🚀 go-pugleaf

> Can someone out there fill me in on what modifications have been made to
> the shuttle and launch proceedures to enhance crew safety during ascent?

A lot of little things.  Fixing the SRBs, adding a locking system to the
main propellant valves (having one of them slam shut would be, um, nasty),
and generally planning to fly less demanding missions at lower weights are
the biggies.

> Am I correct in assuming that ejection seats have been added to the flight-
> deck seats? What about the people in the mid-deck?

No, no ejection seats.  They take up a lot of space, they are heavy, and
there is no obvious way to provide them for the mid-deck crew.  They also
are effective over only a fairly limited speed and altitude range.  What
is being done is to add a simple escape system -- details not yet fully
settled -- to allow bailing out safely in gliding flight (i.e. if you get
safely separated from the SRBs and the tank but cannot find a runway; the
orbiter is too fragile for a belly landing or ditching), which is not now
possible because (a) the hatch is not designed to be opened in the air,
and (b) just jumping out involves a high probability of hitting the wing.

> Has the criterion for acceptable weather been updated? And if so what is it?

They will undoubtedly be rather fussier about this, but I don't know details.

> While I'm at it, has anything new been added to enhance saftey during re-entry?

Not that I know of offhand.  Re-entry is the easy part, actually.
-- 
Those who do not understand Unix are |  Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
condemned to reinvent it, poorly.    | {allegra,ihnp4,decvax,utai}!utzoo!henry