Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg
No, it's just a layer of aluminum with the foam insulation sprayed on.
The Saturn V, or rather the SIV-B stage of it, had a twin hull with cork in between as insulation but on the Space Shuttle they tried to save weight and cost. Obviously this was not the best choice, but the designers thought it was a pretty good idea at the time and the program's budget was severely limited compared to earlier space development.
Yes, a less humid launch site would really help. The western deserts of Australia might not be a good choice, though. It wouldn't be very polite to drop boosters on Sydney and Cairns.
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As in Styrofoam? There are no words. Saving weight is one thing, but cutting costs can cut safety margins. That, I don't like. Factor of safety of 3. Is the rule at sea. Make it 3 times as strong as the load you need to shift. Want to lift 1 ton? Make your gear strong enough for 3 ton, then NEVER lift over 1 ton with it.
Being only "Ally", I think they may have a problem with some of the super fast particles I read about some time back. It seems they have no trouble at all passing through the hull, the Astronaut, and back out the other side hull almost instantly.
(Is there a market for high tech space "Collanders"? Must be, just tell some yuppy, it is the newest, bestest one, they will beat each other up to have the first most expensive one on the block. You too can have the kitchen collander they use in space. But wait, there's more, for only $99.99 down and 99 payments of only, blah blah blah.)
Boffins (scientists) here are burying sensors deep underground, trying to catch these "Gamma"? particles. Good luck boys.
Oh, I don't know. Drop a booster on Sydney, nah better not. There are some of us who have just about had enough of the "Premier" state, as New South Wales is known, capital city Sydney. Sydneysiders, as they are called, seem to believe the rest of Australia, is only there to provide for Sydney, after all they were the first city. Hohum.
But, that is their problem, not mine.
As for Cairns, hmm, my younger sister lives not far south of there, at a place called Mission Beach. Miss that, we should be sweet. She
can tend to indignation when all is not her way. On second thought, better miss Cairns by a fair bit.
Dear little sister. Big girl, don't make her angry.
But, there is some 2,000 miles between those two places. And, there is a hell of a lot west of there. Or not, depends on how you see deserts.
As an aside.
Your Ambassador was on national news this morning, he has been here a year now, and he is really getting around. Seems to be a decent bloke too, likes his barbies, and a small Aussie wine or three. He'll get on alright here. He seems to like getting out of the cities and meeting the regional people. That can only be a good thing in my opinion.