Edwards crews are notified and prepared to support a landing here, he said. They also ensured airspace, fire department, security and all other DoD support is ready.

"For us it's not short notice," said Col. Lois MacDonald, AFFTC Shuttle Contingency Response Team medical director. "Each day, we have a schedule of opportunities for shuttle landings. We knew the shuttle was landing and what time we could be called upon. When it's an end-of-mission day, we are standing by on the flight line in case the orbiter lands here."

Edwards' crews only knew one hour in advance that the shuttle would be landing here, she said.

"It's very rare that we receive more notification than that," Colonel MacDonald said. "NASA prefers to land the shuttle in Florida because it has a much shorter turn-around time there. At Dryden, they have to prepare the shuttle for carriage on top of a 747, which delays the turn around by a couple of weeks. Also the astronaut's families are waiting in Florida, so it's harder on them to land here."

Edwards conducts exercises each year to train and prepare for shuttle landings.

"We have two field exercises and two mini exercises a year to prepare for landings," Colonel MacDonald said.

When a shuttle is preparing to land, the medical field has a response crew on call 24 hours a day waiting for the orbiter, she said.

"On the day of a scheduled landing, we prepare more than three hours in advance with staging equipment and conducting pre-landing briefings," Colonel MacDonald said. "On a normal landing, the NASA forces go forward, while DoD forces stand by to assist. If there is a contingency such as toxic leaks, or an emergency egress, the NASA forces will back off and DoD will move forward to take care of the problem."

For normal landings, NASA sends two flight surgeons from the Johnson Space Center in Houston, she said. They take care of all normal astronaut care. In a contingency, the military medical team steps forward. Contingencies could include injuries, air evacuations and other orbiter-related mishaps.

"The DoD medical team is a joint force," Colonel MacDonald said. "We have Navy, Army and Air Force Reserve personnel working for the DoD medical team." 

The 95th Aerospace Medical Squadron also provided bioenvironmental engineers to make sure chemicals or gases released from the shuttle were not present.

The shuttle landing also required the coordination of many other organizations.

The 95th Security Forces Squadron provided security and protection. The 95th Communications Squadron ensured all the communications were functioning properly. The 412th Operations Support Squadron managed the airfield, air traffic control and cleared the air space for the shuttle exercise. The fire department provided rescue and firefighting support. 

Colonel MacDonald said the mission went very well.

"This was the best prepared and most enthusiastic group of medics I have had the pleasure of working with in the seven years of space shuttle support," she said. "These people were phenomenal. The astronauts should feel confident and reassured that this quality of people is here to take care of them."

Atlantis is currently in turnaround and being serviced so that it can be placed on the 747 and flown back to Kennedy, Mr. Grimshaw said. Atlantis will be placed into the orbiter processing facility at Kennedy for its next scheduled mission in December.