Space Capsule Design
Program Information
Series: Destination TomorrowProgram: Episode 6
Segment Number: 3 (Watch entire program)
Duration: 00:03:37
Year Produced: 2003
Description:
NASA Destination Tomorrow Segment describing how Dr. Maxime Faget's space capsule design helped launch the United States into the Space Age.
NASA's Destination Tomorrow™ is a series of 30-minute programs that focus on NASA research. Each exciting program gives the audience an inside look at NASA and demonstrates how research and technology relate to our everyday lives.
For more information visit: http://destination.larc.nasa.gov/Transcript
TODAY, MOST OF US
TAKE THE IDEA
OF MANNED SPACE FLIGHT
FOR GRANTED,
BUT DURING THE LATE '50s
AND EARLY '60s,
THE IDEA OF MAN
TRAVELING IN SPACE
WAS AN EXCITING CHALLENGE
TO BE CONQUERED.
IN THE EARLY DAYS
OF THE SPACE PROGRAM,
ENGINEERS KNEW VERY LITTLE
ABOUT THE EFFECTS
OF SPACE TRAVEL
AND REENTRY
INTO THE ATMOSPHERE.
BUT ONE MAN,
DR. MAX FAGET,
CAME UP WITH
A REVOLUTIONARY DESIGN
THAT HELPED LAUNCH AMERICA
INTO THE SPACE AGE.
DURING THE LATE '50s,
ENGINEERS DEBATED OVER
WHICH TYPE OF CRAFT
SHOULD BE USED TO LAUNCH MAN
INTO SPACE.
THE DEBATE CENTERED
ON WHETHER THE U.S.
SHOULD CONTINUE REFINING
THE "X" SERIES OF ROCKET PLANES
OR TO BUILD
AN ENTIRELY NEW TYPE OF CRAFT
TO ACHIEVE ORBITAL FLIGHT.
WHILE THIS DEBATE
WAS OCCURRING IN THE U.S.,
THE RUSSIAN SPACE AGENCY
SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED SPUTNIK,
THE FIRST SATELLITE INTO SPACE,
IN OCTOBER OF 1957.
THE SPACE RACE HAD BEGUN,
AND THE U.S.
WAS ALREADY FAR BEHIND.
AFTER HEARING
ABOUT THE SUCCESSFUL FLIGHT
OF SPUTNIK,
ENGINEERS BEGAN TO DESIGN
AND TEST NEW SPACECRAFT
AT A FRENETIC PACE.
THE U.S. HAD SOME EXPERTISE
IN BUILDING
LONG-RANGE BALLISTIC MISSILES,
BUT WAS HAVING DIFFICULTY
DESIGNING A VEHICLE
TO CARRY MAN INTO SPACE
AND BRING HIM BACK SAFELY.
ONE DAY, WHILE PLAYING PINOCHLE
AFTER LUNCH WITH A COWORKER,
ENGINEER MAX FAGET
BEGAN SKETCHING OUT A DESIGN
FOR A NEW SPACECRAFT
ON HIS NAPKIN.
THIS NEW CRAFT
HAD A BLUNT-SHAPED BOTTOM
AND WAS DESIGNED TO FIT ON TOP
OF A BALLISTIC MISSILE.
WITH HIS IDEA IN HAND,
FAGET BEGAN A SERIES
OF CRUDE EXPERIMENTS
TO TEST HIS DESIGN,
ONE OF WHICH INCLUDED TOSSING
A PAPER PLATE OUT OF A WINDOW
TO TEST THE BASIC
AERODYNAMIC PRINCIPLES
OF A DESIGN.
FAGET'S IDEA
FOR A BLUNT-SHAPED CRAFT
WAS ILL-RECEIVED
BY MANY AERODYNAMICISTS
OF THE TIME.
RESEARCHERS THOUGHT
THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY
TO ORBIT AND RETURN TO EARTH
WOULD BE IN
A LOW-DRAG AERODYNAMIC VEHICLE.
ALTHOUGH THIS VEHICLE HAD MERIT,
FAGET KNEW
THAT AN AERODYNAMIC AIRCRAFT
WOULD CREATE EXCESSIVE AMOUNTS
OF HEAT
CAUSING MAJOR STRUCTURAL
AND SAFETY PROBLEMS
FOR THE ASTRONAUTS.
WELL, EVERYBODY
THAT HAD TO DO WITH ANYTHING
WITH FLYING THROUGH THE AIR
WOULD ALWAYS TRY
AND KEEP THE DRAG DOWN
AS MUCH AS THEY COULD.
SO THE ORIGINAL VERSIONS
OF BALLISTIC MISSILE
REENTRY VEHICLES
WERE ALL HIGHLY STREAMLINED,
AND--AND THEY
HAD EVERYBODY WORKING
ON WAYS TO KEEP THEM COOL.
(Breckenridge)
FAGET ALTERNATIVELY PROPOSED
THAT HIS NEW BLUNT-BODY DESIGN
SHOULD BE USED INSTEAD.
HE REASONED THAT HIS DESIGN
WOULD CREATE A HUGE SHOCK WAVE
AROUND THE SPACECRAFT,
MOVING THE HEAT AWAY
AND KEEPING THE CRAFT COOLER
UPON REENTRY.
FAGET BEGAN TO PUSH HIS IDEA
AS THE BEST ONE
TO GET THE JOB DONE QUICKLY
AND SAFELY.
(Faget)
THAT PARTICULAR SHAPE,
IT WASN'T REALLY THE INVENTION.
THAT'S JUST A PIECE OF NATURE.
THERE ISN'T ANY SHAPE
THAT WILL HAVE LESS HEATING
THAN THE MERCURY SHAPE.
IT JUST--IT'S IT.
(Breckenridge)
AFTER A SERIES
OF WIND TUNNEL TESTS,
HIS BLUNT-SHAPED VEHICLE
WAS PROVEN TO BE
THE MOST SUCCESSFUL DESIGN.
FAGET'S SPACE CAPSULE DESIGN
WAS ADOPTED IN THE LATE '50s.
ASTRONAUT ALAN SHEPARD
BECAME THE FIRST PERSON
TO FLY
IN THE MERCURY SPACECRAFT
DESIGNED WITH A BLUNT SHAPE.
THIS DESIGN PROVED TO BE
SO SUCCESSFUL
THAT A VARIANT OF THIS CRAFT
WAS ALSO USED
IN BOTH THE GEMINI
AND APOLLO SPACE PROGRAMS.
FAGET'S FORESIGHT AND TENACITY
OVERCAME
MANY TECHNICAL CHALLENGES
AND HELPED LAUNCH AMERICA
INTO THE SPACE AGE.