Technology news and Jobs arrow Science arrow Ares 1 rocket vibrations to be quelled with weights and shock absorbers
Ares 1 rocket vibrations to be quelled with weights and shock absorbers E-mail
by William Atkins   
Wednesday, 20 August 2008


Without the plan to dampen the vibrations, the astronauts could be exposed to upwards of five or six times the force of gravity (5 or 6 Gs) during ascent into space.

In a current NASA space shuttle flight, for instance, the astronauts experience a maximum of about 3Gs during the ascent phase of its mission.

The NASA managers sketched their two-part plan of (1) adding sixteen adjustable spring-mounted 100-to-150-pound weights (actuators) to the bottom of the Ares 1 rocket, which would then be computer-adjusted with motor-driven sensors to reduce vibrations and (2) adding a ring similar to a shock absorber at the location between the first stage and second stage of the Ares 1 rocket.

The SpaceflightNow.com article “Proposals made to solve Ares 1 rocket vibration worry” states, “NASA hopes to resolve concern about high vibrations in its new Ares 1 rocket by using a shock absorber-like passive damper between the first and second stages and a computer-controlled, motor-driven system of spring-mounted weights at the base of the booster to actively cancel out unwanted up-and-down oscillations.”

The article by the SpaceflightNow.com website provides a comprehensive look at the solution to this early problem in the Ares 1 rocket. Please read it for further information on the Ares 1 vibration problem and its NASA solution.

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