spaceship earth scorched!?

[fiftiesdean]

I was there with friends the first week of May and it started to storm. When we walked out of the park, right under SSE, we saw a flash of light followed by the loudest crack I've ever heard. Made me, and all my friends, almost fall over. It was sick. I'm not sure if it hit that close, but it was close.

I wouldn't be surprised if SSE did get hit more often than we all think, it's designed to take a hit.

 

[jmicro59]

Lightning doesn't strike like that, it doesn't "branch" like it looks like.

Its on the opposite side of the geosphere from the Swan. You can only see it from in front of the park.

Oh tell us then, how does lightning travel??

 

[Edeyore]

No, No, No!!! The marks are obviously caused, somehow, by the wand. The
wand has become a danger to SSE and definitely needs to be removed.
(Hey, I can dream.)

 

[beanboon]

The dark stuff has been there for years. You can see it best at the MGM bus station.

Ever wonder about the smell in the burning of Rome scene? The way it works is to your right there is a scent cannon. Above the scene there are vents that pull the scent across your path and up and out the vents. Those vents terminate at the roof of the globe, very near the dark marks on top. That is what I've always understood the crud to be from (exhaust from the ride).

 

[timoteo]

It might be ventilation dirt. The outer alumn. panels are separated from the inner skin by at least 1 foot of open space. The joints between the outer alumn. panels are completley open to allow water to pass. If they have ventilation for the internal space of the ride up in that area, they may have some slow low pressure ventilation fans below the alumn. skin that are to vent through the open joints. Over time this can cause staining because the inside air of the ride would carry dirt that could fall back onto the alumn. Some sort of fresh air ventilation for the interior space often needs to be provided that is in addition to the closed AC system. Also building code often requires smoke purge vents to test operate at times. Just a thought might be wrong and it just plain pollution dirt build-up. Lightening doesent really leave many tell-tale signs on metal building with rods. I doubt they are burn marks or spark residue.

 

[joel_maxwell]

SSE didn't make the list because it is not a list of the most popular uses. It is a list of the building that company has done. They however did not do SpaceShip Earth.

oh ok, i didnt even read what the list of all those examples were...... if they were done by the company or if they were just samples of uses. i guess that is what i get for not reading...... it was early this morning, no coffee yet, i think you understand.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Oh tell us then, how does lightning travel??

Buy bus

 

[Thrawn]

Oh tell us then, how does lightning travel??

Lightning actually strikes from the ground up. The buildup of electricity is on the object that it strikes, not in the clouds only. The clouds are charged, but they are not the reason for the strike. Think of it as two ends of a battery. You need a positive and a negative charge for a connection to be made. The clouds are all negative charges. When the ground (or object) becomes positively charged, by whatever reason, you can then have a lightning strike, which would travel upward from the ground, because it is the place where the connection is completed.

In pictures of lightning, the "branches" are just disappations of energy that did not have anywhere else to travel. They are harmless, because they are not connected to anything, just discharging.

 

[Disneyfan1981]

They are harmless, because they are not connected to anything, just discharging.

Unless that little discharge happens to hit you which then you might feel a little tingle. :lol:

 

[Thrawn]

Unless that little discharge happens to hit you which then you might feel a little tingle. :lol:

No, the main "bolt" is the only thing that will do anything to you. The most a "branch" will do is make your hair stand up some, like static electricity.

 

[tinkish]

It looks like dirt to me.....or some sort of residue from air pollution. And those pictures posted were the biggest I've ever seen!

 

[marni1971]

It`s a mess (thanks for the pics Thrawn)

If it is venting, why hasn`t it appeared before now - unless something major was vented - i.e. a fire? There IS something on the blueprints in this area - at the top of shaft one, above the entry-to-space tunnel level is a horizontal structure that runs from the shaft to the buildings edge. But why show up only now? Shaft one runs from ground level (the silver enclosed tube just forward of the base of the geosphere up to the aforementioned level - the highest level in the structure - so any venting from anywhere in the building could end up here.

 

[timoteo]

When something is vented near the alumn. panels it may take a while (years even) for dirt to show up. The reason is that so called fine "sticky" particles have to build-up on the alumn. panels to a point where darker dirt can stick and not be washed off by rain. Buildings undergo this aging process in respect to dirt and pollution. It takes years for the "sticky" layers to form. Then there is a kind of accelarated domino effect where the heavier and darker soot type particles can then stick better and better untill you have a stain condition. I think this is probaby why it finally seems worse. The initial sticky items are air pollution containing dissloved chemicals in water vapor and rain. Heavy pollen, smoke, grease, vented dirt particles then finally begin to stick to the finer underlayer deposited by dissolved chemicals in water and water vapor. The heavier darker particles often take the shape of the liquid deposited layer below and appear as streaks which are in fact the shape of the finer "sticky" layer below.

They need to get up there on a crane with some soft brushes or cloth mops and mild soapy water and it would all come off and look like new.

 

[MKCustodial]

Mayebe they had been doing a fine maintenance job until now. God knows the Magic hasn't been the same as it was a few years ago. We all remember how they'd to paint touch ups and other minor details during 3rd Shift.

 

[marni1971]

What also struck me was the way same-facing edges were colo(u)red by it - as if there was a definate single source and the (mess) had been blown from the same direction - this would be roughly downwind off of SW, I think?

 

[peter11435]

What also struck me was the way same-facing edges were colo(u)red by it - as if there was a definate single source and the (mess) had been blown from the same direction - this would be roughly downwind off of SW, I think?

SW? Never Mind I figured it out.

 

[wired]

Lightning actually strikes from the ground up. The buildup of electricity is on the object that it strikes, not in the clouds only. The clouds are charged, but they are not the reason for the strike. Think of it as two ends of a battery. You need a positive and a negative charge for a connection to be made. The clouds are all negative charges. When the ground (or object) becomes positively charged, by whatever reason, you can then have a lightning strike, which would travel upward from the ground, because it is the place where the connection is completed.

In pictures of lightning, the "branches" are just disappations of energy that did not have anywhere else to travel. They are harmless, because they are not connected to anything, just discharging.

Sorry, Thrawn, electricity flows from neg to pos, so lightning doesn't strike from the ground up.....

 

[Bigg Robb]

if it is lightning, its odd that this is the first time SSE has been hit by lighting (or atleast had a "burn" mark)

i mean, the thing is what, 180 ft tall and i know has some kind of metal in it. Its just odd this hasn't happened before... :veryconfu

 

[peter11435]

Sorry, Thrawn, electricity flows from neg to pos, so lightning doesn't strike from the ground up.....

Actually electricity flows from positive to negative.

And there is cloud-to-cloud, cloud-to-ground, and ground-to-cloud lightning.

 

[wired]

Let me clear up my statement.

DC (Direct current) flows from negative to positive. Check your Science Book. or
http://www.school-for-champions.com/science/dc.htm - Something I googled to backup claim.

Lightning is really static charge, which you would be right is saying that is can flow in both directions. Quote from above link:

Static electricity is a collection of positive (+) or negative (-) charges on the surface of a non-conducting material such as rubber or plastic. If the charges come in contact with a conductor such as a piece of metal, the negatively charged electrons travel through the conductor to neutralize any collection of positive charges.

AC well that is a whole different story..... lol