CANAL FULTON – Tim Schlernitzauer’s journey to Mars began on the Canal Fulton Public Library.
As a teen, the Northwest Excessive Faculty scholar would immerse himself within the library’s Time-Life science sequence.
And as a toddler rising up in the course of the House Race, Schlernitzauer was drawn to outer house, coveting the Saturn V rocket mannequin and “My Favourite Martian” and “Misplaced in House.”
“It was a continuing backdrop to our life,” stated Schlernitzauer, who now lives in Perry Township. “… It had an actual influence on me.”
Schlernitzauer was a part of the Timken Co. group that designed the touchdown gear for the Mars Curiosity rover, which continues to research whether or not Mars ever had the environmental situations to help life.
He shared the experiences that led him from Canal Fulton to be concerned with a Mars rover throughout a program Saturday on the Canal Fulton Public Library.
Listed here are 5 highlights:
1. Schlernitzauer’s first contribution to house got here within the Eighties whereas in Alliance
Schlernitzauer began working as a machine designer at Alliance Machine Co. (now Morgan Engineering) in 1980 and have become the lead mechanical designer of the corporate’s ultra-heaving industrial cranes and different mechanical elements.
In 1984, the corporate designed, constructed and delivered an overhead crane for the House Shuttle Meeting Constructing at Vandenberg Air Drive Base in California. The crane was to assist carry an area shuttle to a vertical place so it may very well be paired with rocket boosters.
Schlernitzauer believes the crane nonetheless is on the base right this moment.
2. Schlernitzauer wanted a particular bearings design for Curiosity
As a product designer for the Timken Co., Schlernitzauer helped to design the bearings system that was used to land the Mars rover Curiosity.
Curiosity, launched in November 2011 and landed in August 2012, was lowered to the Mars floor by a sky crane. Schlernitzauer’s bearings have been a part of the crane’s descent brake system that used a tether to decrease the car-sized rover roughly 65 ft to the floor.
“To decrease it was like utilizing a winch, solely in reverse,” Schlernitzauer defined. “So, it’s an enormous brake.”
Schlernitzauer stated the bearings for Curiosity needed to be designed to be extra power-dense than common ball bearings, which Timken had utilized in earlier Mars rovers. One cause for the smaller bearings that would deal with extra power was that Curiosity was 10 occasions heavier than earlier fashions, he stated.
Curiosity, which nonetheless roams Mars right this moment, additionally makes use of Timken bearings within the middle hub of its carousel system and to run its vacuum pump, which helps the rover’s analytical gear, in accordance with the Timken Co.
3. Designing bearings for house got here with challenges
Schlernitzauer recalled receiving the specs for the Curiosity touchdown gear that stated the bearings wanted to outlive in temperatures as much as 200 levels and within the extreme vacuum of house, which might trigger some supplies to emit gases that may be detrimental in the event that they work together with one other materials.
“I believed, ‘Wow, what did I get myself into,’” Schlernitzauer recalled.
He stated NASA initially specified to make use of a sort of fabric, which he likened to wooden, for the bearing’s casing. He knew it could be too fragile to make use of, however his boss insisted he attempt it.
When the fabric failed, Schlernitzauer stated the bearing was designed with a metal casing. It additionally had a self-lubricating coating to stop metal-to-metal contact.
4. He regrets not going to observe the Curiosity’s launch.
When Curiosity launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, Schlernitzauer was in Stark County to rejoice Thanksgiving with household. He was given a hyperlink to the management tower to observe it stay on-line. If he may do it over once more, Schlernitzauer would go to the launch, he stated.
“However an important factor for me is that it went up and landed,” stated Schlernitzauer, who left Timken in 2009 as a part of the corporate’s mass layoff of employees. “That incontrovertible fact that one thing I made was up there. It’s actually exhausting to grasp.”
5. Schlernitzauer isn’t Canal Fulton’s solely Mars connection
The main character within the Sixties tv sequence, “My Favourite Martian,” established Canal Fulton’s first connection to Mars when he instructed his girlfriend that he was born in Canal Fulton.
“Canal Fulton, Ohio? Why didn’t you say so within the first place?” the girlfriend responds within the sequence a few Martian dwelling on Earth till his spaceship is repaired. “I performed there for 16 weeks as soon as. It’s a beautiful city.”
The Martian then corrects her, “… Canal Fulton, Mars.”
Attain Canton Repository author Kelli Weir at 330-580-8339 or kelli.weir@cantonrep.com.
This text initially appeared on The Repository: Canal Fulton native designs touchdown gear for Mars rover
