Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Thursday Trivia
Since there was a lunar eclipse tonight, I thought that it might be interesting to post a moon related question:
In the 1960's, there was a series of probes that were sent to the moon. What was it about them that might make this an appropriate question for this trivia board?
(how is that for cryptic? ;-))
Re: How far we've come
Two of the 1960's series that actually left the atmosphere never needed it as (hard to believe) they missed the moon. This was fewer than seven years before men were landed on the moon and returned. The early group of probes used a lightweight spongy material to cushion the landing supposedly at 90 mph but out of the first five, #4 hit at around five thousand miles an hour-on the dark side. Ooops!
Re: How far we've come
That lightweight spongy material is the same stuff that was used as a core in the fibreglass floorboard of the Corvette, as well as the core for the laminated panels of the DeHaviland Mosquito. It's fairly plentiful - it grows on trees, after all.
The spacecraft were part of the Ranger series, I believe.
Fred Nelson
Overcast and sleeting in Eastern Missouri
;-) to both
The answer, as the two gentlemen alluded is balsa wood. they had a shell of balsa to absorb the shock when they landed. As also mentioned, it doesn't work too well at 5000 miles an hour. ;-)