NYT/AP: NASA Plan for Moon Rocket Includes Foam (that endangered shuttles)

[DeepModem Mom]

NASA Plan for Moon Rocket Includes Foam
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 3, 2006

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) -- Engineers designing the new U.S. moon rocket said Thursday they plan to cover part of it with the same type of foam that doomed Columbia and has been a problem throughout the space shuttle program.

The dense, brittle foam will likely fall off the new rocket just like it has from the shuttle's external fuel tank, they said. But NASA doesn't expect it to pose any safety concerns.

Used as insulation for tanks that hold super-cold rocket fuels, foam has been falling off the shuttle's huge, orange tank since the earliest flights.

A piece of foam the size of a briefcase hit one of Columbia's wings during liftoff in 2003, causing a hole that resulted in the orbiter burning up on re-entry and killing seven astronauts. Foam also came off during the subsequent flight of Discovery.

Part of the new manned rocket, called Ares I, will include a section similar to the shuttle external tank. So it, too, needs the foam, according to upper stage project manager Danny Davis.

But unlike on the shuttle, astronauts will ride in a six-person capsule that sits atop the rocket. That means any falling foam won't hit the crew compartment, said Don Krupp, chief of the vehicle analysis branch at Marshall Space Flight Center....

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-NASA-Lunar-Spacecraft.html

[bronxiteforever]

1. we will be lucky if our space program has Estes rockets

after Bush is finished blowing all the money on Iraq and tax cuts for millionaires

[ThoughtCriminal]

2. I don't think it's a problem

Actually, the problem wasn't that foam was hitting the crew compartment, it was from hitting the heat shield. In a vertically stacked booster, that's not an issue.

One thing that bothers me though is that the insulation on the outside might prevent the upper stages from being used as construction material (like Skylab). It seems a shame to pay the cost to get the mass up to orbit and not use it. I seem to recall that the loose outside insulation was one of the main problems with some very cool station designs that utilized the shuttle ET (David Brin).

[Ian David]

4. What if it was designed to fall away from the rocket in two pieces...

a second or two before lift-off?

[cobalt1999]

6. I agree, it's a misleading article.

In a staged rocket not only foam falls off, but huge stages! It doesn't matter if you are above the material.

I didn't think about the use of stages for construction material though, that's a logical and cool idea.

[Vidar]

3. Apparently our supply of balsa wood is running low.

[soothsayer]

5. Russia manages to turn out less expensive rockets that actually

work. Why don't we consult with them?

[wuushew]

7. why is this moonshot rocket called "Ares"?

I could support this if the rocket had the capability for launching manned Mars missions. I am of the opinion that there is absolutely no reason PR or otherwise to return men to the moon, it is the same place it was in 1969.

[patcox2]

8. Idiotic scare-mongering headline.

Its like saying "New Building to be built with same kind of steel used in World Trade Center."

[meldroc]

9. To be fair to NASA, the foam worked better in the last launch.

Not perfect, (a few pieces were still spotted falling off) but better. Inspection of the shuttle revealed far fewer dings in the reentry shielding tiles this time.

I'll bet that reformulating the foam would help with this problem. Ideally, when it fails, instead of breaking off in huge, damaging chunks, it'll crumble to dust.

Also, the replacement for the Shuttle will put the payload on top of the tank, instead of attached to the side like the current Shuttle orbiter, which means that any foam breaking off will likely not hit anything.

[NoodleyAppendage]

10. What military contractor makes the foam? That's the answer to NASA's use.

That foam is attached to a huge military/industrial contract and sweetheart deals, one would surmise.

J