[ Susan/NASAChatHost - 9 - 09:57:10 ]
Good morning! We have Chuck Cornelison online! Tell us who you are and send a question!

[ ChuckCornelison/ARC - 11 - 10:02:51 ]
RE: [Mr.Bertus/HoerskoolWilgers] Hi I can not join the chatroom this time but I would like to know from Mr.Cornelison if a metior hits for instance the planet Mars if it will have the same devistation as a metior hits earth?Thanks Bertus...(South Africa)
That's an interesting question, I guess the first step in answering it would be to define what one means by devastation. As far as we can tell, Earth has a much more robust and complex ecosystem than currently exists on Mars. Thus a large impact on Earth would probably result in a great amount of life loss (both short term and long term) than on Mars. However, since Mars is smaller than Earth (hence less gravity) and has a much thinner atmostphere, the deris generated by an impact would probably be scatter higher and farther than on Earth. So, I guess the answer is Yes and No. Thanks for the question.

[ ChuckCornelison/ARC - 12 - 10:07:38 ]
RE: [Susan/NASAChatHost] Hey Chuck what exciting things are happening in the Ballistics Range these days?
Well Susan, as a matter of fact while I'm participating in this chat session, the facility crew is setting up for a test around luch-time. We are currently in the early stages of testing different candidate configurations (shapes) for a pobe that we hope will go to Mars in 2005.

[ ChuckCornelison/ARC - 20 - 10:16:42 ]
RE: [Susan/NASAChatHost] Chuck is it complicated to test different shapes?
It can be. The shapes we are testing right now are similar to the Mars Pathfinder, which successfully deployed the Sojouner rover several years ago. The 2005 probe will be much bigger and will have a more sophisticated control system. One of the more complicated shapes we've tested over the years was the X-15

[ ChuckCornelison/ARC - 22 - 10:19:32 ]
RE: [Margo] We have a new business in Casper Wyoming that has something to do with launching space shuttles. It is NASA based, are you familiar with it?
Sorry, although I'm alway curioius as to what's going on with the various shuttle missions, I don't have much involvement with shuttle operations.

[ ChuckCornelison/ARC - 30 - 10:33:10 ]
RE: [Ali] Hi, I have a question but first of all, I would like to introduce myself. I'm Ali and currentlly a grade 11 student in Calgary, Alberta. I am so interested in Aerspace industry, what do you think about the future of the industry?
Hi Ali how are things up in Canada? You know, over the years the Aerospace industries has had it's share of ups and downs in terms of available jobs, budgets etc. Fortunatley, the aerospace industry is very diverse (products ranging from airplanes to spacecraft, civilian to military applications) so there are usually many opportunities. If aerospace is what you really love, I'd encourage you to follow your heart.

[ Susan/NASAChatHost - 31 - 10:36:54 ]
To the teachers in Wyoming, I want to let you know that Aerospace Team Online will have two new projects this fall. One is about Planetary Flight Grades 4-8 and the other is about Air Traffic Management Grades 9-12

[ ChuckCornelison/ARC - 34 - 10:42:02 ]
RE: [Sasidharmvs/oxfordschool] hello iam sasidhar here.sorry i cannot join the chat session now,i would like to know what concrete efforts can we really make to protect ourselves from cosmic catastrophy?
Another good question! Last fall I had the pleasure to attend a lunch at which Edward Teller was the key note speaker. He addressed this exact question. He suggested that we first need to increase the accuracy of our detection and predictive capabilities. This would allow us to identify catastrophic size impactors in plenty of time to allow us to do something. Then we should develop the techniques (primarily explosive) to either redirect or break up large impactors before they collide with Earth. According to Dr. Teller the technology exists to do this.

