| World / USA / Florida / Titusville, 13 km from center | Coordinates: 28°36'52"N 80°41'40"W |
Orbiter landings at the Kennedy Space Center are made on one of the largest runways in the world. The runway is located 3.2 km (2 miles) northwest of the Vehicle Assembly Building and is 4,572 meters (15,000ft) long and 91.4 meters (300ft) wide - about as wide as the length of a football field. It has 305 meters (1000ft) of paved overruns at each end and the paving thickness is 40.6cm (15 inches) at the center.
The main landing facility for the Space Shuttle after each flight (Edwards Air Force Base in California is the backup facility), the Shuttle Landing Facility somewhat resembles a commercial airline runway, except it is 15,000 feet long, twice the length, and 80 feet wide, twice the width. In addition, over 25,000 miles of grooving to allow quick water drainage is cut into the runway surface. Despite its special design, the Shuttle Landing Facility can also accomodate conventional aircraft, mainly NASA's Supper Guppy transport and Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. The Shuttle Landing Facility is a haven for the local alligator population and three hours before a scheduled touchdown, a crew must "sweep" the runway for any debris (both natural and manmade) as well as the gators.
More information can be found at this link: science.ksc.nasa.gov/facilities/slf.html
Category: airport center space runway kennedy landing nasa
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2 months ago GeodesyMike | +1 |
 
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Exactly 15000 ft! The survey disks at each end were placed there by a team from Det 4 Geodetic Survey Squadron. Those were the days! | ||||
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