Reactor cores/piles/design

[Marlin]

   In the early stages of the Manhattan Project the Army ordered a square balloon cloth bag to be constructed by Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. Specialists in designing gasbags for lighter-than-air craft, the company's engineers were a bit puzzled about the aerodynamics of a square balloon. Security regulations forbade informing Goodyear of the purpose of the envelope and so the Army's new square balloon was the butt of much joking.

What was the function of the square balloon?

[thenuttyneutron]

It was used in the Chicago pile.  Fermi was the guy who was in charge there.  Fermi was a smart guy and holds a Gods status in the Nuclear Engineering types like me.

Any case the pile was "square" and the ballon went over it to keep any gases made by the pile away from the people working below the stadium stands.

[Marlin]

Close, but no.

[Marlin]

The balloon was designed to fit around the pile. Fermi and crew were not confident that the pile as built would be adequate to achieve criticality.They believed that they may have to evacuate the air from the pile to prevent the air from absorbing neutrons.

[HydroDave63]

a smaller version of that square balloon is still in use today, as naval gunnery targets. As I recall it was about 8 feet or so on a side, square for radar reflectivity and the edges and corners had grommets for attaching them to others.

[RDTroja]

Who is the "Horton" in "Horton Sphere"?

Think Big Rock, Yankee Rowe, DIG, etc.

The elephant that sat on one and tried to hatch it?

[desertdog]

a smaller version of that square balloon is still in use today, as naval gunnery targets. As I recall it was about 8 feet or so on a side, square for radar reflectivity and the edges and corners had grommets for attaching them to others.

That is/was true at least up until 1994. The Longbeach used one for target practice with the 5" guns. It was red and so was named the 'big tomato'. It was trailed on a cable behind the ship out to a distance of 1.5 miles I believe.

Before we pulled into Virginia for decomissioning preps, the tomato was shot up with .50 cal fire during a Tiger cruise.  The initial intent was to hit it with the 5" rounds.

[HydroDave63]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-Million-Liter_Test_Sphere

[Adam Grundleger]

George Horton, son of founder Horace Ebenezer Horton.  First built in 1923 by the Hortons' company, CBI.

[Adam Grundleger]

Yeah, but I got that close without a letter from the senior director of global marketing...

[co60slr]

I visited the Smithsonian Museum of American History this weekend and found an interesting section in their Science Hall:   A mockup of the first fission experiment in Chicago and the control room boards from Shippingport.

http://americanhistory.si.edu/index.cfm

If any Nukes find themselves in D.C., I highly recommend a quick stop there.  I have a whole new appreciation for that first fission experiment.

While off-topic, the display and history of the Star Spangled Banner is always worthwhile as well.

I did pass by the "Lone Sailor" during a cold afternoon walk.   Yes...the model for that statue was an active-duty Nuke.