I'll have to talk to my rocket scientist buddies at church today (I live only a couple miles from Johnson Space Center) to see if they have more information on this situation with the Ares I rocket.

Dare I suggest that it is a problem that needs fixing sooner rather than later?

NASA is wrestling with a potentially dangerous problem in a spacecraft that has not even been built yet.

Engineers are concerned that the new rocket, meant to replace the space shuttle and send astronauts to the moon, could shake violently during the first few minutes of flight, possibly destroying the entire vehicle.

"They know it's a real problem," said Paul Fischbeck, a Carnegie Mellon University engineering professor who has consulted on risk issues with NASA in the past. "This thing is going to shake apart the whole structure, and they've got to solve it."

If not corrected, the shaking would arise from the powerful first stage of the Ares I rocket, which will lift the Orion crew capsule into orbit.

NASA officials hope to have a plan for fixing the design as early as March, and they do not expect it to delay the goal of returning astronauts to the moon by 2020.

Yeah, shaking the entire spacecraft into little pieces -- especially with human beings inside, does seem like a bit of a problem to me.

But then again, I'm no rocket scientist.

Seriously, though, I hope to see this problem resolved by March like they are talking about -- otherwise it damn well ought to slow down the push to reach the moon again by 2020. After all, while space travel will never be risk free, it ought not be a suicide mission.

Posted by: Greg at 03:43 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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