DRYDEN READY FOR OUT-OF-THE-BLUE SHUTTLE LANDING.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE - As the first space shuttle launch in more than two years draws near, NASA Dryden Flight Research Center officials said they are ready if shuttle Discovery must land at Edwards Air Force Base.

Since Columbia disintegrated in February 2003 over Texas, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has invested about $10 million in equipment and improvements at Dryden, the primary backup landing site if bad weather or other problems interfere at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

``We've had a lot of preparation activity over the last few months and we're ready to go,'' said Kevin Petersen, director of Dryden.

The shuttle Discovery, commanded by Edwards Test Pilot School graduate Eileen Collins, is scheduled to launch Wednesday at Kennedy and return there after its 13-day mission.

NASA prefers to land the shuttles in Florida because it saves about $1 million in costs for ferrying an orbiter cross-country, plus it reduces the amount of handling of the spacecraft.

However, about one out of every five missions ends at Edwards. The last Edwards shuttle landing was June 19, 2002, when Endeavour was diverted from Florida because of bad weather, said Joe D'Agostino, Dryden's manager of shuttle support operations.

``We plan for the worst scenario. We practice for the worst scenario,'' D'Agostino said Wednesday. ``I'm confident we'll do the things we need to do.''

A big chunk of NASA's shuttle investment at Dryden was a refurbishment of the mate/demate device, a gantry-like structure used to lift shuttles off the ground for post-flight servicing and to be attached to a modified Boeing 747 jetliner for the return to Florida. NASA invested $2 million to remove lead-based paint and asbestos and to install new winches.

Other new equipment includes a cooler trailer that will pump refrigerant into the orbiter's systems to cool them and a massive, 280,000-pound vehicle that will pump clean, cool air into the shuttle itself.

One change in procedures will be the establishment of 7-mile safety zones that extended from either end of the runway. No one will be allowed in those areas prior to landings.

Normally, two government employees and 48 contractor personnel work on shuttle operations at Dryden, but during landings that number can grow to as many as 400.

Dryden receives support for the shuttle landings not only from its Air Force landlords, but also from the Navy, which provides aerial photography support, and the Army, which supplies rescue helicopters.

Jim Skeen, [phone]

james.skeen(at)dailynews.com

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(color) Joe D'Agostino, manager of shuttle support operations for the Dryden flight center, says they're ready should the space shuttle need to make an unscheduled landing at Edwards Air Force Base.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer