Brian Gaff
July 8th 03, 10:45 AM
My brain has almost expired reading the thread about the foam impact
tests...so...
My feelings are that as only a ball park figure can be known about the
stresses involved in the actual foam impact (some would argue this I'm
sure!) It seems right and proper to make as many attempts in as many
plausible ways as you can, to get an idea of the range of damage you might
expect. so, from things being a bit bent, to a hole sounds like it might be
about right. Presumably, the aerodynamics of the foam that actually fell of
is never going to be known, so how can the impact ever be recreated?
The fact is that whereas tiles are pretty resilient, it seems that the rcc
is not if struck in certain ways. End of story,
As has been noted here before, when all the heat protection measures for the
Shuttle were being designed, impact during launch was basically not going
to ever occur. Obviously, there is less problem with current tiles as they
merely deform of loose some depth. (I'm not going to look at the aerodynamic
implications of that, as there was a long thread only a week ago)
So, I'd say that really the designers must look at beefing up the leading
edge in some way, at the very least protecting the inside of the wing
better. Obviously, the tank foam will need to be sorted out, and as has
been observed here, much better pictures and data is required in order to
learn more about what actually does hit the shuttle during a mission.
I do not go along with the people who say that they are just hitting the
thing till it breaks, as that makes it sound like they want it to be the
reason.
When you test things, you often take them past their limits until they
break, in order to get a feel whether the actual design spec is actually
confirmed in a real life situation. Only Nasa will know that, but to me it
all looks so obvious now, but I imagine the actual damage started life as
closer to the bent and cracked than to the huge bit falling off, as I'd
imagine a hole that big could be seen with the equipment they had quite
well.
Brian
--
Brian Gaff....
graphics are great, but the blind can't hear them
Email:
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tests...so...
My feelings are that as only a ball park figure can be known about the
stresses involved in the actual foam impact (some would argue this I'm
sure!) It seems right and proper to make as many attempts in as many
plausible ways as you can, to get an idea of the range of damage you might
expect. so, from things being a bit bent, to a hole sounds like it might be
about right. Presumably, the aerodynamics of the foam that actually fell of
is never going to be known, so how can the impact ever be recreated?
The fact is that whereas tiles are pretty resilient, it seems that the rcc
is not if struck in certain ways. End of story,
As has been noted here before, when all the heat protection measures for the
Shuttle were being designed, impact during launch was basically not going
to ever occur. Obviously, there is less problem with current tiles as they
merely deform of loose some depth. (I'm not going to look at the aerodynamic
implications of that, as there was a long thread only a week ago)
So, I'd say that really the designers must look at beefing up the leading
edge in some way, at the very least protecting the inside of the wing
better. Obviously, the tank foam will need to be sorted out, and as has
been observed here, much better pictures and data is required in order to
learn more about what actually does hit the shuttle during a mission.
I do not go along with the people who say that they are just hitting the
thing till it breaks, as that makes it sound like they want it to be the
reason.
When you test things, you often take them past their limits until they
break, in order to get a feel whether the actual design spec is actually
confirmed in a real life situation. Only Nasa will know that, but to me it
all looks so obvious now, but I imagine the actual damage started life as
closer to the bent and cracked than to the huge bit falling off, as I'd
imagine a hole that big could be seen with the equipment they had quite
well.
Brian
--
Brian Gaff....
graphics are great, but the blind can't hear them
Email:
__________________________________________________ __________________________
__________________________________
---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.495 / Virus Database: 294 - Release Date: 30/06/03