Skip to content

Unexplainable.net

Watching The World Change

  • Haunted Universities and Schools Throughout Maine Ghost And Demons
  • Highlights of Ancient Greek History: 547 BCE to 534 BCE Ancient Civilizations
  • Haunted Prisons: Alcatraz II Ghost And Demons
  • The Ins and Outs of Buddhist Holidays and Festivals Religion Articles
  • Ancient Egypt: Architecture Ancient Civilizations
  • Of the Three Christian Worthies , King Arthur Information and Theories
  • Police: Man on Bath Salts Took ‘Combative Stance’ And ‘Growled’ At Them Simply Unexplainable
  • China’s Acupuncture and Tai Chi beliefs and practices Simply Unexplainable

Big Tools for Space Exploration

Posted on July 13, 2004 By jim No Comments on Big Tools for Space Exploration
Mooker

Technicians at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center are using a titan-sized tool on a fast-paced project.

It’s a giant wrench that weighs 25 pounds and is 36 inches long, nearly a quarter of the length of the X-43A research aircraft that it supports. In fact, the wrench is so big that it doesn’t even fit in a workbench – that’s because it’s as big as a workbench! They just keep it on a table for storage.

The X-43A is a scramjet, or Supersonic Combustion Ramjet, meaning that the oxygen needed by the engine for fuel combustion is taken from the atmosphere passing through the engine, instead of from a tank onboard. Future scramjet vehicles might carry more payload without an oxygen tank onboard.

So, what do NASA’s strong-arm technicians use this colossal tool for? According to Mike Bondy, NASA’s hypersonic X-43A scramjet crew chief, you simply have to use the right tool for the right job. Mike and other technicians use the wrench to turn 3-inch diameter coupling nuts on what is called the clamshell, a fixture that holds the X-43A vehicle.

Image right: X-43A tool ace Art Cope displays the size of the massive wrench. NASA photo by Tony Landis.

The steel clamshell has an upper and a lower piece, and is used for everything from transporting the X-43 to everyday maintenance of the vehicle. This size wrench is also used in NASA Dryden’s Loads Lab, a special facility used to test aerospace vehicle structures.

The X-43A team’s incredible success in flying the world’s fastest free-flying airbreathing aircraft to a record speed of over Mach 7, or seven times the speed of sound, on March 27, 2004, has left no time to bask in success.

Just ask Art Cope, an X-43A engineering technician. He’s been using the wrench lately to reconfigure the clamshell for various maintenance tasks in preparation of the next flight, currently planned for this September. The flight is slated to propel the final X-43A vehicle even faster than the previous one, to a speed of Mach 10.

Though speed targets in the project are important, the greatest success garnered by the team lies in the fact that on March 27 they proved what 40 years of research and theory had predicted – that scramjets, or supersonic combustion ramjets, work in the real world.

Image left: X-43A technician Art Cope using the mega wrench, which adds new emphasis to the phrase turn a wrench. The #3 X-43A research vehicle is resting on the pins that Cope is turning with the wrench. The blue fixture is the clamshell. NASA photo by Tony Landis.

These guys are turning one BIG wrench on one fast project!

NASA Articles

Post navigation

Previous Post: String Of Pearls and Different Clouds On Mars
Next Post: Edwards Air Force Base Sheds Light On UFO’s

Related Posts

  • Incredible Near Miss Asteroid to Zoom Past Planet NASA Articles
  • Rocket Could Reach Mars in 40 Days NASA Articles
  • Scientists Explore Space Claw, Orbital Lasers NASA Articles
  • NASA Unveils Futuristic Flight Models of 2025 NASA Articles
  • Scientists Discover Building Blocks of Life in Meteorites NASA Articles
  • Universe Far More Planet Populated Than Previously Thought NASA Articles

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

  • Mahavatar Babaji: The Yogi alive for 2000 years
  • Spirituality and science conflict
  • Conspiracies and myths about spirituality
  • Know your Ki: Reiki
  • 10 amazing plants to promote spirituality and positivity

Recent Comments

No comments to show.

Archives

  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • May 2020
  • June 2018
  • February 2018
  • July 2016
  • May 2016
  • February 2016
  • September 2015
  • July 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • July 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007
  • April 2007
  • March 2007
  • February 2007
  • January 2007
  • December 2006
  • November 2006
  • October 2006
  • September 2006
  • August 2006
  • July 2006
  • June 2006
  • May 2006
  • April 2006
  • March 2006
  • February 2006
  • January 2006
  • December 2005
  • November 2005
  • October 2005
  • September 2005
  • August 2005
  • July 2005
  • June 2005
  • May 2005
  • April 2005
  • March 2005
  • February 2005
  • January 2005
  • December 2004
  • November 2004
  • October 2004
  • September 2004
  • August 2004
  • July 2004
  • June 2004
  • May 2004
  • April 2004
  • March 2004
  • February 2004
  • January 2004
  • December 2003
  • November 2003
  • October 2003

Categories

  • Ancient Civilizations
  • Benjamin Fulford Story
  • Cryptology and Monsters
  • Eating Healthy
  • Ghost And Demons
  • Information and Theories
  • Mars Coverage
  • Meditation And Spirituality
  • Mysteries
  • NASA Articles
  • Other Exciting News
  • Personal Accounts
  • Pictures And Multimedia
  • Political Conspiracies
  • Recent Submissions
  • Religion Articles
  • Self Improvement
  • Simply Unexplainable
  • Space and Astrology
  • Technology Articles
  • True Stories
  • UFOs and Aliens
  • Unexplainable Video Library
  • Unexplainable Weather
  • Interesting Facts About the Human Body Information and Theories
  • Government UFO Secrecy UFOs and Aliens
  • Cancer Love Matches: Pisces & Aquarius Space and Astrology
  • Mystery Glitch Results in “Free Money” for Australians Simply Unexplainable
  • The Summoning of October 10th Simply Unexplainable
  • Exorcism Via Internet Religion Articles
  • Pizza Banned In Space – Not Good Spacefood Information and Theories
  • Dreams, always about UFO’s, Exploring woods or sharks Personal Accounts

Copyright © 2023 Unexplainable.net.

Powered by PressBook News Dark theme