Re: Star Trek Teaser Trailer Now Up On The Internets

Bill Plenge wrote:
> GeneK wrote:
>> "Steven L." <sdlitvin@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote...
>>
>>> But it doesn't look like the components are being built separately.
>>> It looks like they're building the complete ship on the ground.
>>> Then maybe they detach the components and ferry them up to orbit to
>>> be reassembled up there.
>>
>> From a purely engineering POV, this would be the sensible
>> thing to do; find out where the fit problems are while you're
>> still at the production facitity.  Whether it turns out that way
>> in the film is another matter.
>>
>> GeneK
>
> But isn't making parts on the ground for use in space exactly what
> initially messed up the hubble telescope?  The mirror was perfectly
> ground to exact specifications and then distorted from those specs
> once it no long had to support its own weight.

No, it was incorrectly manufactured. From wikipedia-

"Working backwards from images of point sources, astronomers determined
that
the conic constant of the mirror was -1.01324, instead of the intended
-1.00230. The same number was also derived by analyzing the null
correctors
(instruments which accurately measure the curvature of a polished surface)
used by Perkin-Elmer to figure the mirror, as well as by analyzing
interferograms obtained during ground testing of the mirror.

A commission headed by Lew Allen, director of the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory,
was established to determine how the error could have arisen. The Allen
Commission found that the null corrector used by Perkin-Elmer had been
incorrectly assembled. Its field lens had then been wrongly spaced by 1.3
mm.[15]

During the polishing of the mirror, Perkin-Elmer had analyzed its surface
with two other null correctors, both of which (correctly) indicated that
the
mirror was suffering from spherical aberration. These tests were
specifically designed to eliminate the possibility of major optical
aberrations. Against written quality guidelines, the company ignored these
test results as it believed that the two null correctors were less
accurate
than the primary device which was reporting that the mirror was perfectly
figured."


Ian

--
http://www.jaxtrawstudios.com
sci-fi comics with shagging in