| Author | Message | ||
     Pwnzor |
...so I get to work this morning and the overnight dispatcher is telling me about a crate that got refused by the airline so of course, I go out there and found this...     OK... any of you aerospace types have an idea what this thing is? | ||
| Buellish |
I'm not an aerospace type and I don't play one on TV,but it Looks like a big ass Nitrous bottle to me! (Message edited by buellish on December 04, 2017) | ||
| Chauly |
Filament-wound pressure vessel for some compressed gas. Odd that it says "not for flight"; maybe it needed to be tested. Why would they reject it for transport? | ||
| Aesquire |
Chauly is correct. Empty composite pressure vessel. Since it's from Space X it's intended for a neutral gas like nitrogen or helium. Something that won't attack resin used to bind the fibers. It doesn't have a pressure cap so it's part of a welded pressurization system. .... As harmless as you could ask a package to be unless you filled it with explosives or politically incorrect ideas. | ||
| Pwnzor |
Well, the #1 reason to refuse it for air transport is that there are no steel bands on the crate to keep it from being tampered with. | ||
| Hootowl |
Not for flight simply means that it isn't going to be used in flight. They have an identical one that will be used in flight. NASA does the same thing, essentially. Not for flight items are used for training, mock-up, etc. They're the exact same items as the ones that are certified for flight, they're just marked so that they they'll never actually be used in a spacecraft. It's a safety precaution...only flight certified stuff makes it on the ship. | ||
| Greg_e |
Should be an interesting phone call for you. | ||
| Greg_e |
It's one of these: https://www.compositesworld.com/blog/post/spacex-a nnounces-copvs-role-in-sept-rocket-explosion Might be the old version or the new revision that you have there. | ||
| Hootowl |
Interesting note on the development and initial use of COPVs in the shuttle program. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa. gov/20110015972.pdf | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
So they refused to ship it via air, simply because it said "Not for flight" on it? They thought it meant "never ship via airplane"? | ||
| Pwnzor |
They refused it because the crate was not banded shut. Air freight has to be sealed to where you can easily tell if there's been any tampering. Somebody could open this crate and put anything they want in there. It was really less about the contents than it was about the unsecured packaging. | ||
| Greg_e |
You would have though Spacex would have known that. I certainly didn't know that, in fact I would have thought the opposite where they would want to inspect it before putting it on a plane. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Well that's more comforting than my feared reasoning at least. Just out of curiosity, how heavy was that thing? | ||
| Hootowl |
Probably not very. The metal liner is relatively thin, and is just there to prevent the gas from escaping through the porous wrap. See article linked above. | ||
| Pwnzor |
Paperwork says it's 516 pounds, which includes the crate. | ||
| Fast1075 |
I saw a cross sectioned vessel similar to that one. The one I saw was for high pressure air to drive an air motor in a prototype vehicle. The metal liner in the tank was thin. The composite provides the strength at a much lighter weight than metal. The one I saw was rated to 3,200 psi. They do make nitrous tanks like that also. But they are pricey. When I was racing, I found that a standard 3# aluminum bottle worked just fine for me. Couldn't see spending hundreds extra for a couple of pounds weight savings. | ||
| Pwnzor |
Update: I put 2 steel bands around the crate and the airlines accepted it without even batting an eye. | ||
| Crusty |
Were the bands playing decent music? Or was it all just heavy metal? | ||
| Pwnzor |
 | ||
| Hootowl |
Heavy metal is not decent music?  | ||
| Crusty |
It depends on the band that's playing it. | ||
| Tootal |
Was one a Delta steel band? https://youtu.be/yKmRTK9R9F4 | ||
| Zac4mac |
EB and the Thunderbolts Boots and Suits - Riders of the Edge Z | ||
| Aesquire |
Look up the Honda crazy train commercial on YouTube. Metal is classical music now. I've heard Black Sabbath elevator music. Also Cinnamon Girl, covered by Type O Negative. Yeah, arch heretic and proud of it! Just call me Thodin.  | ||
| Gregtonn |
Back when I was designing modules for Space Station we called it, and it was marked PREFLIGHT. G | ||
| Etennuly |
"Couldn't see spending hundreds to loose a couple of pounds" ha ha!  Someone I know has! Several times!!! Always ending with a net gain! |
