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NASA Tests All-Composite Prototype Crew Module
coondoggie writes "With an eye toward building safer, lighter and tougher spacecraft, NASA said today its prototype space crew module made up of composite materials handled tests simulating structural stresses of launch and atmospheric reentry. The idea behind NASA's Composite Crew Module project is to test new structural materials for possible future NASA spacecraft. According to NASA, composite materials are being looked at because they are stiff and lightweight and can be formed into complex shapes that may be more structurally efficient. In space travel, where every additional pound of weight drives costs higher, any weight savings provides increased payload capacity and potentially reduces mission expense."
...that something strong enough to withstand space travel and atmospheric exit/entry can be so fragile.
"Hey, we have this contraption here that can take you to space and bring you back...all while keeping you alive! But don't breathe on it wrong, or it will fall apart..."
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My only concern is how well the honeycomb material handles impacts (everything from birds to micrometeorites...). My experience is that composites have a very narrow elastic region in the stress-strain curve, then they snap. Also they tend to be brittle rather than bendable, causing them to shatter under impact. But I'm sure NASA knows what they're doing...
Chaos maximizes locally around me.
I am (or was before I got lazy) and avid Cyclist. And well the materials used in the bicycle industry are basically the high tech materials that are starting to be put into the aerospace industyr (due to safety and devolpment periods bikes tend to put out new materials first).
When Carbon Fibre started to become omnipresent in road cycling it was only sparing used in mountain biking. This was due to precieved, and real, issues dealing with durability. Rocks and branches hitting Carbon Fibre frames and causing small failures that normal use would increase and cause catastropic failure. But now carbon is everywhere because design and testing have overcome these problems, and the aerospace industry, with actual and good engineers will be able to do the same.
Granted not everything will be composite. There are lots of things that are done better by Aluminum, or steel, or titanium. But for large, odd shaped structural pieced carbon fibre can't be beat. This is a good thing, so long as NASA doesn't go Carbon Crazy like the bike industry. You can almost buy a 100% Carbon Fibre bike, gears, cables, everything.
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A Composite Hockey stick shatters just like anything else.
In fact, some players still prefer Wooden hockey sticks because they offer a different flex:sturdiness ratio.
While I'm sure a spacecraft is much different then a stick designed for repeated contact with Ice and Rubber, I wouldn't be surprised if this CCM doesn't do as well as they predict.
This is excellent news. In addition to making the spacecraft lightweight, carbon composites will render it completely invisible to DRADIS!
Will this module work with a real crew, or one that are made of flesh and bone?
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I'm hoping good old NASA research into these materials will also lead to better materials able to withstand extreme heat, making fusion reactors more possible.
"Men willingly believe what they wish." - Julius Caesar
So what you are saying is that instead of investing in space technology so that we can see spin-offs in other areas, we could be investing in bike technology that spins-off to space technology.
/sarcasm
That's not how it's suppose to work. It's suppose to be only space that has spin-off technologies.
We really need to realize that any tech that pushes the envelope will have spin-off technologies.
engineers are all basically high-functioning autistics who have no idea how normal people do stuff
Contrary to what you might think, hydrocarbons actually provide better shielding against cosmic rays than aluminum, which produces secondary radiation even more dangerous than cosmic rays. Here is an article from NASA that explains this in more detail.
I don't know about everyone else, but the image that shows up in the Layer 8 blog has the crew module squashed down so that it appears shorter than it is wide. This is the result of image distortion. The actual NASA press release has the original image with its correct aspect ratio, along with a short video about the testing that shows some of the static rig and test equipment.
I'm sure the success of Space Ship One had absolutely nothing to do with this decision.
Why would they haul a bunch of NFL crap into space? According to this AP article, they flew a coin, a football, and a jersey into space for the NFL. WTF?
Wouldn't that be a composite made up of every other material?
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I, for one, welcome our all-composite overlords.
I did not know that NASA is experiencing with creating the Cyberman...I hope they have contacted the Doctor in advance.