Why would landing the space shuttle on water have been unsurvivable? For an aircraft unable to reach a runway on land, ditching in water is a common and, generally, highly-survivable option; however, for the space shuttle, according to Wikipedia, "...an ocean ditching was not survivable" (although it lists no source for this claim).  What was it about the space shuttle that made it incapable of ditching into water in a survivable manner?
The shuttle lands at 220 mph and would break up. This is 40% faster than airliners with twice the energy to dissipate and the shuttle structure is a great deal lighter. The orbiters were designed to go to space, ending each mission of their 100 mission lives by landing on a smooth runway. Airliners are designed for forty to a hundred thousand landings or more and they don't always fare that well in water either.



(Youtube - Ethiopian 961)