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Shadowalker
Unpretentious Rocket Scientist
Reged: 11/23/04
Posts: 3519
Loc: Poplarville, MS, USA
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This is a photo of the X33 multilobe carbon-fiber/composite fuel tank we tested over 10 years ago. Basically it was two intersecting cylinders to make a shape that would be compatible with the lifting body shape envisioned for the X33. The yellow stuff is spray-on foam insulation - same kind as used on Shuttle ET. The whole thing was covered with sheets of platic and held on with chicken wire. Dry nitrogen gas was flowed between the plastic and tank and collected in a mass spectrometer. The mass spec looked for hydrogen, which would indicate a leak. It leaked. A lot. After this and other tests, Lockheed decided to go with Aluminum-Lithium as the tank material. Then the program was cancelled. *sigh*
That's me, fourth from the left, heavier and much younger.
NASA photo.
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Tom Nicolaides
http://www.first-light.org
My evil self is at that door, and I have no power to stop it
-- Dr. Edward Morbius
Edited by Shadowalker (11/05/09 12:28 PM)
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Matthew Ota
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 04/30/05
Posts: 1096
Loc: New England
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Politics killed the X-33, not engineering...
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Matthew Ota
Meade LX250GPS 10 inch SCT (Frankenscope)
Orion ED 80
ETX-90 OTA
Coronado Helios 1 H-alpha
TheSky 6 Pro
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Shadowalker
Unpretentious Rocket Scientist
Reged: 11/23/04
Posts: 3519
Loc: Poplarville, MS, USA
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Quote:
Politics killed the X-33, not engineering...
Definitely true. Didn't mean to imply otherwise. Interesting thing is that Lockheed proved a metal tank would actually weigh less than a composite tank, but someone with clout at NASA testified before congress that composite was the way to go. Get politics involved and the project is doomed.
As opposed to getting politics involved and the project limps ahead. Depends on how many districts we put the jobs in, I guess.
Back to the subject, though, testing involved filling with liquid hydrogen and running pressure cycles while monitoring for leaks and making lots of strain gage measurements. As rocket testing goes, this is about as exciting as watching paint dry.
Engines are more fun.
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Tom Nicolaides
http://www.first-light.org
My evil self is at that door, and I have no power to stop it
-- Dr. Edward Morbius
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