[ Susan/NASAChatHost - 35 - 10:43:03 ]
Ali, Good luck with your studies the most important thing is to do your best in school, NASA is hiring fewer aeronautical engineers and more aerospace engineers because the Space Station is so expensive and complicated

[ ChuckCornelison/ARC - 36 - 10:45:20 ]
RE: [Clark] Chuck, just wanted to know just what kind of gun powder do you use in the light gas gun? Thanks.
Clark, we use primarily smokeless powder in all of our guns. The exact type varies from gun to gun. In fact, we buy most of our powder directly from local sporting goods stores with one exception. Our largest guns uses a special powder used only by the military.

[ Ali - 37 - 10:50:30 ]
Thank you Susan so much. I will try my best.

[ ChuckCornelison/ARC - 39 - 10:51:37 ]
RE: [Jennifer] With tecnology and information growing and changing so fast, how do you stay current in your field?
That too is a very good question Jennifer. There are so many types of technology (computer, software, photographic, instrumentation, materials, etc.) that come into play with what we do it's tough for any one person to keep up with it all. Fortunately we have a team and there are enough diverse interests that we all help each other to keep current. Also, there are conferences that usually happen every year where people from all over the globe, that are in the same line of research, come together to share their knowledge and recent findings with the scientific community. But it is definitely a challenge.

[ Susan/NASAChatHost - 41 - 10:59:21 ]
Chuck says he will stay on and try to answer all your questions, thanks for joining us today hope you'll join us again soon! We have a chat with Susan Fehres August 22, at 10 PDT

[ Sasidhar - 42 - 11:02:49 ]
thank you very much susan,i will be waiting to chat on august 22,it was a nice stay here.

[ ChuckCornelison/ARC - 43 - 11:03:20 ]
RE: [JenniferLynn] What is the biggest meteor hit that you have seen or learned about?
I don't remember the exact dimensions of the crater, but the Chicxylub crater down in the Yucatan peninsula is a good size impact site. This impact occurred around 65 million years ago. I want to say the crater is roughly 200km in diameter. This is the impact that many scientists currently believe triggered the extinction of the dinosaurs. Debris was scattered as far north as central Canada.

[ Susan/NASAChatHost - 44 - 11:04:08 ]
Sasidhar, glad you enjoyed it...look forward to seeing you Aug.22!

[ ChuckCornelison/ARC - 45 - 11:09:36 ]
RE: [Sasidhar] Chuck,why dont we use solid fuel for rocket launching which is much cheaper source instead of going for liquid fuel?
Hmmm... it's been awhile since I took rocket propulsion, but from what I remember, the main drawback against solid rockets is controlability. With a liquid fuel rocket you can throttle or regulate the flow of fuel and oxidizer and hence adjust your thrust. Once you light off a solid rocket it's "hang on for the ride." There's no throttling capability, it's full thrust until the reaction stops. Thanks for the question.

[ ChuckCornelison/ARC - 46 - 11:17:53 ]
RE: [JenniferLynn] What is the length of an average test in the HFFAF? What is the greatest speed at which models in the HFFAF can reach?
It's interesting you should ask that Jennifer. It takes us about 3 to 4 hours to set up for a test, 2-3 hours to clean up after a test, and the test itself lasts less than a second. The projectiles (models) we launch achieve speeds anywhere from 1600 ft/s to 26,000ft/s (0.5 to 8.0 km/s). Thanks for the question.

[ ChuckCornelison/ARC - 47 - 11:21:58 ]
RE: [Susan/NASAChatHost] Chuck says he will stay on and try to answer all your questions, thanks for joining us today hope you'll join us again soon! We have a chat with Susan Fehres August 22, at 10 PDT
My thanks to everyone for all the great questions. It was a pleasure chatting with you all.

[ Susan/NASAChatHost - 48 - 11:23:29 ]
We would like to thank Chuck for taking time out of his busy schedule to chat with us today!

[ Susan/NASAChatHost - 49 - 11:24:29 ]
Be sure to check out this chat in the archives, and send us your comments about this chat at http://quest.nasa.gov/qchats.

[ Susan/NASAChatHost - 50 - 11:26:24 ]
That's all from us here today at NASA Ames. Have a nice day and thank you all for participating!