AzBill - 15/7/2006 1:44 PMWhat factors go in to picking which orbit to land on? In looking at the closer views of the ground track, it looks like they steer around Tampa/St. Pete. Is the legacy of Columbia and the (hopefully remote) potential for debris considered at all in the planning for de-orbit?--Bill
hyper_snyper - 15/7/2006 11:00 AMQuoteAzBill - 15/7/2006 1:44 PMWhat factors go in to picking which orbit to land on? In looking at the closer views of the ground track, it looks like they steer around Tampa/St. Pete. Is the legacy of Columbia and the (hopefully remote) potential for debris considered at all in the planning for de-orbit?--BillThey perform some steep s-turns late in the entry to bleed off speed before landing. Whether they are purposefully aiming away from populated areas I don't know.