Edwards AFB News

Base trains for shuttle recovery

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Francesca Carrano
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  More than 300 people teamed up in a joint exercise with NASA Dryden Flight Research Center Saturday.

For the several hundred members of the Edwards Space Shuttle Recovery team, this is a duty in addition to their normal responsibilities.

The exercise was designed to test the Edwards Space Shuttle Recovery Team's ability to respond in case of an actual shuttle landing at Edwards.

"Our main goal in this exercise was to improve the communication and coordination between the Space Shuttle Recovery Team and the Battlestaff under different emergency scenarios," said Col. Jim Hogue, Edwards Space Shuttle Recovery Team director and individual mobilization augmentee to the Air Force Flight Test Center commander.

Although NASA has the primary responsibility in recovering the Space Shuttle, the Edwards team provides support in case things don't go as planned, Colonel Hogue said.

During the exercise certain scenarios are enacted to test the communication and response time of the different participants.

"It is important that we practice on how we are going to work together and how we will support the shuttle crews if something goes wrong," Colonel Hogue said.

In addition to all the organizations on Edwards, Army and Air Force helicopters, NASA Dryden, and Houston and Kennedy Space Centers all play an intricate and distinctly different role in a Space Shuttle recovery.

"It involves many unique procedures to recover a shuttle," Colonel Hogue said. "It is important to practice these procedures to maintain our proficiency."

Until the most recent landing at Edwards Aug. 10, 2005, it had been more than 2 years since a shuttle had landed at Edwards.

"As almost half of the space shuttle landings have been at Edwards, and with 19 more Space Shuttle flights on the schedule, we can expect to have about nine more landings here," Colonel Hogue said.

Shuttle exercises are conducted on the weekend to avoid interference with the Edwards mission.

"Because we need to use runways and airspace on a daily basis for flight test, we conduct shuttle exercises on the weekend to minimize the impact on our normal flight test ops," Colonel Hogue said.

Shuttle exercises are held twice a year; the first-ever being held in 1981.

"We have a perfect record for landings -- our recovery team is made up of true unsung heroes," Colonel Hogue said. "I really appreciate all of their hard work and dedication."