The Nation - News from Aug. 16, 1988
Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard crews teamed up to rehearse the rescue of astronauts who might be forced to parachute into the Atlantic Ocean off Florida’s Kennedy Space Center from a crippled space shuttle. The six Air Force men playing astronauts were safely aboard a 20-man motorized raft, awaiting a helicopter airlift back to shore, 70 minutes after they were dropped into the sea from a boat to simulate their bailout from a shuttle. Participating in the exercise were a Navy ship, a Coast Guard vessel, two HC130 aircraft and three H3 helicopters.
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