external fuel tank? This just sounds like a bad idea, and I'm not even an engineer. (Perhaps some will point out that that's the problem with my thinking.) : ) Someone please explain this to me.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060703/ap_on_he_me/space_shuttle;_ylt=Ak5nVrfoD8yjY9U2q6PI.DYPLBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--
2006-07-03 07:10:27 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Engineering
When engineers design something we use something called a safety factor. Say for instance something needs to hold 100 pounds without breaking. Based on how critical the part is a safety factor is chosen, say for instance 3. Then the part will be designed to hold 300 pounds instead of 100. When designing the Space Shuttle, I am sure an extremely large safety factor was chosen. Therefore knowing the chosen safety factor that the part was designed with, they are able to determine how much risk there is for catastrophic failure. You also have to figure in the money that it costs to not launch the shuttle as someone used the road trip analogy. Basically, they are balancing a cost to risk ratio.
2006-07-03 09:16:25 · answer #1 · answered by ChrisRiedel_1 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Because this whole thing about cracked foam is a bunch of fear-mongering. The odds of foam falling off and actually damaging the space shuttle like it did Columbia is VERY VERY LOW. The reason your hearing so much about this is because of politics, and media hpye, rather than engineering.
2006-07-03 19:48:37 · answer #2 · answered by Greenspan 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
space station is running out of cookies
no, seriously. Imagine this - you planned a roadtrip, made sure everybody can go, booked the hotel, loaded the car and then got a some warning light on a dashboard. Would you scrap the whole thing? Or you would rather patch it up and go ahead?
2006-07-03 07:12:17 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Depends on the criticality of the crack.
2006-07-03 07:18:44 · answer #4 · answered by Robert A 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's up to the safety engineers.
2006-07-03 08:42:35 · answer #5 · answered by Irish 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
OH! They found A crack. I thought they found crack.
2006-07-03 07:13:36 · answer #6 · answered by cirestan 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
they will fix it, don't worry you little self about it
2006-07-03 07:24:21 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
cuz this is white america!
2006-07-03 08:24:51 · answer #8 · answered by Novato 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