Uncovering Apollo Heatshields to Help with Orion
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canada goose coats [/caption]NASA scientists currently working on the Orion Canada Goose Jackets Crew Exploration Vehicle had the rare opportunity to unpack a little piece of history. A visit to Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum led them to uncover crates containing the heat shields used during the development of cheap Canada Goose the Apollo Program, some 35 years canada goose uk shop ago. The shielding has not seen light of day since 1966 when it was dropped from low Earth orbit and protected a test vehicle from buy canada goose jacket cheap fiery re entry. canada goose uk outlet The NASA scientists hope to learn more about the thermal response of the old heat shield to improve the shielding of the Orion return vessel a whole generation after the pioneering lunar missions canada goose coats
canada goose On July 31st and August 1st, the NASA canada goose clearance sale crew descended on Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum Garber Facility to do a bit of space age archaeology. The facility makes it their job to collect, preserve and restore anything space and aircraft related, ensuring the Apollo heatshieilds were in perfect condition (or as “perfect” as they can be after undergoing re entry over three decades ago) for the Orion development teams from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California. What they unpacked was a space geek’s dream. canada goose
canada goose coats on sale “We started working together at the end of June to track down any Apollo era heat shields that they had in Canada Goose Online storage,” said Elizabeth Pugel from the canada goose uk black friday Detector Systems canada goose coats on sale Branch at Goddard. “We located one and opened it. It was like a nerd Christmas for us!” canada goose coats on http://www.canadagoosejacketoutlett.com sale
canada goose store Scientists examine the 1966 Apollo test vehicle heat shield (Smithsonian Museum/Eric Long)The NASA team managed to eventually track down heat shield material from a test re entry from canada goose clearance low Earth orbit on August 26th, 1966. This material will prove useful in the continuing development of the Constellation Program’s Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle so more information can be gained about the material’s reaction to extreme heat as it was dropped through the atmosphere. canada goose store
buy canada goose jacket cheap “We are examining the design of the carrier structure (the metal structure that connects the heat shield to the vessel that contains the astronauts) and the heat shield material’s thermal response,” Pugel added. buy Canada Goose online canada goose jacket cheap
Canada Goose sale “The Smithsonian has been generous in their providing large pieces of the heat shield that we will be doing destructive and non destructive testing on during the months before canada goose store Orion’s Preliminary Design Review,” said Matthew Gasch from NASA Ames. “This information will further our confidence in our design and materials development.” Canada Goose sale
canada goose black canada goose black friday sale friday sale It might seem strange that NASA scientists are researching re entry technology from the Apollo era, after all the Orion cone like design borrows its shape from the Apollo Program’s Saturn V Command Module (amongst others), but that is where the 20th century similarity ends. Orion will be packed with the most advanced 21st century uk canada goose outlet computing, electronics, life support, propulsion and heat protection systems. canada goose black friday sale
cheap Canada Goose Orion aside, I would have loved to have been there when the NASA Orion scientists cracked open the wooden Apollo crates (using crowbars, naturally), to find them filled with the dusty artefacts from the beginning Canada Goose Outlet of the space age (but then again, I might be watching way too much Indiana Jones movies). cheap Canada Goose
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Canada Goose online I believe that at the time, the heatshields where designed to do the job with adequat margins and it did. Canada Goose online
canada goose clearance What the researchers are most likely looking at now is how did the shields actually perform, any cracks, melting, anything that can bring clues for further improvements. Both are ways to improve, and Canada Goose Coats On Sale thats where the old shields can add input i believe. canada goose clearance
If proven old technology does Canada Goose Parka the job as required, there canada goose coats is no need to develop something better, buy canada goose jacket and canadian goose jacket there is no need to spend money on research on something better. That is not the type of situation which companies and institutions like who make a living on doing research and to provide a useful result.
Canada Goose Parka Blueprints are not of much use if the materials used in the systems of which you have a blueprint are not available any more, and if the people who built and processed these materials and built the system are dead and gone, and the background documentation has got lost during with the passing time. You simply uk canada goose cant keep records on everything forever. Canada Goose Parka
buy canada goose jacket 600.000 people worked in and for the Apollo program. The combined skills, the knowledge and experience of these people was necessary to make the flight to the moon a success. Even if you have the blueprint on canada goose factory sale your table, you wont find that it has the knowledge and experience of these people atached to it. buy canada goose jacket
canada goose clearance sale Therefore, even the blueprints of the Saturn V were destroyed deliberately some decades ago, as the responsible managers concluded that this rocket will never be built again. canada goose clearance sale
Canada Goose Outlet Without the technical documentation records which might hold information canada goose outlet on where samples of tested Apollo heatshields were kept, it is impossible to learn that these samples exist. I think it is a matter of real luck that they were discovered Canada Goose Outlet.