Video: NASA rockets inflatable heat shield 124 miles up, deploys it successfully
By Tim Stevens 
posted August 24th 2009 8:25AM
posted August 24th 2009 8:25AM
[Via Gizmodo]
posted August 24th 2009 8:25AM
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My God that spinny part made me dizzy 9_6
Nasa rocks
... ?? do you think Hard_Facts is high on something or what ?? ? ...
I like to think he is yeah, it would be worry me if he wasn't.
01:14 See the big alien penis.
at the spinning part i was expecting to hear 1960's batman scene change music
I m puzzled :(
You could surf this device through the atmosphere like Indiana Jones leaping from a plane in an inflatable raft.
looks more like the ballute system implemented in gundam Z. though that one is a bit more advanced and can be ejected easily for the atmospheric flight phase.
yes, ballutes are used in bombs, but bombs and spacecraft are completely different. until they blow up.
First step to a sun blocking device to adjust for global warming?
... or global domination. o_0
Wow, I'm impressed that they could get the center of gravity correct for a design like that. Otherwise it would flip over mid-fall and become like an umbrella.
Looks more like a giant mushroom when they're working on it. If only all the NASA techs were in blue body paint :D.
On an unrelated note, that rocket is >fast
That's a very neat idea to an expensive problem.
i want to see a rocket launch in real life
The intense heat during reentry isn't primary due to friction. Rather air molecules become superheated as they are compressed under the vehicle.
Exactly, and the transition has little to do with it, either. The same heat would result even if you were spending 100% of your time in the atmosphere rather than transitioning from space to atmosphere, assuming you were traveling at 17Kmiles/s.
Correct.
Stagnation temperature.
Guess what, the air resistance quickly reduces your speed or burns you up, that's why you only have the issue during the transition you see.
You are partly correct,but the actual temperature finally depends on recovery temperature which also changes with speed of re-entry.
I love the rocket geeks Mardi Gras cap!
Boobs and Rockets! Hell Ya!
Wow, that was a fast rocket.
Spot the Unix sysadm in that video.
As funny as I thought this was, I watched it again and didn't spot any neckbeards.
You spin me right around…
Does anybody else think when the camera is looking at the coating it looks like a massive penis is slowly coming into picture
jiminho, it's trick photography; it is really a tiny penis.
That shadow at the 1:18 mark PROVES my theory that there are intelligent space dildos that watch over us from the heavens.
Why isn't that thing turning over and coming down like a parachute? I would think it needed some active stabilization to remain in that orientation???
The shape of the heatshield is self-orienting. Does not require active orientation mechanism.
The centre of gravity is near the bottom of the structure - i.e both the inflated part and the 'pole' that is sticking up must be lightweight. So instead of a parachute it is more like an inflated boat with you lying down on its floor - the centre of gravity is low, so it will not turn over.
Or for an even better analogy, look at the shuttlecock from badminton. The front of the shuttlecock and its feathers is the inflated structure and the device that is trying to land is inside the head of the shuttlecock or just behind it. The feathers must be longer than the device being landed to achieve proper centre of gravity.
There's nothing wrong with being gay, but there is something wrong when you can't see any elongated object on a techsite and start drivelling about dildos and penises, just goto a gay bar or club or something and get it over with already geez.
This reminds me of a combination of a few technology items from the movie Sunshine.
A) The massive heat shield (obviously)
B) The inflatable lights used by the crew to make repairs to said shield.
Wow, that's really quite incredible. It seems to me this technology stands to be a much cheaper alternative to traditional heat shields in terms of cost, weight, and volume required on a space craft using it.
That said, is it just me or does it look a little like NASA just created the world's biggest lawn dart?
What I want to know is how they got those amazing camera angles from space!
Just what I need to dodge the flames when I post this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXCRUE4Bip8
im glad I wasn't the only one who though gundam when I saw this