Other Ares 1-X Today

Well stuff you guys - I like the Ares I.

They're very picky about launching, but when you've got a billion dorra of rocket that might get buggered because you didn't just wait it out, you learn patience tbh.

 

Fair enough... But I have no problems with the scrubbing the attempt and waiting. And I hate the idea of Ares 1!

 

Another new launch time:

 

Goddammit, I've been awake all night, and it looks like I will be for a while longer. :/

Ah well, might as well get some breakfast now.

 

Ah well its not to be today.

Chris

 

Tune in tommorow for more Ares 1-X marlarky! Same bat time, same bat channel!

 

NASA could have fixed this after Challenger with a simple solution that had already been flight-tested!
The first few launches were with a painted External Tank. The paint was deleted to add a couple of extra tons to the payload capacity.

So...

1: Paint fuel tank
2: Launch safely
3: ???
4: Return safely
5: Profit!

 

2 Tons is not a small amount, given the shuttle's notoriously low payload capacity.

 

Not panting the rocket is a very common trait, only the first few flights of a new rocket system are ever actually painted, with primary objective being for public relations reasons.

A couple of extra tons is most assuredly not spare change, if you are to shave only 1 ton off the weight of the shuttle; It is about $20,000 per pound of cargo to get it into orbit, times that by 2000 pounds, that's a $40 million dollar savings in doing nothing, not to mention the savings from not having to buy the paint, and spend that man hours applying it. In addition to this, you can now put in 2000 pounds of additional equipment in your payload, which when often times engineers are fighting to the gram for additional payload, is a huge gain.

In a orbital mechanics book I have, one of the easiest and lowest risk ways it says to gain additional payload on your launch vehicle is simply not to paint it.

 

I've always wondered why they couldn't insulate the inside of the tank with a material that can withstand contact with LOX and LH, rather than the outside... A small increase in diameter or length to accomodate the decreased volume inside. Or make the tank out of a composite material that had the insulation laminated inside the walls of the ET.

 

Here we go again, but don't hold your breath - latest updates say there's a 60% chance of weather stopping the flight again...

If that happens, what next? They only had a two day slot to do this in... I guess they need to wheel it back to the VAB and let the next shuttle flight go

 

A small increase in length and diameter can have pretty large effects. For example, to make it taller in order to make up for the lost volume of fuel, you now have to add more structural support in order to keep it for collapsing in on itself, well now you are over weight, so you have to add more fuel in order to make it to the altitude you want, well now you made the tank bigger so now you need more fuel and more supports... eventually you get the fuel/support balance correct, only to find out you exceeded the capacity of your launching facility... Finally after many corrections, you make it to launch, you fire off your rocket, only to have it snap in half and explode in a spectacular fireball, only to find out some substandard materials were used in your new supports you added since the old supplier you used didn't supply the correct kind of materials so you had to outsource to someplace new.

While this situation is relatively unlikely, is kind of representative of what effects a small and seemingly simple change can have.

The best way to do it in order to implement interior foam would be to come up with an all new launch vehicle design, which is certainly a possibility, would likely require a fair bit of development and exploding rockets in order to be achieved. It could be argued why spend your money on that, when you could simply put the important bits at the top, and not care about what happens to the exterior foam.

The general mentality where human space flight is concerned, tried and true are much preferable to completely striking out into new territory when you consider several people are sitting in a small can strapped to the top of a bomb of considerable size with a small hole in the bottom in hopes you will make it to space.

But I do agree interior foam is certainly a possible solution, and a pretty good one at that, but things never seem to be as simple as just adding a bit of length or diameter to make up for it.

Edit:

Close their eyes and push the button

 

I thought they'd adapted the launch pad specially? Won't the shuttle launch from another?

 

Yep, but they have to hand the range over to the Shuttle team.

There probably isn't much point leaving it out on the pad, what with the bad weather and the chance of high winds and lighting strikes. Plus they'd probably want to change the probe on the top due to rain ingress, and put the sock back on it (which can't be done anywhere else but the VAB)

 

Ah, I see. I know what you mean, but what a cockache.

 

Clouds in the way again.

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ares1x/status.html

 

Looks like the launch is going to be 3pm UK time now

/edit - err, which is the same as 11am EDT

 

w00t

Sam

 

Which makes you wonder, why don't they launch now

The scheduled launch time has been moving around all over the place, so it can't be that sensitive.

 

I would assume because it ain't just a light-the-touchpaper kind of thing. It is, after all, rocket science.