European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 02, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2 the stars and stripes saturday november 2, 1985 Spain base is shuttle backup Landing site by Tony Nauroth slam writer 7aragoza a. Spain when in space shuttle challenger look off wednes Day from Cape canaveral. Fla., Zaragoza a in northeastern Spain was standing by in Case an emergency Landing was Nec Essary. If something goes wrong in the first 12 minutes Ofa shuttle flight a a officials can abort inc Mission and bring the space Craft safely Back to Earth. If officials decide to abort a Mission within two minutes after liftoff the shuttle returns to Cape canaveral. A decision made Between two and 12 minutes after liftoff Means the shuttle most Likely will Hind ill one of two primary abort Fields. Depending on whether inc shuttle is Fly ing a northerly or southerly arc across the Atlantic Ocean the held is either Zaragoza or Dakar the capital of Senegal on the West coast of Africa. Air Force col. Ward Boyce commander of he 406th combat support group at Zaragoza is the on site commander when Ever the northerly route is taken. He pre sides Over a shuttle recovery team of fire and Rescue experts medics Security police and others from the air base trained by Nasa in shuttle Landing procedures. A handful of advisers and overseers from Nasa and the department of defense Are also on hand during the launches. During challenger s twice delayed july 30 launch when the shuttle s main engine failed Nasa officials came within 30 seconds of aborting. Boyce said it takes Only 30 minutes for the shuttle to travel from Florida to Spain. I got a Little exciting during that launch Boyce said. La. Col. Chuck Williams normally chief of operations and training for the 406th. Becomes the Airfield support coordinating officer during shuttle operations. I in sits in the Airfield Tower and acts As the communications link Between Nasa officials in the United Stales and Boyce who is parked with a Fleet of vehicles at the end of the 12,000-foot Long runway. Williams said the shuttle needs at least 10,000 feet of runway to land safely. Dur ing nigh launches eight xenon lights that put out 5 million Candle Power each arc set up a the end of the runway along with other pieces of equipment. A helicopter Rescue team Waits to whisk possible injured shuttle Crew members to modern Hospital in downtown Zaragoza. Boyce said the team practices recovery operations regularly but never with a shuttle. The Cost would be astronomical he said. If the abort Field is Ever used Normal base operations would shut Down Boyce said. Everything would be geared to the shuttle and getting Back to the states he said. Between Zaragoza and Dakar it Moron a. It s the secondary abort Field for both primary Sites. On site commander maj. Jim Burrescia said the same preparations Are followed at Moron As at the primary site just in Case. Because a stiff wind anywhere from25 to 60 knots frequently blows along the Zaragoza Landing Field Moron is often in the position of becoming the primary abort Field. Burrescia said Dakar Abb has weather problems while Moron is usually Calm. That july launch really opened our eyes Burrescia said. Twenty eight min utes later it challenger could have been in our  of bars Rockwell from getting new contracts Washington a the is. Air Force citing a guilty plea by Rockwell International corp. To charges if overfilling the Pentagon suspended the company thursday from receiving any new defense department contracts. The suspension accompanied a formal notification to he firm that the air Force is proposing to Debar the company from future contracting with the executive Branch of the  air Force Secretary Verne Orr said Rockwell will now have 30 Days to present arguments in its defense. During that period however it will be precluded from receiving any new defense department con tracts. The Pittsburgh based Rockwell it the United states s second largest defense con tractor having received awards totalling $6.2 billion in fiscal 1984 alone. Its major weapon contracts include the b-1 bomber ii my missile and a vast Range of satellite communications navigation and mis Sile guidance systems. The firm also is a prime contractor on the space shuttle. The timing of the order could be critical. For More than a year the company has been fighting in partnership with the plus sey co. Of Britain for a huge $4.3 billion army combat Telephone contract. Plassey and Rockwell have been competing against a team consisting of the French conglomerate Thomson Csc and the it corp. The contract was supposed to have been awarded this summer but it has been held up in part by an International lobbying Campaign conducted by both the English and French governments. Ski not negotiable Weinberger says  Washington a the United Stales would scrap virtually any offensive weapons