4 ms·

NASA leaves its Artemis I rocket exposed to winds above design limits

14 points by mikece 4y ago

puffoflogic 4y ago
Ha, I predicted this would happen although I was wrong about the timing; I thought it might happen with Ian. This was, in my view, probably deliberate. Artemis I is unflyable. It's also past its sell-by date: it has been stacked for far longer than the design limit permits. From a safety engineering perspective it is now a slag heap. It should never be permitted to be filled with volatile chemicals and pointed at the sky. But it is too politically sensitive to kill. It is Congress' baby. It will be put through a launch attempt, no matter how ill-advised. So what is a fearful NASA underling to do? Simple! Permit the rocket to undergo some public mishap which can later be blamed for the inevitable pad failure.
- jjk166 4y ago
  All of NASA's research into using butterflies to precisely control hurricanes is finally paying off.
- cestith 4y ago
  Better unmanned than manned. They were advised of the risks with Challenger and killed the crew trying to prove they knew better than the engineers and technicians.
rapjr9 4y ago
This seems like it was caused by the reduced accuracy of forecasts due to the climate crisis. NASA made its plans based on an early forecast and later forecasts increased the wind speed estimates after it was too late to move the rocket. I would expect to see more such destructive effects on everything that relies on weather forecasting. We knew weather was going to become more variable, now that variability is here.
- Stevvo 4y ago
  They wanted to roll it back in, but didn't do it because there is also a design limitation on the number of times it can be rolled.
  - techdragon 4y ago
    Just going to say it again… if they have to cut a mission it’s Artemis 3… also… Orion should have been designed and built to be capable of using a service module and trans lunar injection booster that could be launched and fuelled on orbit by other rockets. The entire god damn infrastructure is a pork trough for the military industrial complex contractors who were working on the Space Shuttle since the 70s… and is costing taxpayers of not just the USA but other Artemis accords countries who have national efforts that are funding parts of this. I get it, it’s political stuff. But it still sucks.

14 points by mikece 4y ago

Ha, I predicted this would happen although I was wrong about the timing; I thought it might happen with Ian. This was, in my view, probably deliberate. Artemis I is unflyable. It's also past its sell-by date: it has been stacked for far longer than the design limit permits. From a safety engineering perspective it is now a slag heap. It should never be permitted to be filled with volatile chemicals and pointed at the sky. But it is too politically sensitive to kill. It is Congress' baby. It will be put through a launch attempt, no matter how ill-advised. So what is a fearful NASA underling to do? Simple! Permit the rocket to undergo some public mishap which can later be blamed for the inevitable pad failure.

jjk166 4y ago
All of NASA's research into using butterflies to precisely control hurricanes is finally paying off.
cestith 4y ago
Better unmanned than manned. They were advised of the risks with Challenger and killed the crew trying to prove they knew better than the engineers and technicians.

rapjr9 4y ago

This seems like it was caused by the reduced accuracy of forecasts due to the climate crisis. NASA made its plans based on an early forecast and later forecasts increased the wind speed estimates after it was too late to move the rocket. I would expect to see more such destructive effects on everything that relies on weather forecasting. We knew weather was going to become more variable, now that variability is here.

Stevvo 4y ago
They wanted to roll it back in, but didn't do it because there is also a design limitation on the number of times it can be rolled.
- techdragon 4y ago
  Just going to say it again… if they have to cut a mission it’s Artemis 3… also… Orion should have been designed and built to be capable of using a service module and trans lunar injection booster that could be launched and fuelled on orbit by other rockets. The entire god damn infrastructure is a pork trough for the military industrial complex contractors who were working on the Space Shuttle since the 70s… and is costing taxpayers of not just the USA but other Artemis accords countries who have national efforts that are funding parts of this. I get it, it’s political stuff. But it still sucks.