Slashdot Mirror
NASA Installing Shocks On Ares
caffiend666 writes "In order to abate the massive vibration issues of their new Ares I spacecraft, NASA is installing shock absorbers. 'The plan is to install 16 canisters in the bottom of the rocket with 100-pound weights attached to springs. Battery-powered motors will move the weights up and down to stop vibrations. Those are essentially remote-controlled shock absorbers, said Garry Lyles, who headed the team of NASA engineers tackling the shaking problem.' So, when the spaceship is a rocking, don't come a knocking?"
Chrome rims and a spoiler. We might not be alone, so dress to impress!
Btw, not 16, "a 17th shock absorber will be a ring of weights and springs near the middle of the rocket".
Might not have a cannister though, or a switch ; )
"Kill 'em all and let Root sort 'em out"
In related news, did anyone notice the Oprah ad below the story (down on the left side):
"LOSE WEIGHT IN 2008! THE BESTLIFE DIET - JOIN NOW!"
Talk about context-sensitive advertising ;-))
Why don't we outsource the design to some German scientists, like we did the last time?
While it's not rocket science related (it's actually automotive), there's an old saying. Given a specific problem requiring a screw, Japanese engineers would perform computer simulations of every single possible scenario and develop a screw that you have never seen before. German engineers too would run the same simulations, but in the end they would say "Oh what ze heck. Let's use 2 screws. And make zem big!"
Take apart a Toyota, and then a Mercedes, and you'll know what I'm talking about. :-)
Yeah, where do you find living Nazi-Era German Rocket Scientists these days?
Tsukasa: All I really want, is to be left alone...
I looked at the title and for a moment was stunned, thinking that NASA was actually working on building Project Orion. Now thers's a spaceship that really needs its shock absorbers.
It's been considered. Leave the first stage on the ground. Launch with a cannon or railgun to get the initial acceleration instead of putting the engine and fuel on board. Non-living cargo can take considerable acceleration. You just need a longer railgun if you want to launch pesky humans.
As for this system, it seems like what they are doing is basically the same as noise-canceling headphones. Maybe they need a couple of giant bass speakers. Once in space they can switch them over to play techno.
Intron: the portion of DNA which expresses nothing useful.
You're clearly no engineer.
If you were, you'd realize that all we need to do is starve them for a few months and, bam, double the capacity for hurtling lawyers into space.
I read that headline dyslexically and thought it said "NASA Installing Shocks on Arse"
I thought it was about some new kind of employee training program involving electrified chairs so that managers could BZZZT someone not working :P
Bass and techno in space?
What a perfect way to get intelligent life to come destroy us all.
I wonder how you say get off my lawn in alien ?
Maybe they need a couple of giant bass speakers. Once in space they can switch them over to play techno.
In space, no one can hear you clubbing