how long is the runway at kennedy space center
Shuttle Landing Facility The Shuttle Landing Facility covers 500 acres (200 ha) and has a single runway, 15/33. It is one of the longest runways in the world, at 4,572 m (15,000 ft), and is 91.4 meters (300 ft) wide.[1] (Despite its length, astronaut Jack R. Lousma stated that he would have preferred the runway to be "half as wide and twice as long".[4]) Additionally, the SLF has 305 meters (1,000 ft) of paved overruns at each end. The Mate-Demate Device (MDD), for use when the shuttle was transported by the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, was located just off the runway.[1]
Space Shuttle Columbia disaster About 82 seconds after launch from Kennedy Space Center's LC-39-A, a suitcase-sized piece of foam broke off from the External Tank (ET), striking Columbia's left wing reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC) panels. As demonstrated by ground experiments conducted by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, this likely created a 6-to-10-inch (15 to 25 cm) diameter hole, allowing hot gases to enter the wing when Columbia later re-entered the atmosphere. At the time of the foam strike, the orbiter was at an altitude of about 66,000 feet (20 km; 12.5 mi), traveling at Mach 2.46 (1,626 miles per hour or 727 meters per second).