What should NASA do NOW?

[skywalker01]

According to my records there were two flights of the X-15A-2 with a full ablative coating.<br /><br />The coating developed by Martin Marietta (called M-25S) consisted of a resin base, a catalyst, and glass bead powder (sounds like hi-temp epoxy with microballoons doesn't it).<br /><br />It took approx. 700 manhours to refurbish the ablative coating after the first flight in preparation for the second.<br /><br />The damage to the aircraft that occured on the second flight had to do with higher than predicted temperatures around the dummy ramjet that was mounted on the tail of the vehicle.<br /><br />The first flight with the full ablative coating (flight #175, 11-18-66) had a top speed of Mach 6.33 (4,250 MPH).<br /><br />The second flight with full ablative coating (flight #188, 10-3-67) had a top speed of Mach 6.70 (4,520 MPH).<br />The second flight charred and pitted the ablative coating so badly that refurbishment of the coating was not worthwhile, as a result, a completely new coating would have been required for the next flight (this vehicle was retired after this flight due to the damage caused by the dummy ramjet).<br /><br />Just an off-the-wall thought.<br />I wonder if this spray-on ablator would work better that the foam on the ET? Either as a top coat for the foam, or as a complete replacement, or only as a local top coat for sensitive areas?

 

[drwayne]

"I wonder if this spray-on ablator would work better that the foam on the ET?"<br /><br />An ablator is there to deal with heating. The foam is there to deal primarily with the cold cryogenic fuels.<br /><br />It would seem a different problem, but I am in the middile of writing a monthly report, so I may be more full of rancid bovine fecal material than normal.<br /><br />Wayne <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>"1) Give no quarter; 2) Take no prisoners; 3) Sink everything."  Admiral Jackie Fisher</p> </div>

 

[cdr6]

Frodo, wasn't there something about metalic tiles to used on the Venturestar? I seem to remember a comment about the fact that they are supposed to be replaced with a screw driver and not glued on.<br /><br />Did they really exist, or were they just a PR thing? <br /><br />If they did exist I wonder what the cost would be to outfit an orbiter with a set? An how much of a weight difference we are talking about. (I'd trade a little payload for a more stout tile system anyday... especially considering the numbers of missions yet on the books.)

 

[j05h]

Venturestar was supposed to have a metal TPS.<br /><br />Retrofitting the Shuttle with similiar is probably impossible, the difference being that the STS is a "cold" structure and Venturestar would have been a "hot" vehicle. That means that the heat the TPS didn't stop all the heat, but the frame is designed to absorb and re-radiate it. Not something the Shuttle's aluminum frame is capable of.<br /><br />Josh <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div align="center"><em>We need a first generation of pioneers.</em><br /></div> </div>

 

[jonschoen]

Whoever posted this..... DON'T WASTE OUR TIME with crap!<br /><br /><<<<<<Repeal Public Law 85-804 (Executive Order 10789) as it applies to ZATO's (secret cities) like Grants Pass, Oregon whose cladestined Human science psycho-subliminal activities I allege can conceivably re-translate to the space shuttles demise. The crippling legacy of subliminal RF microwave Mind Control, in a karmic cause-effect sense, eventually will destroy NASA.<br /><br />I have e-mailed them repeatedly about these activities and requested an investigation.....I wrote Stennis via regular mail in November 2004 and never heard back <br /><br />

 

[le3119]

We must remain commited to completion of the ISS, we must maintain the confidence of our foreign partners in our will to follow through, this will repay us many-fold in gaining international cooperation in lunar and Martian ventures.<br /><br />We should implement a LEO access plan which combines our STS-Orbitor with an international array of unmanned cargo rockets and the Russian manned Soyuz ship. Perhaps we should contract out some of the final construction missions of ISS to private interests. This will advance politically viable govt-private partnerships in space, and hopefully inspire more private enterprise-friendly govt involvement.<br /><br />Go to the Moon. Set up a base in a polar region, with access to round the clock sunlight, water ice and most importantly - permanent shade from solar radiation found in the polar craters.<br /><br />Continue the unmanned program to explore Mercury, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto and beyond. <br /><br />Mars. When we are ready. I maintain humans have much to learn about living on the Moon before we take on a true interplanetary mission. <br /><br />Perhaps the current Discovery Mission will prove the heat-shied tile issue is not as drastic as we may make it out to be. Are there breakthrough materials we can substitute, preparing for further shuttle missions within one year's time? <br /><br />We must make the most of the resources and transport systems we currently use, and work for a new generation of vehicles, circa 2010 - 2020.

 

[halman]

frodo1008,<br /><br />I'll tell you what NASA should do now: Spend money to popularize science by depicting scientists in the popular media with a positive light. If you think that I am crazy, check out the article in the Science section of the New York Times website (www.nytimes.com) by David M. Halbfinger, posted 2005/08/04. He describes how the Air Force and the Army are paying scientists to attend seminars on scriptwriting! It seems that the bigwigs at the Pentagon are fretting about the lack of American students pursuing careers in science and engineering. Apparently, these folks are actually thinking about the future, and they are worried.<br /><br />Of course, this perceived lack of enthusiasim has nothing to do with the space program being stagnent for the last 20 years or so, nor the lack of any defined goals for this country. I am sure that the real reason is that smart people don't want to be thought of as nerds, so they become athletes, instead.<br /><br />Sometimes, I am glad that I never tried to become an astronaut, because the frustration they must experience has got to be incredible. Bonnie Dunbar is from the area that I live in, and she wanted to be an astronaut. She did all the right things, and got her wings. She has flown in the shuttle a few times, which is more than many of her peers can say, but she had to retire recently, as astronauts have to be pretty young, for some reason. I didn't think that I would have to be an astronaut to go to the Moon, back in the early 1970's, because I was sure that there would be tourist flights by now.<br /><br />The United States could have done it, could have built the Moon base, could have opened up the Final Frontier, but, apparently, accruing wealth is more important than creating it. We have spent our money building a military powerful enough to wipe out any other military, but we still seem to be defenceless. If we had set our sights on space, instead of the Middle East, would we still be the targe <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> The secret to peace of mind is a short attention span. </div>