Someone on another thread was questioning the weight of the electronics on a rocket. Look at the size of some of these connectors and the fixtures supporting them
The big plugs weren't for the computer, they were for connecting to ground support.
These days you could theoretically get away with two power pins and a Bluetooth chip. How many pins and wires are actually used to connect more modern rockets to the stand?
I took some more detailed pictures of the (soon to be removed) rocket today. The base is closed off by a cover, but I stuck my camera in a hole and took a random shot of the engines.John
One thing I don't get... If this is all about a safety concern, why not just display the rocket horizontally? Something just doesn’t sound right especially coming from a museum. Their concern should be about preserving an artifact...
Quote from: John-H on 02/18/2015 07:31 pmI took some more detailed pictures of the (soon to be removed) rocket today. The base is closed off by a cover, but I stuck my camera in a hole and took a random shot of the engines.JohnIt does have those conical nozzle engines! Wow. The number of engines of this type still in existence is almost zero. Soon, it will be even closer to zero. Rocketdyne was still learning how to when it delivered these, and it still had a lot to learn. And Convair still had a lot to learn about turbopump exhaust recirculation effects, ect., when it delivered this rocket.Your images of this beautiful, rare machine are bringing tears. - Ed Kyle
Quote from: Rocket Science on 02/19/2015 09:33 pmOne thing I don't get... If this is all about a safety concern, why not just display the rocket horizontally? Something just doesn’t sound right especially coming from a museum. Their concern should be about preserving an artifact...I don't believe a word of it either. They are also removing the oil well pump ( the green object in the background) due to "safety concerns" after 40 years. I'm beginning to think that every press release these days has to include some version of "think of the children".
Quote from: John-H on 02/19/2015 09:54 pmQuote from: Rocket Science on 02/19/2015 09:33 pmOne thing I don't get... If this is all about a safety concern, why not just display the rocket horizontally? Something just doesn’t sound right especially coming from a museum. Their concern should be about preserving an artifact...I don't believe a word of it either. They are also removing the oil well pump ( the green object in the background) due to "safety concerns" after 40 years. I'm beginning to think that every press release these days has to include some version of "think of the children".I believe it. The Atlas has to stay pressurized or it crumples and can fall over..........
Quote from: John-H on 02/19/2015 09:54 pmQuote from: Rocket Science on 02/19/2015 09:33 pmOne thing I don't get... If this is all about a safety concern, why not just display the rocket horizontally? Something just doesn’t sound right especially coming from a museum. Their concern should be about preserving an artifact...I don't believe a word of it either. They are also removing the oil well pump ( the green object in the background) due to "safety concerns" after 40 years. I'm beginning to think that every press release these days has to include some version of "think of the children".I believe it. The Atlas has to stay pressurized or it crumples and can fall over. That requires the generator and compressor to remain active and maintained (inspected regularly). If the museum is short on cash, they probably don't want to pay the grounds keeper to do the inspections. And if the Atlas is leaking they probably know that they need to do something to fix the leaks. Whether or not they have actually done a formal assessment and figured out the costs, they can at least guess that it is going to cost money that they do not have. Why not display it horizontally? Because that requires them to lower it to the ground and build a mount for it. That also costs money. And they still have to plug the leaks and pay somebody to check on the compressor and generator regularly. Again, they're short of cash.Plus, you don't know anything about their insurance liability. They may have an insurance policy that says that if something has been identified as a safety risk and they do not fix it within X months, the insurance will not cover it, or the premiums skyrocket.The one sure thing about demolition is that it is a fixed, one-time cost: pay it and they're done, and maybe their insurance rates go down.
Quote from: Blackstar on 02/20/2015 12:47 amQuote from: John-H on 02/19/2015 09:54 pmQuote from: Rocket Science on 02/19/2015 09:33 pmOne thing I don't get... If this is all about a safety concern, why not just display the rocket horizontally? Something just doesn’t sound right especially coming from a museum. Their concern should be about preserving an artifact...I don't believe a word of it either. They are also removing the oil well pump ( the green object in the background) due to "safety concerns" after 40 years. I'm beginning to think that every press release these days has to include some version of "think of the children".I believe it. The Atlas has to stay pressurized or it crumples and can fall over..........What Blackstar said. They're called balloon tanks for a reason.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balloon_tankThey are very thin, large stainless steel skinned structures, not relatively thick iso-grid aluminum.When sticking a Mercury capsule instead of the designed-for warhead on top, they originally had to use a "belly band" steel belt around the upper part of the rocket so that it could handle the new shock wave without structural failure
Now if we see some property development happening on that site then we‘ll know the truth...
The museum is broke. They have closed. Sitting outside is a rocket that requires an air compressor and a generator to keep working or it will collapse, possibly falling on somebody.This is a pretty simple and straightforward explanation.