Interesting bit of trivia.

[SkyMan]

I just learned that on EVERY shuttle mission a small amount of traveler's cheques are on board so that the astronauts will have some emergency funds in case, because of an emergency, the shuttle lands outside of US territory.

 

Of course... the astronauts still won't have a photo ID with them...

[bsshog40]

So I wonder do they have a safe where they carry all these important items or a special panel?

[x2rider]

I could just imagine them trying to pass them over the counter in some village in Africa

[PerryHall]

So I wonder do they have a safe where they carry all these important items or a special panel?

 

Why would they need a safe on a space craft?

[bsshog40]

So I wonder do they have a safe where they carry all these important items or a special panel?

 

Why would they need a safe on a space craft?

Well in case it does land somewhere that there might be information that does not need to be known by another country like documents, etc...

[okbustchaser]

I just learned that on EVERY shuttle mission a small amount of traveler's cheques are on board so that the astronauts will have some emergency funds in case, because of an emergency, the shuttle lands outside of US territory.

 

Of course... the astronauts still won't have a photo ID with them...

 

So they don't carry gold/silver bars anymore? Admittedly, traveller's checks are nearly as negotiable any more and much lighter.

[SkyMan]

So I wonder do they have a safe where they carry all these important items or a special panel?

 

Why would they need a safe on a space craft?

Well in case it does land somewhere that there might be information that does not need to be known by another country like documents, etc...

 

If it landed in a country like that, that country might very well dis-assemble the Shuttle to find out it's secrets/technology, and ship it back to the US in pieces (as we did with the Russian MiG that landed in Japan in the 1980's), so a safe would be the least of your problems.

 

Also, the Shuttle needs a very long runway and it has sites in Spain and (I believe, but am not certain) Australia for aborts if necessary.

[Conder101]

Also, the Shuttle needs a very long runway

True. If the shuttle had to land somewhere else that actually had such a runway I think the news would be such that they wouldn't need travelers checks (US officials would be on hand quickly. After all I'm sure NASA would know that they are coming down, when they were coming down, and where they would be coming down.) If they tried to land someplace that DIDN'T have such a runway I think travelers checks would be the least of their worries.

[physics-fan3.14]

Sounds like the start of a new collection!

[jom]

Karl says: "Don't leave home without them!"

 

 

jom

[robec1347]

Sounds like the start of a new collection!

 

I was just going to ask Sy if he's ever seen any come up in auction.

[SkyMan]

Sounds like the start of a new collection!

 

I was just going to ask Sy if he's ever seen any come up in auction.

 

Nope. Never heard of them before today. If they were cheap enough I might buy one, but other than that forget it. My collecting area pretty much stops at 1975.