How NASA Solved a $100 Million Problem for Five Bucks

[Kadie]

How NASA Solved a $100 Million Problem for Five Bucks
BY BRENT ROSE JAN 31, 2012 3:20 PM

A few years ago, back when the Constellation Program was still alive, NASA engineers discovered that the Ares I rocket had a crucial flaw, one that could have jeopardized the entire project. They panicked. They plotted. They steeled themselves for the hundreds of millions of dollars it was going to take to make things right.

And then they found out how to fix it for the cost of an extra value meal.
The problem facing Ares 1 wasn't a booster malfunction or a computer glitch. It was simple cause-and-effect physics. During the final stages of a launch, as the solid booster rocket burns down it makes the entire vehicle oscillate rapidly. Add that oscillation to the resonant frequency of the large tube that separates the booster and the crew cabin, and you get a crew capsule that vibrates like crazy. When humans are vibrating to that extent, it's impossible for them to read a digital display. If the astronauts can't read, they can't do their jobs. If they can't do their jobs, no more mission.

To evaluate the extent of the problem, NASA called in its Human Factors Division. They're the ones who study human perception and performance, from very basic research to very applied research. In fact, they were the ones who had done the most recent round of vibration tests: 50 years ago, for the Gemini project, back when displays were analog, steam-actuated dials and gauges instead of the computer screens of today. Cockpits, like everything else, have changed a lot since those days. It was time for some new tests.

Step one was to set up a chair so it would vibrate purely in an up-down motion (or in-out, if you're lying on your back like an astronaut would be), which is how the launch vehicle was predicted to shake. The vibrational frequency of the rocket would be 12 hertz (on average, but it would fluctuate between 10Hz and 13Hz) so they needed something that could hit that range exactly. Luckily, that technology already existed; the same mechanism that causes your chair to shake in simulation rides at amusement park made for a perfect prototype.

more and video at...
http://gizmodo.com/5880850/how-nasa-solved-a-100-million-problem-for-five-bucks

[think]

1. good read TY

[hedgehog]

2. Very elegant.

[nykym]

3. Just another case of

American Exceptional ism.

[provis99]

4. remember when NASA spent $2 billion developing a pen for weightless conditions?

The Russians used a pencil.

[Confusious]

5. Remember what they say about the internet?

Not everything you read is true.

http://www.thespacereview.com/article/613/1

[Major Nikon]

8. The same goes for the $600 toilet seat and the $435 hammer

People have so bought into the idea that the government is so wasteful and stupid that they accept these stories as fact even though they aren't even close. That's a big part of the reason why we don't have single payer health care.

[BumRushDaShow]

6. Great article!

Thanks for posting!!

[Kadie]

7. You are welcome.

[burrowowl]

9. Thanks for article and site