There was a time when Zaragoza was astronaut rescue city nasa. Starting more or less regularly to send people into space, the space agency had to develop a plan of action in case something went wrong along the way. This was to keep the astronauts in orbit until a solution was found, or to hold emergency landingpreferably in the USA. But the situation may be too dire for the ship to return to its starting point in time. Thus, the base should have been established at an intermediate point, which, after a long analysis of the situation, turned out to be in the Aragonese city.
This collaboration with NASA continued from 1983 to 2011when he left his shuttle and handed over the cargo of cosmonauts into the hands of the Russian Roscosmos.
It is logical to assume that Zaragoza was not the only NASA emergency landing site. This could also be done in bases are located in Moron (Mongolia), Banjul (Gambia), Dakar (Senegal) and Ben Guerir (Morocco). In addition, there were some minor landing points located elsewhere in Europe, such as the Azores or France. Everything depended on the exit angle of the ship in question, although it should be noted that Zaragoza was one of the best located. Yes, fortunately never had to use it.
Importance of Zaragoza Air Base to NASA
Until 2011, NASA used its own shuttle to deliver astronauts to the International Space Station. In general, everything went well, but it was necessary to have a plan B in case, at some point, one of its components failed.
In such a case, it was necessary to act quickly in order to avoid a greater evil, and there were two main options. On the one hand, he could continue to rise until the ship was put into orbit around the Earth. At this point, you can try to return home immediately or continue orbiting until get to the perfect place. Everything depended on the emergency of the situation.
The most radical option was to turn off the engines and fall by inertia. On this breakneck journey, fuel and other unnecessary components must be removed to free the cargo. If the damage is very serious, you will not be able to choose a landing site. But if there was still room for certain maneuvers, a combination of the two options could be made. That is, orbit to the right place and fall.
This is where several cities come into play, among them Zaragoza. This city was ideal not only because of its location. Also for having 4 km trackideal for spacecraft landing.
How were the landings to be made?
Every time a launch was made, the slope of which gave priority to the landing of Zaragoza, it was necessary to be prepared. To do this, expand Brake network controlled by the US militaryas well as several teams led by a NASA astronaut.
This preventive strategy was launched several times but never ended. Although it really was close more than once. For example, in July 1985, shortly after launch, the crew warned about the shutdown of one of the engines. An emergency protocol was launched from Earth, the end of which was in Zaragoza. But, fortunately, this was not necessary. The ship was able to stay in orbit until it found the right moment to land in the United States with all the crew members safe and sound.
A similar situation was in 2011, shortly before the retirement of the NASA shuttle. Now I wonder what will happen next. Roscosmos has repeatedly threatened to withhold NASA assistance. In fact, he has already taken some steps in this direction. But, fortunately, the launch now depends not only on Russia. Since SpaceX joined the space race with its Crew Dragon in 2020, launches from home have become available again in the United States. Will Zaragoza intervene again? It doesn’t look like it at the moment, but who knows? Only time (and Elon Musk) will tell.
Source: Hiper Textual
