Author Topic: A future Darwin award winner  (Read 21670 times)

Offline Ottawan

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A future Darwin award winner
« on: July 29, 2005, 12:14:21 PM »
What was this guy thinking?

Small plane enters shuttle no-fly zone
Man must explore . . . and this is exploration at its greatest

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Offline LunarOrbit

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Re: A future Darwin award winner
« Reply #1 on: July 29, 2005, 12:44:23 PM »
Hopefully it was just a mistake and not something more serious like an attempted attack. I guess a terrorist wouldn't turn around when threatened by F-16's.
" We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard..."
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Offline jdbenner

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Re: A future Darwin award winner
« Reply #2 on: July 29, 2005, 02:16:22 PM »
I would be more concerned about a sniper getting with in a few miles of the space shuttle.  The shuttle is a large target, and if one bullet penetrates the SRB’s we could have an incident like challenger.  And if one hits the thermal protective tiles we could have an incident like Columbia.  What is to stop the sniper from crawling 30 miles in six nights to wait 3 miles from the shuttle and commence firing between 10 and 20 seconds before launch?  The bullets would be airborne for 5 to 10 seconds.  I won’t speculate about what else a terrorist could do. 
Joshua D. Benner Associate in Arts and Sciences in General Science

Offline spacecat27

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Re: A future Darwin award winner
« Reply #3 on: July 29, 2005, 11:03:18 PM »
JD- security around The Cape is very tight, especially since 9/11.  Aside from the usual fences, remote cameras, patrols and IR scans- there are undoubtedly other systems and gadgets employed that are not publicized.  On top of all that- the geography and environment there is a big security plus in itself.  Anyone 'crawling' out there would very likely become dinner for alligators, fire ants, snakes (water moccasins & rattlers are prolific) and to a lesser degree, wild hogs and inadvertant punctures by sting ray spines.  The launch complexes and other building areas are actually man-made islands in a semi-tropical swamp / salt marsh / lagoon system.  The few places with any natural elevation (probably no more than 4 - 5 feet above MSL) are thickly covered with razor-sharp saw palms, sand spurs (you have to experience one to know the pain) and other unfriendly vegetation to go along with all the critters.  In short- it's a beautiful place for nature- but not a place for a human to move through without calling attention to himself.