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New NASA System to Keep Lightning Off The Launchpad
Posted by
ScuttleMonkey
on Wed Dec 05, 2007 05:34 PM
from the shockingly-good-ideas dept.
from the shockingly-good-ideas dept.
coondoggie writes to tell us that NASA is building a new system to protect people and equipment on the shuttle launchpad from lightning strikes. "The new structure called a catenary wire system, will be the largest on the space compound and will feature large cables strung between three 594-foot-tall steel and fiberglass towers. Each tower is topped with a fiberglass mast and a series of catenary wires and down conductors designed to divert lightning away from the rocket and service structure. This configuration helps keep the vehicle isolated from dangerous lightning currents, NASA said."
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Researchers Unravel Mystery of Lightning Diversity 65 comments
coondoggie writes to tell us that researchers from Penn State and New Mexico Tech have unraveled the mystery of lightning diversity. A new "Lightning Mapping Array" has been able to show detailed models on how lightning acts. "About 90% of lightning occurs inside clouds and is not visible to the casual observer, researchers said. The researchers wondered if lightning that appears within clouds and the lightning that escapes upward or downward shared the same development mechanisms, researchers said. Lightning forms in clouds when different areas of the cloud become either positively or negatively charged. Once the electric field near a charged area exceeds a certain propagation level, lightning occurs. The type of lightning depends on where the charge builds and where the imbalance in charge exists in the clouds. The mechanism behind different types of lightning is what the new model shows, researchers said."
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For the Future As well... (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
That is, if they can ever afford to build a "next generation launcher".
Actually, not the shuttle (Score:1, Informative)
Kinda like (Score:2, Funny)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Hire these guys. [youtube.com]
This is not that new you can find things just like (Score:2)
Ground me in reality. (Score:5, Interesting)
Until it's launched, of course. Unless it will also trail a very, very long grounding wire...
From: What is NASA's Anvil Rule for Thunderstorms? [about.com]
Re:Ground me in reality. (Score:5, Informative)
In particular if a launch is scrubbed because of inclement weather with the shuttle already on the pad, then it would seem like a very good idea of having some sort of ground-based lightning protection. in-flight protection being irrelevant since they aren't launching...
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Movies / Pictures (Score:2)
(Must be terrifying for the people working on it, knowing it can kind of ruin their toy...)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Biased (Score:1, Troll)
Brings a tear to my eye.
Gotta be careful (Score:5, Informative)
Apollo 12 landed on the moon and came back safely seemingly without any side effects from the strikes
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
New for NASA? (Score:2)
Not really a new concept. AFAIK lots of tall buildings have these.
Has the space shuttles ever been hit by one? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
The last few strikes have not resulted in any major damage. One in 2006 resulted in a delay of an Atlantis launch.
so they created a lightning rod? (Score:1)
What's the story here?
Worth the price? (Score:1, Redundant)
Unless they launch other rockets from Cape Canaveral this building seems wholly useless; and even if they do, it still seems unnecessary considering the few problems NASA has actually had with lightning. [Mostly thanks to their proactive decision to not launch during lightning storms.]
Quite honestly, I'd have rather seen the money for this giant lightning rod go to one of the cance
Re: (Score:2)
How about lasers? (Score:2)
Maybe not practical, but more fun than lightning rods
Re: (Score:1)
It's been proposed to use an ultra short pulse laser for this purpose (picosecond laser), however in that picosecond the laser must deliver enough power to ionize an expanding cone of air a kilometer high. Currently not workable, although it's been demonstrated in the lab over shorter (~1 meter) distances.
Google for something like triggered l
Re: (Score:2)
You might not even need to ionize the air for it to be effective. Heated air has less resistance than cold air. This is what makes a Jacobs ladder work.