Re: Truck stopping distances?

[David Bowman <dbowman@TIGER.GEORGETOWNCOLLEGE.EDU>]

Regarding John D.'s comment:

> That's true in principle, but stopping a truck
> _once_ won't get the brakes that hot.  This is
> something they design for.  You can even stop
> a DC-10 from high speed (V1) _once_ without
> incinerating anything.  [You then need to wait
> an hour or so for the brakes cool off before
> you're allowed to try it again.  There's a little
> brake-energy meter in the cockpit.]
would

As I recall, NASA had a perennial problem with the brakes on its
shuttle fleet with the brakes being destroyed from burning up/
overheating from just a single landing.  I think shuttles tend to hit
the runway with a relatively large ground speed (they are quite heavy
& have a proportionally small wing area, so they need the speed to
give enough lift to keep from decending too fast).  I wonder if NASA
ever thought of using a big tailhook & strong cable on the runway?
They must have.  Maybe the jerking would be too destructive to the
shuttle's airframe?

David Bowman