NASA Says New Problem Will Be Solved, Too

NASA's Constellation program, which is a collection of technologies intended to replace the US Space Shuttle as America's primary way into space, is up against a number of serious technical challenges. The Ares I rocket, in particular, has acknowledged problems with adequate lift capability and vibration.

Now, The Orlando Sentinel cites anonymous sources in reporting that a tendency by the solid-fuel rocket to drift laterally immediately after ignition poses a risk of damage to -- or even a collision with -- the launch tower.

The Sentinel says it reviewed more than 800 pages of NASA documents and interviewed more than a dozen engineers, technicians and NASA officials involved with the project. Most would only speak anonymously, saying they feared retribution from NASA management.

The latest technical problem to plague Ares is termed "liftoff drift," which is exactly what it sounds like. When solid-fuel rockets ignite, the sudden explosion of thrust causes the launch vehicle to shift position on the launchpad during liftoff, whereas the comparatively more gradual ignition of liquid-fueled rockets lessens that tendency. The Ares I first stage uses solid-fuel rocket boosters similar to those on the shuttle.

Compounding the issue for Ares would be liftoff in winds blowing greater than 12.7 mph from the southeast... which many engineers say would be enough to push the narrow rocket into the launch gantry.

"We were told by a person directly involved [in looking at the problem] that as they incorporate more variables into the liftoff-drift-curve model, the worse the curve becomes," said one anonymous NASA contractor to the paper. "I get the impression that things are quickly going from bad to worse to unrecoverable."

Predictably, NASA officials downplay the latest fears. They've become used to the routine, too... as over the past two years the agency has received substantial criticism from the scientific community, including former astronauts, concerning a number of issues with the Ares.

As ANN reported, complaints surfaced in late 2006 concerning a shortage of liftoff thrust, which NASA said were overblown. In January 2008, NASA admitted the Ares design also suffered the potential for severe "thrust oscillation" during liftoff -- another less-than desirable trait of solid-rocket boosters. In August, NASA said it had sufficiently addressed the problem... through the use of 17 remote-controlled vibration dampeners, each with 100-lb weights attached to springs able to be moved up and down as needed to counteract such vibrations.

As for the liftoff drift issue, Constellation program manager Jeff Hanley says NASA will solve that problem, too. "There are always issues that crop up when you are developing a new rocket and many opinions about how to deal with them. We have a lot of data and understanding of what it's going to take to build this."

One idea NASA suggested would be to reposition or redesign the launchpad. But some internal sources say the real problem will be hitting timetables and budget benchmarks set for the Constellation program... especially if the incoming US president decides Ares (and the Constellation moon program as a whole) simply isn't worth the billions of dollars spent so far, nevermind the significant costs that lie ahead.

NASA's case in that forthcoming political battle isn't helped by the number of engineers who damn the Ares I as a potentially dangerous, or deadly, pipe dream. Last month, award-winning NASA engineer Jeff Finckenor quit the Ares program in apparent disgust.

"It's time for a rethink," said Finckenor, in his farewell letter to colleagues obtained without his permission by agency watchdog NASAWatch.com. "At the highest levels of the agency, there seems to be a belief that you can mandate reality, followed by a refusal to accept any information that runs counter to that mandate."

Most believe if NASA is given enough time and money, it will eventually sort out the problems with Ares. "If they push hard enough, yes, it will fly," said one program engineer. "But there are going to be so many compromises to be able to launch it, and it will be so expensive and so behind schedule, that it may be better if didn't fly at all."

That sentiment is reflected in the results of last month's preliminary design review of the Ares program, which NASA touted as a positive step forward for the program.

Well... perhaps not so much. Ares did pass the review... but with a cumulative score of a 2.1, or a very low "C." In fact, out of the 10 criteria NASA held Ares to, the rocket scored equivalents of Cs and Ds in seven of them.

Former NASA astronaut and International Space Station commander Leroy Chiao says many of his friends at NASA are infuriated by the agency's stubborn push forward with Ares."I would say that I have heard various concerns," said Chiao, who retired from NASA in 2005. "If I were still in the corps, I'd be skeptical about when is this thing going to fly and will we be able to put all the fixes in place."

Several engineers and astronauts have proposed NASA scrap Ares, in favor of the proven Atlas V rocket... or even the so-called "Direct 2.0" launch vehicle, originally designed in the aftermath of the 1986 Challenger explosion.

Alas, it may prove impossible to change NASA's direction for Ares... since the program is the brainchild of current agency administrator Michael Griffin (shown above, center) who proposed a rocket design very similar to Ares when he was the head of the Space Department at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory.

FMI: www.nasa.gov/ares