Joe, et al Sounds like a good test. I was thinking, there is/was a brand of cigar which comes in an aluminum cylinder about 8" long and about 3/4" in diameter. It has a screw on lid and the other end of the tube is hemispherical the sides are straight and do not taper but it might make a good scale model to begin with. It's large enough to work with.
Mickey D. Schmidt, Dir. USAF Academy Planetarium Center for Educational Multimedia USAF Academy, CO 80840 -----Original Message----- From: Joe Latrell [mailto:joe_latrell@;beyond-earth.com] Sent: Tuesday, October 29, 2002 11:32 PM To: Europa IcePIC mailing list Subject: Re: PROJECT REFOCUSING Teflon might help. The best way to find out is to try. As for groves, I don't know. Again, this is what testing is for, right? Speaking of tests, my way cheap concept tester is actually built up from Estes rocket parts, a nichrome wire, some spreay adhesive, a few shots of platicoat, some Al foil and a final few layers of teflon (ommited on test subject B just because). All this runs on a 9v battery with no additional hardware. The tests: 1) Does it heat up correctly or does it burn itself up? a) It works - Great - try again to make sure. b) It burns up - try installing a voltage regulator. 2) Can I get it to bore through a 6 lb. block of ice? a) It works great and spits out the underside. b) It works, but runs out of battery power in the ice. c) It doesn't go anywhere. 3) Can it do this in a cold environment aka a freezer? See test 2. I have assembled the parts and plan to photograph the tests. Good, bad or ugly results published. The total cost of materials - less than $20 US. Notes: This is not a completely scientific test. The subject will run in a freezer and my camera is not too fond of the cold. Besides, the light does not stay on when I close the door :) Does anyone have any objections, complaints, additions? Does anyone think I'm jumping the gun here? Joe Latrell BTW - This is for my own amusement, so to speak. I love talking about the possibilities, but I really want to see if this works for myself. If it does great, if not lets try something else. On Tue, 2002-10-29 at 22:49, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > In a message dated 10/29/2002 7:10:07 PM Alaskan Standard Time, > [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > > > > In this design (which is just a quick concept - I think the theory > > should be tested) the 'entire' skin has the heating elements. Imagine > > just below the aluminum skin is a network of small heating elements > > (nichrome wire). This network heats the entire surface, not just the > > nose. > > Yes, if you'll look back on some prior posts, say 1 week back, that's what we > were talking about... a heated nose, and a warm skin on the sides, to assist > the slipperiness. > > A thin layer of water forms around the entire craft making it> > > slippery. Its weight coupled with the heating will allow this type of > > craft to move slowly downward. > > Joe, what do you think of the idea of spraying it with teflon? Would that > assist the slipperiness at all? > > > > > Since our model will not be carrying any radioactive heating elements > > anytime soone, the idea was to have a single wire provide power to > > augment the batteries - unless of course someone wants to calculate > > exactly how much dc power it would take to melt ~ 180,000 cubic inches > > of water - (pi * 6) * (500' * 12) or there abouts. > > > That's a job for Robt. Bradbury. Grand scale calculations are his forte'. > Robert? > > > > Note: I did say this is a rough sketch. I can add more of the mental > > notes I have. As a matter of fact I was thinking about some pictures of > > the process to make a skin of this type - I might have enough materials > > to at least test the theory. > > We were thinking of 2 ideas for the actual model (not of the prototype for > the model). These were: > 1) having Robert Crawley's Elite Precision Machining make a stamped metal > exterior casing, perhaps with flutings or spiraled grooves to assist with > water shed, and > 2) using an old torpedo tube, and simply refurbishing it. Using a torp, > there might already be prefab compartments / bays. It also might have a > battery that we can adapt. > > For a prototype (IcePIC iA), I guess your concept of a cardboard tube (such > as a postal packing tube) wrapped with aluminum foil for insulation, then > wrapped with wire, then more aluminum foil, then sprayed with waterproofer, > then teflon, might do the trick. > > -- John > > > > > > > Joe Latrell > == You are subscribed to the Europa Icepick mailing list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Project information and list (un)subscribe info: http://klx.com/europa/ == You are subscribed to the Europa Icepick mailing list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Project information and list (un)subscribe info: http://klx.com/europa/
