WASHINGTON (AP) — To fix a potentially fatal shaking problem
on its snazzy new moon rocket, NASA is considering something that works for
mud-stained pickup trucks: heavy-duty shock absorbers.
For nearly half a year, NASA's No. 1 technical problem in
designing its Ares I rocket, which will eventually propel astronauts back to
the moon, has been a sound wave vibration problem from its solid rocket motors.
If the vibrations hit the right frequency, they could
potentially shake the astronauts to death — or at the least make it impossible
for them to work. The astronauts would be in the Orion crew capsule launched on
top of the Ares.
The leading solution is to put weight on springs in parts of
the bottom end of the rocket and underneath astronauts' seats to dampen the
vibrations. Think MacPherson struts, said Garry Lyles, who heads a NASA team
working on the problem.
"These are actually absorbers that are used in vehicles
today, especially one-ton and 1 1/2-ton pickup trucks," Lyles said in a
Thursday telephone news conference.
Lyles said it's possible that further analysis and tests
will reveal the shaking problem that's turned up in computer models of the
still unbuilt Ares may be a non-issue. But engineers are seeking solutions just
in case.
NASA is not ready to proclaim the case closed and still
considers it the highest level of potential problem, Lyles said.
Ares project manager Steve Cook called it "a very
manageable issue."
There are many such challenges that face NASA's
return-to-the moon program, according to a report issued Thursday by outside
federal auditors.
The Government Accountability Office highlighted other
potential problems, including too much weight in both the rocket and Orion
capsule, design issues with a new engine for a booster, insufficient facilities
for certain types of testing, and private industry's inability to make the
Orion capsule's 1960s-style peel-away heat shield.
None of the technical problems are "a fatal flaw,"
the report's author, Christine Chaplain told a House Science subcommittee
Thursday.
Former astronaut Kathryn Thornton, associate dean of
engineering at the University of Virginia, said experts believe one of the
biggest problems is that the space agency is set on a schedule of returning
people to the moon by 2020 without enough money. Getting to the moon by that
date is "exceedingly unlikely," she told the subcommittee.
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