Can we load up the shuttle with cargo and fly it unmanned?

[kurtwagner]

If there was TPS damage and 'they' decided it was flyable/survivable and that a manned reentry was to occur, wouldn't protocol stipulated an Edwards landing simply to put the approach mostly over water? Or, does that last several minutes over S. Cal. represent a big risk to those on the ground? Thanks.

 

[askold]

It seems to me that if the vehicle makes it to LA, then it's still flying. If it's going to burn up, it'll burn up at 200,000 feet over open water.

 

[kurtwagner]

I asked about the Edwards landing option precisely because of the entry over water. The nominal entry to Kennedy is over the continental US, with the result seen in the Columbia accident. As SG says, if a similar thing is predicted after the on-orbit TPS survey, they'll use the scheme he mentioned, having it come in mostly over water and then over the (relatively) sparsely populated Santa Barbara county and thus into the Edwards area...