NASA Engineering Example
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NASA Engineering Example
I am doing some research at work today and was reading up on the CRISM instrument that is part of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). This is a mission that is orbiting Mars right now and has been sending back phenomenal data about the planet.
Check out the engineering that went into the CRISM instrument design.
From the article:
And strap it to the top of a rocket (rough ride) to send it on its way, and it absolutely has to work when it gets there, and...
http://crism.jhuapl.edu/instrument/innoDesign.php
And people wonder why this stuff is so expensive
Check out the engineering that went into the CRISM instrument design.
From the article:
This is like saying, "keep a pot of water boiling and an ice cube frozen on a dinner plate, while keeping the plate at room temperature. And use no more electricity than a Christmas tree bulb."
http://crism.jhuapl.edu/instrument/innoDesign.php
And people wonder why this stuff is so expensive
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A 1/100 of a degree C alters the instruments readings. One part of the diagram they show has a component that has to be at -260, which appears to be about 2 inches from another component that had to be at -76. And they are both hyper sensitive detectors of some sort which just got blasted up the gravity well at about 4G average with a ton of vibration.
But dont worry. I'm not an engineer, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
Wow.
But dont worry. I'm not an engineer, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
Wow.
#13
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For example of how big these loads are, I have been running some numbers lately for an instrument design I have been working on. The quasi-static acceleration load I am using (based on the random vibration profile for this mission) is 188g, or 188 times Earth gravity. That is pretty typical for a 3-sigma stress level determination. So that instrument I linked to probably went through the same thing. They would have used something large like an Atlas rocket to launch an interplanetary mission, which is what ours would be using.
You should see the Shaker Table tests that simulate the vibration loading. It is pretty violent for a spacecraft payload. It will break stuff that was not designed and/or built properly. Fortunately the instrument I built and just tested did not break
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I am a Mechanical Engineer working for a large R&D firm in San Antonio. The Division I work for develops scientific instruments and electronics (computers) for NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and military missions. I work with the scientists here to turn their crazy (but brilliant) ideas into flight hardware. Design, build, test. Very challenging, but fun stuff.
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Doesnt air conduct across about 1CM with a 20K volt difference?
Would a high 02 environment be less? Boom
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I am a Mechanical Engineer working for a large R&D firm in San Antonio. The Division I work for develops scientific instruments and electronics (computers) for NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and military missions. I work with the scientists here to turn their crazy (but brilliant) ideas into flight hardware. Design, build, test. Very challenging, but fun stuff.