Every little bit counts
The orange makes it go faster. Not the fastest color but it’s up there.
Submitted 2 weeks ago by PugJesus@piefed.social to science_memes@mander.xyz
https://media.piefed.social/posts/k5/QP/k5QPSRdWQHWbrAp.webp
Comments
LodeMike@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
Context hat
PugJesus@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
Back when NASA was flinging things into space for the first time, the tolerances that were even possible were extremely tight. Every pound mattered (every pound still matters, but because we have other things to do once we get to space nowadays, plus every pound is expensive).
600 pounds of white paint for the fuel tank was considered unnecessary, once the engineering team figured that it didn’t actually protect the special foam covering of the fuel tank anyway. Thus the distinctive orange color!
Scrollone@feddit.it 2 weeks ago
For all the people in the world except the United States, 600 freedom units = ~272 kg
slampisko@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Oh, I thought the pictures were backwards. The orange being the natural color and the white being paint is really critical information for it to make sense lol
LodeMike@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
Oh my eyes glossed over the word “paint”. Thanks.
Cekan14@lemmy.org 2 weeks ago
This is such a cool fact; I’m a sucker for these things, I’m saving this post.
betanumerus@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
High end bicycle equipment have weight specs in grams.
excral@feddit.org 2 weeks ago
It’s always hillarious to me to see boomers on expensive bikes that aim to save every gram while they could save 20kg on themselves.
MagicShel@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Perhaps that’s why they are on a bike?
somethingsnappy@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
If you are trying to lose weight, you should be using the worst, heaviest bike possible.
HugeNerd@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
Or skinny dudes with enormous ballsacks wearing tight Spandex on 15 pound carbon fiber bikes, but a 20 pound motorcycle lock.
infinitesunrise@slrpnk.net 2 weeks ago
The cycling community has a word for those guys: Freds.
psoul@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Well, it’s also fun to go places you know. If a shitty bike can only get you 20mi / 30km but a on a good one you feel confident doing a 30mi / 45km ride then the purchase makes sense.
betanumerus@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
I can’t say I’ve ever seen that.
BuboScandiacus@mander.xyz 2 weeks ago
But, why ? You drink a bit more water that day and it’s void.
moody@lemmings.world 2 weeks ago
But what if you drank more water and you didn’t have the weight savings?
psx_crab@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
It’s a competition between brand. They’re at the point where decrease a single gram is incredible task and are all racing to become the lightest weight and aero-est bicycle and get to claim that.
betanumerus@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
A cup of water plus 250g is less than a cup pf water plus 500g. That’s why.
TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I’m too dumb for maths because I have dyscalculia, but i am always amazed by the engineering crowd on how they could improve efficiency by finding and tweaking just the little things.
neuromorph@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Its simple rocket math. Every lb of weight must consume fuel.
Si.pky. 1 lb of weight needs 1 lb of fuel to escape orbit. But the fuel has weight also. So the effective fuel you need to lift the rocket and payload is exponential
Town@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
The tyranny of the rocket equation. Generally, 1% of weight is payload, 85% is fuel.
tetris11@feddit.uk 2 weeks ago
- Artemis tanks were 10m wide and 30m tall.
- Cylinder surface Area = (2pir^2^) * (2pir* h) ^[curved area plus top and bottom circles]
- 2 * pi * 5 * 30 ~ 1100m^2^ to paint
- Paints paints about 10m^2^ per Litre paint
- Need 1100 / 10 = 110 Litres of paint
- 1L of paint weighs about 2kg
- 110 Litres of paint weighs about 220kg
icelimit@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
Til dyscalculia. I hope you weren’t born in asia
TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I am Asian 😂 I refuse to live up to the stereotype!
atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Fun fact: Columbia, pictured with the white tank, was the heaviest shuttle and was not modified to have the airlock necessary to dock with the ISS because the performance losses compared to the other shuttles made it difficult to use for ISS operations.
Agent641@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
But didn’t it have ejection seats at one point?
atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
IIRC the original Shuttle design called for an ejection mechanism around the entire cockpit. During STS-1 and I believe STS-2, which was also Colombia, there were extra emergency mechanisms present, but I don’t think the seats themselves ejected through the roof like a fighter pilot’s would. For the most part though these were useless as they could not be used above 30,000 feet or something like that so it could only be used during the first minute or two of the flight.
Several of the safety mechanisms and other things that were going to be part of the original design that had not already been scrapped for weight (like jet engines for powered decent) were scrapped for weight when the DOD stepped in and offered NASA extra money for the Shuttle if the Shuttle could hit very specific, higher and less fuel efficient, orbits. This came from an offhand comment that Jimmy Carter made, and then had to make good on the threats and implications of.
saturn57@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
The real question is why the default color is orange and not white or gray.
Cort@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
The polyurethane spray foam insulation is orange.
Agent641@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
That’s the default skin. It costs 100,000 doubloons to unlock the sick neon green and black skin.
yermaw@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
SIX HUNDRED EL BEES? HOLY FUCK THAT’S A LOTTA PAINT.
Bytemeister@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
That’s why American Airlines had the “cheat line” livery. Bare hulls saved them enough weight to carry like an extra 2 passengers.
Plus, polished metal on airframes looks sweet IMHO. Real “DC3 golden era of aviation” vibes.
matti@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
And why McLaren went with a silver colour
ivanafterall@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Remove all the tanks and shit on the bottom to really save weight and just let the shuttle fly? It’s not rocket science.
PugJesus@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
Found the Kerbal Space Program player?
ivanafterall@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
If it’s just the shuttle, the odds of the wrong part disconnecting when you hit spacebar go way down.
AffineConnection@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Nice username
Hupf@feddit.org 2 weeks ago
Digit@lemmy.wtf 2 weeks ago
“Lower the inertial mass.” – Miles O’Brien, Star Trek Deep Space Nine, Season 1, Episode 1.
AffineConnection@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Lower the inertial mass
—what to say when you want your obese Trekkie friend to take care of their health
JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Oh man you just brought up repressed memories of the biggest Trekkie nerd in elementary school making fun of me for my obesity.
Digit@lemmy.wtf 2 weeks ago
Though isn’t that decreasing the aerodynamics and increasing the friction?
Atropos@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Probably, but the slowest part of the trip is in the most dense air. Probably still a net benefit!
edg@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
No the purpose of the white pant was to help keep the external tank cool to reduce fuel boil off. The foam insulation was incredibly rough, not something a thin layer of paint could smooth over.
gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de 2 weeks ago
Yeah but does it have protective properties? Like idk maybe it adds corrosion resistance or sth
PugJesus@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
For most of the shuttle, yes, but the removal of the paint from the tank specifically was because the tank had a foam coating that was not actually meaningfully protected by the paint.
redbr64@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I always thought it looked cooler with the orange tank anyway
neuromorph@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Cooler with white, but heavier.
guy@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
Cooler depends on the amount of sunlight available
ivanafterall@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Cooler with orange, and lighter.