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Science Forum Index » Space - Shuttle Forum » Question about order of assembly
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| John Doe |
 Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 5:37 pm |
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What is the reason that NASA has decided to launch the labs before
completing the solar arrays ?
I was under the impression that flying with unmatched solar arrays was
not desirable due to uneven drag on the station and that getting them to
be balanced would have been a priority ?
Is this an issue with specific shuttles being required for the labs
and/or the array and the maintenance cycle of shuttles just left a long
gap between array carrying flights ?
Or was there some political push to launch the foreign labs as soon as
they had enough power and take a risk of leaving the station
permanently unbalanced should the shuttle be grounded for a long
time/permanently before the final array is shipped ?
Does Nasa now do anything with regards to array orientation to mitigate
the asymetric config ? (aka: reduce angle on the port arrays to reduce
drag on that side to try to match drag on starboard side). |
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| Guest |
| Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 5:37 pm |
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On Mar 3, 4:37 pm, John Doe <j...@doe.org> wrote:
Quote: Or was there some political push to launch the foreign labs as soon as
they had enough power and take a risk of leaving the station
permanently unbalanced should the shuttle be grounded for a long
time/permanently before the final array is shipped ?
Bingo
Quote: Does Nasa now do anything with regards to array orientation to mitigate
the asymetric config ? (aka: reduce angle on the port arrays to reduce
drag on that side to try to match drag on starboard side).
No big deal. The attitude control system has sufficient control
authority |
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| Mike Ross |
| Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 7:53 pm |
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John Doe wrote:
Quote: What is the reason that NASA has decided to launch the labs before
completing the solar arrays ?
I was under the impression that flying with unmatched solar arrays was
not desirable due to uneven drag on the station and that getting them to
be balanced would have been a priority ?
Is this an issue with specific shuttles being required for the labs
and/or the array and the maintenance cycle of shuttles just left a long
gap between array carrying flights ?
Or was there some political push to launch the foreign labs as soon as
they had enough power and take a risk of leaving the station
permanently unbalanced should the shuttle be grounded for a long
time/permanently before the final array is shipped ?
Does Nasa now do anything with regards to array orientation to mitigate
the asymetric config ? (aka: reduce angle on the port arrays to reduce
drag on that side to try to match drag on starboard side).
The drag isn't that big a deal, it's more the various ratios of the
principal moments of inertia, which was bad before 12A. NASA has bigger
problems with the pitted SARJ bearing on the starboard side, keeping that
array from rotating with the port side.
Besides, the modules are the main point of the station, so as soon as the
power and infrastructure was available, they were launched.
Mike Ross |
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