[TheForge] shuttle

[Bruce Freeman]

The really frustrating part of all this is that even if one of us comes up with THE PERFECT idea for fixing this problem, we're likely to have no way of even communicating this to the powers that be at NASA.  Then, too, even when one does have their ears, one is not necessarily listened to.  The Challenger disaster was preventable.  The Thiokol engineers were practically standing on their chairs screaming at these people NOT to launch in cold weather, but they weren't listened to.

Personally, my idea is to scrap the simple foam insulation idea (at least where it matters) and go with an evolutionarily much more evolved idea.  Foam insulation is like a layer of fat - very primative.  I propose feathers instead.  Come up with some sort of light weight "scales" that overlap eachother.  Each one has a nonporous outer layer and fibrous insulation underneathe ("down feathers").  Design in a weak link in the "quill" so that if it breaks, that's where it breaks off.  Then the whole thing is aerodynamically designed to get the hell out of the way if it breaks loose, so that even if it strikes the shuttle, it does so harmlessly.

Bruce
NJ

>>> craig.schaefer at verizon.net 8/1/2005 5:18:51 PM >>>
And remember, two minutes into flight, everything still has to be hanging on at almost 5k MPH!

CraigS


>From: schade at acegroup.cc 
>Date: Mon Aug 01 15:39:43 CDT 2005
>To: Sponsored by ABANA <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
>Subject: Re: [TheForge] shuttle

>Maybe you're right Darrell. It seems like a mesh tube sock embedded 
>into the top layer of the foam could work. Seems like they would have 
>thought of that?
>
>Bob
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>On Jul 31, 2005, at 5:15 PM, Darrell wrote:
>
>> Right, then when a piece falls off it would just plug the fuel pump. It
>> wouldn't explode, it would just stop flying.
>>
>> It seems to me that it wouldn't take much of a carbon filament mesh to 
>> keep
>> everything in one piece.
>>
>> Darrell