Tuesday, October 28, 2008

NASA's Ares 1 Rocket Could Crash Into Launch Tower


Gizmodo.com floored me with this one! It would appear that the Ares 1 Luna lift assembly is ntly in danger of banging into its own launch tower if there is any cross wind . And it need not be a gale force either, the wind needs only be a gentle 12.7 mph from the south-east to cause problems. Again the problem stems with how the SRB motors causes it to "hop" on ignition. This is not the first time manned Moon landing program has run into difficulties. The "tuning fork" problem (excessive vibration of the manned launch vehicle that could cause the launch to abort) is still a problem looking for a permanent solution and many people asking for a complete redesign of the system. "It's time for a rethink," said Jeff Finckenor, an award-winning NASA engineer who last month quit the Ares program in frustration over the way the program is being managed.

<- Gizmodo -> <- OlandoSentinel article ->

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