Shuttle Foam Test is Incorrect

"Paul F. Dietz" wrote:

Bill Clark wrote:

The foam impacted the wing at a velocity of about 500 miles per hour.
The shuttle itself may have been going that fast, but that's
irrelevant. What matters is the relative velocity of the foam with
respect to the shuttle. This could not have been 500 MPH, but more
likely a fraction of that.

Bill, they tracked the foam in multiple frames of film, from more
than one angle. Even you could compute the velocity from that.

And the static test is less strenuous than the in-flight impact because the
static test includes no aerodynamic load on the wing.

I watched a video on TV last night of the test NASA ran to verify that
the foam breaking off the fuel tanks could have made a large hole in a
leading edge of one of the shuttle wings. I have some problems with
their test.

The foam impacted the wing at a velocity of about 500 miles per hour.
The shuttle itself may have been going that fast, but that's
irrelevant. What matters is the relative velocity of the foam with
respect to the shuttle. This could not have been 500 MPH, but more
likely a fraction of that.

It would take only a few seconds for the foam to reach the shuttle
wing once it broke off the fuel tank. The NASA tests assumed that in
this time its absolute velocity went to zero. That is not possible,
given the boundary layer of the speeding aircraft; whose friction
would keep the foam going at a high velocity.

Bill Clark
http://home.austin.rr.com/cmlab/

On 8 Jul 2003 10:25:07 -0700, (Bill Clark)
wrote:

I watched a video on TV last night of the test NASA ran to verify that
the foam breaking off the fuel tanks could have made a large hole in a
leading edge of one of the shuttle wings. I have some problems with
their test.

The foam impacted the wing at a velocity of about 500 miles per hour.
The shuttle itself may have been going that fast, but that's
irrelevant. What matters is the relative velocity of the foam with
respect to the shuttle. This could not have been 500 MPH, but more
likely a fraction of that.


Oh, but that mph figure has been bounced around in the press for
months. I thought it sounded kind of high for a closing speed, but
what the heck.


It would take only a few seconds for the foam to reach the shuttle
wing once it broke off the fuel tank. The NASA tests assumed that in
this time its absolute velocity went to zero. That is not possible,
given the boundary layer of the speeding aircraft; whose friction
would keep the foam going at a high velocity.


OK. So what is your math on this?

"Bill Clark" wrote in message
om...
I watched a video on TV last night of the test NASA ran to verify that
the foam breaking off the fuel tanks could have made a large hole in a
leading edge of one of the shuttle wings. I have some problems with
their test.

The foam impacted the wing at a velocity of about 500 miles per hour.
The shuttle itself may have been going that fast, but that's
irrelevant. What matters is the relative velocity of the foam with
respect to the shuttle. This could not have been 500 MPH, but more
likely a fraction of that.

It would take only a few seconds for the foam to reach the shuttle
wing once it broke off the fuel tank. The NASA tests assumed that in
this time its absolute velocity went to zero. That is not possible,
given the boundary layer of the speeding aircraft; whose friction
would keep the foam going at a high velocity.

Bill Clark
http://home.austin.rr.com/cmlab/

They measured the speed from the video. There's a large gap between shuttle
and external tank into which the foam fell, where the airstream would be
going backwards (relative to the shuttle) at a high proportion of the
shuttle speed.

Murray Anderson

Bill Clark wrote:

I watched a video on TV last night of the test NASA ran to verify that
the foam breaking off the fuel tanks could have made a large hole in a
leading edge of one of the shuttle wings. I have some problems with
their test.

The foam impacted the wing at a velocity of about 500 miles per hour.
The shuttle itself may have been going that fast, but that's
irrelevant. What matters is the relative velocity of the foam with
respect to the shuttle. This could not have been 500 MPH, but more
likely a fraction of that.

It would take only a few seconds for the foam to reach the shuttle
wing once it broke off the fuel tank. The NASA tests assumed that in
this time its absolute velocity went to zero. That is not possible,
given the boundary layer of the speeding aircraft; whose friction
would keep the foam going at a high velocity.

Check it out...
"http://www.caib.us/news/meetings/ph030506_present_byrne.html"

On the 3d panel from the end, note the statement "... velocity relative
to the Orbiter at impact range from 610-840 ft/s." This is equivalent
to 416-572 miles/hr. The time involved is not "a few seconds". I think
a couple hundred milliseconds is more like it.

--
bp

Bill Clark wrote:

The foam impacted the wing at a velocity of about 500 miles per hour.
The shuttle itself may have been going that fast, but that's
irrelevant. What matters is the relative velocity of the foam with
respect to the shuttle. This could not have been 500 MPH, but more
likely a fraction of that.

Bill, they tracked the foam in multiple frames of film, from more
than one angle. Even you could compute the velocity from that.

Paul

Io, io, it's off to io we go (io.com, host for Mosley's abuse).

--
John Thomas Maxson, Retired Engineer (Aerospace)
Author, The Betrayal of Mission 51-L (www.mission51l.com)



OM om@our_blessed_lady_mary_of_the_holy_NASA_researc h_facility.org
wrote in message ...
On Tue, 08 Jul 2003 15:46:07 -0500, Herb Schaltegger
wrote:

See above. Google this ng since February 1 to read hundreds (if not
thousands) of posts on this very topic.

...While you're at it, do a google on Bill Clark, He's a known
nutcase, tho not quite in the Maxson class. Regardless, just killfile
the fool and let him rot on his own.


OM

--

"No ******* ever won a war by dying for | http://www.io.com/~o_m
his country. He won it by making the other | Sergeant-At-Arms
poor dumb ******* die for his country." | Human O-Ring Society

- General George S. Patton, Jr

On 8 Jul 2003 10:25:07 -0700, (Bill Clark)
wrote:

I watched a video on TV last night of the test NASA ran to verify that
the foam breaking off the fuel tanks could have made a large hole in a
leading edge of one of the shuttle wings. I have some problems with
their test.

....Who cares? Texas U's school of engineering proved you were a nutter
months ago when they kicked you out of the AE school for pushing
whacko theories and making threats if your research wasn't given a
"fair hearing".

The tests were correctly done. Deal with it and get lost.


OM

--

"No ******* ever won a war by dying for | http://www.io.com/~o_m
his country. He won it by making the other | Sergeant-At-Arms
poor dumb ******* die for his country." | Human O-Ring Society

- General George S. Patton, Jr

On Tue, 08 Jul 2003 15:46:07 -0500, Herb Schaltegger
wrote:

See above. Google this ng since February 1 to read hundreds (if not
thousands) of posts on this very topic.

....While you're at it, do a google on Bill Clark, He's a known
nutcase, tho not quite in the Maxson class. Regardless, just killfile
the fool and let him rot on his own.


OM

--

"No ******* ever won a war by dying for | http://www.io.com/~o_m
his country. He won it by making the other | Sergeant-At-Arms
poor dumb ******* die for his country." | Human O-Ring Society

- General George S. Patton, Jr

"OM" om@our_blessed_lady_mary_of_the_holy_NASA_researc h_facility.org wrote
in message ...
...While you're at it, do a google on Bill Clark, He's a known
nutcase,

You forgot "troll". In each of his apparently hallucinogen-inspired threads
I see only ONE post from him.

Und now ve are klicken on ze "sender geblocken", vich makes de
"geplonken"... Vielen dank.