[Vwdiesel] Rabbit droppings --OT ----( The Discovery take off ? )

[Roger Brown]

LBaird119 at aol.com wrote:
>>NASA ignored  damage to heat tiles on take-off ---for 16 days ?  
>>----(STUPID)
> 
> 
>   Somehow I don't see hundreds of man-hours of studying all availavable 
> video footage or running several test firings of foam launched at panels 
> as ignoring.  NOT undocking and doing a rollover to actually, visually 
> inspect 
> the wing does seem stupid though.
> 
> 
>>NASA does a "Test" flight with 7 on board ? --(STUPID) -----------I can go 
>>on and on-
>>
> 
> 
>   How is a launch of a tested and "proven" vehicle a "test flight" simply 
> because 
> the insualtion had been redesigned?  The insulation that was redesigned 
> managed to make dozens of safe flights prior to the big uh-oh chunk falling 
> off.  Falling tiles, loose packing and pieces of insulation have been 
> happening 
> since day one.  They're just paranoid about it now.  For fairly good reason.
> 
> 
>>
>>The good part of all this ? ----Even in space we need Hagars and Luke 
>>Skywalkers.------
>>Heil Hillbillies.
>>
> 
> 
>   Watch Apollo 13 or remember the original event.  The "hillbillies" are in 
> Houston and Florida.  All EVA's are practiced on the ground many times 
> after a group of people brainstorm, investigate and follow through on ideas 
> to solve the problem.  The guys in space, regardless of abilities and ideas, 
> simply follow the step by step instructions that are given to them after 
> hundreds of people make sure it's going to work right the first try with 
> materials onboard.
>      Loren  (Tired of the NASA bashing)

I live a few miles from NASA-Ames and the last week or so they have been cranking up their arc jet facility.  I imagine running 
all the tests on re-entry heating based upon the inspection data.  Quite a setup they have there.  A bank of huge high pressure 
air tanks (10-15K psi as I recall) and an even more massive bank of huge spherical vacuum tanks and a massive high voltage power 
supply (100 mega-watts or so).  Sample is put in a small tube with an arc generator upstream and some valves on either end. 
They touch off the arc and open the valves and there is an incredibly loud noise as the air passes at hypersonic speeds from the 
pressure tanks to the vacuum tanks.  Runs for about a minute or so, imagine a plasma cutter you might have in your shop but 
instead of a tiny jet of plasma, this one is maybe a foot across or so.

-- 
    Roger