Re: Armadillo May 9, 2004

On Sun, 9 May 2004, John Carmack wrote:
> http://www.armadilloaerospace.com/n.x/Armadillo/Home/News?news_id=257

Hmm...  A possible alternative to the "cracked trace" theory is that it's
got Surface Acoustic Wave filters in it somewhere; they are sonic in
nature and have at least the potential to be messed up by vibration.
(I would not have thought it likely, but I don't know the technology
quite well enough to rule it out.)

Solid-fueled missiles often accelerate relatively briefly and then spend
the bulk of their flight time coasting, so vulnerability to vibration
might not be considered a disastrous design flaw for that application. 

                                                          Henry Spencer
                                                       [email protected]