Author Topic: What new alloys were invented?  (Read 4203 times)

Offline onebigmonkey

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What new alloys were invented?
« on: October 11, 2016, 03:50:39 AM »
A knee-jerk denialist over at The Flat Earth forum is making noises about Kennedy's speech referring to "new metal alloys,  some of which have not yet been invented", snorting with disbelief that Kennedy was proposing to build a rocket out of imaginary materials.

While I can find lots of new things invented as a result of Apollo, I can't find any reference to new metal alloys

I think it was speech-writer's hyperbole, but does anyone have any ideas?
« Last Edit: October 11, 2016, 03:52:26 AM by onebigmonkey »

Offline gwiz

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Re: What new alloys were invented?
« Reply #1 on: October 11, 2016, 06:38:02 AM »
A knee-jerk denialist over at The Flat Earth forum is making noises about Kennedy's speech referring to "new metal alloys,  some of which have not yet been invented", snorting with disbelief that Kennedy was proposing to build a rocket out of imaginary materials.

While I can find lots of new things invented as a result of Apollo, I can't find any reference to new metal alloys

I think it was speech-writer's hyperbole, but does anyone have any ideas?
There are an awful lot of different alloys used in the aerospace industry and there are always new ones under development.  Aluminium-lithium, for example, was under development at the time of Apollo, with a major application coming in the Shuttle External Tank.  Beryllium-copper was used in Mercury and later spacecraft, though it has to be handled carefully as beryllium is a carcinogen.  Various titanium alloys are another possibility, or he might have been referring to composite materials like carbon-fibre reinforcement.
Multiple exclamation marks are a sure sign of a diseased mind - Terry Pratchett
...the ascent module ... took off like a rocket - Moon Man

Offline Zakalwe

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Re: What new alloys were invented?
« Reply #2 on: October 11, 2016, 08:36:53 AM »
Some of the Iconel-X alloys were brand new too. Iconel was original developed in the 1940s by Wiggin Alloys in the UK, in support of the Whittle jet engines. Many of the later alloys of iconel were developed into the 1960s (the patent for 635 was granted in January 1962).
In the book "The Saturn V F-1 Engine: Powering Apollo into History"  Dan Brevik recalls " ..The tube material was Iconel-X which was brand new at the time.."

As usual, the hoax believer's argument is based on ignorance and disbelief. many technologies were not available when Kennedy made his speech- orbital rendezvous or embedded control systems such as the AGC to name just two.


https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=4KW5I4whPXcC&pg=PA120&lpg=PA120&dq=inconel-X+history&source=bl&ots=QXEfsT6Odp&sig=Cz6IKVm6sIfZRBeIHQp4wWH4CsE&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwirkJHG39LPAhULIMAKHaYjDMAQ6AEIPjAF#v=onepage&q=inconel-X%20history&f=false
"The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.' " - Isaac Asimov

Offline bknight

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Re: What new alloys were invented?
« Reply #3 on: October 11, 2016, 08:42:27 AM »
Yes, I have ran onto many HB's who can't/don't want to believe that the a single(one in the CSM and one in the LM)AGS was capable of doing similar jobs that takes a minimum of 4 computers on a current 747.  They don't take into consideration that the AGS wasn't burdened with graphical representations, just guidance.
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Offline smartcooky

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Re: What new alloys were invented?
« Reply #4 on: October 11, 2016, 03:07:54 PM »
Yes, I have ran onto many HB's who can't/don't want to believe that the a single(one in the CSM and one in the LM)AGS was capable of doing similar jobs that takes a minimum of 4 computers on a current 747.  They don't take into consideration that the AGS wasn't burdened with graphical representations, just guidance.

Which you can do with a slide rule and a pencil and paper
If you're not a scientist but you think you've destroyed the foundation of a vast scientific edifice with 10 minutes of Googling, you might want to consider the possibility that you're wrong.

Offline bknight

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Re: What new alloys were invented?
« Reply #5 on: October 11, 2016, 03:34:07 PM »
Yes, I have ran onto many HB's who can't/don't want to believe that the a single(one in the CSM and one in the LM)AGS was capable of doing similar jobs that takes a minimum of 4 computers on a current 747.  They don't take into consideration that the AGS wasn't burdened with graphical representations, just guidance.

Which you can do with a slide rule and a pencil and paper

You know I get a feeling that many are young and may never have used a slide rule.  Me I've still got my old Versalog circa 1969.
Truth needs no defense.  Nobody can take those footsteps I made on the surface of the moon away from me.
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Offline Count Zero

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Re: What new alloys were invented?
« Reply #6 on: October 11, 2016, 06:08:25 PM »
You know I get a feeling that many are young and may never have used a slide rule done any math at all without an electronic calculator of some sort.

Ftfy
"What makes one step a giant leap is all the steps before."

Offline bknight

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Re: What new alloys were invented?
« Reply #7 on: October 11, 2016, 08:42:59 PM »
You know I get a feeling that many are young and may never have used a slide rule done any math at all without an electronic calculator of some sort.

Ftfy
But they think critically unlike we sheeples. ::)
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Offline Bob B.

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Re: What new alloys were invented?
« Reply #8 on: October 12, 2016, 02:30:14 AM »
... snorting with disbelief that Kennedy was proposing to build a rocket out of imaginary materials.

Imaginary materials?  I'm not sure this guy understands what an alloy is.

Offline Rob48

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Re: What new alloys were invented?
« Reply #9 on: October 13, 2016, 02:24:35 PM »
Imaginary materials?  I'm not sure this guy understands what an alloy is.

Give me a few hunks of metal and a melting pot and I'll invent a new alloy for you now!  :D