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?"

Comments

Re:cost?

[Free the Cowards]

Yeah, extra weight reduces the performance, you're right.

So let's get rid of the fuel tanks. After all, those things are heavy. And how about the engines? Those things weigh a lot. All that cabling from the flight computer is awfully massive too, and the fuel lines, and the gimbals, and especially all of that terribly heavy safety equipment!

Re:Spickup Truck

[Ethanol-fueled]

And the starship will be piloted by captain Juan-Lucas Picante to seek out new life and civilations, to boldly immigrate and overpopulate where no one has gone before.

By the way, it's just the muffler that's dragging and kicking up the sparks. It requires duct-tape maintenance at the nearest star-garage. After the ship is decommissioned, it will serve as a museum and die while sitting in somebody's front lawn.

Re: Ideology

[icebrain]

And what ideology do you suppose that I have? I'm not claiming private enterprise is totally superior in every way, and I didn't suggest that Delta/Atlas be chosen because they were "privately" developed or inherently superior. I only said that this particular program is being cocked-up because of political interference, and that Delta/Atlas would have been better for this application because they were already flying and they are better rockets than Ares I.

If anything, my "ideology" would be "let's give them the funding they need to do it right, instead of politically forcing poor design decisions in an attempt to run a jobs program or keep somebody's constituents happy." I'm tired of seeing politicians and bean-counters fuck up good space programs--it happened with Apollo (canceled early), it happened with the shuttle (too many problems to list), it happened with ISS (too many design compromises), and it's happening with this program. But sadly, I think it'll take an imminent "dinosaur-killer" asteroid or some form of alien contact before anyone treats space seriously.

For the record, I have libertarian leanings. But space is one of the few areas where I do support large-scale government involvement.