‘Fire Pole’ Space Shuttle Escape Passes Test

Six Navy parachutists slid down a 12-foot pole protruding from an airplane and then parachuted 10,000 feet to safety Wednesday as NASA tested the second of two proposed space shuttle escape systems.

“We had six good runs. Everything worked well as far as we could see,” a NASA official said.

The parachutists bailed out from an Air Force C-141 that was flying at 230 m.p.h. over a remote section of this Mojave Desert military base.

Wednesday’s was the 10th of a series of 16 scheduled tests of the system, but the first in which the test aircraft flew at about the same speed the shuttle would be flying. It was also the first time the testing was open to the press.

NASA engineers expect to finish tests of the pole escape system next week, according to William A. Chandler, manager of crew escape systems. An additional two to three weeks of analysis of films of the tests will then be required, he said. Because the flow of air around the C-141 is different than the flow around the orbiter, experts at the Johnson Space Center in Houston will have to determine from the films whether the parachutists would have cleared the orbiter.

The other escape system involves the use of small tractor rockets that would pull each astronaut out an open hatch and away from the orbiter. NASA has successfully completed six of 12 tests of that system.

The space agency intends to choose an escape system in time for it to be installed for the planned Aug. 4 launch of Discovery. An escape system for the shuttle crew was recommended by the Rogers Commission that investigated the 1986 blowup of the Challenger, which killed six astronauts and Concord, N.H., teacher Christa McAuliffe.

The tested system is a 12-foot pole that extends out the hatch and curves downward. Astronauts would attach their parachute harness to the pole and slide down it, much like a firefighter sliding down a pole in a firehouse. Once clear of the orbiter, the astronauts could parachute safely to the ground.

Neither system would have been useful in a Challenger-type disaster.

The most likely use of an escape system would be if a descending orbiter somehow could not reach a landing strip, either after an aborted takeoff or on a return from orbit. The orbiter would have to be in a controlled glide at an altitude of about 20,000 feet before the astronauts could escape.

Regardless of which system is chosen, explosive bolts already have been fitted to Discovery’s hatch so that it can be blown off in an emergency.

Both NASA management and the astronauts seem predisposed to the pole escape system.

“I personally like it better because it’s safer, takes less space, and is easier to use,” said astronaut George (Pinky) Nelson, an astrophysicist who observed Wednesday’s test and who is to fly on the next shuttle mission. The astronauts also do not like the rocket system because it requires that rockets be carried inside the crew compartment.

“There’s no question in my mind that, if (the pole system) works successfully, it will be put in the orbiter,” Chandler said.

Parachutist Bob Hudson said that the jumps have gone “extremely smoothly,” but he noted that Wednesday’s jump was a “real wild and unusual experience.” In the jumps at slower speeds, he said, “I always felt like I was totally in control. But today, I got up to the hatch and the next thing I knew I was gone.”

Discovery’s astronauts also are to wear partial pressure suits and closed helmets so that they can survive bailout at high altitudes. They will also be issued parachutes and life rafts for the first time.

In the past, astronauts have worn only a jump suit, inflatable water wings, and a helmet.

Nelson said that he felt “a little bit safer” with the proposed escape systems, but that he was happy he is not testing them. “I personally don’t plan on trying either system unless I absolutely have to.”

TESTING AN ESCAPE SYSTEM One of two possible midair escape systems for space shuttle crews was demonstrated for the first time Wednesday. It would allow an astronaut to slide out of the orbiter on a 12-foot pole, until he is clear of the shuttle’s wing and tail, and then parachute to safety.