NASA says it has solved the shaking problem that threatened its shuttle-replacement rocket Ares, which we first wrote about in January.

The agency no longer thinks Ares is going to tear itself apart but it is worried about what the shakin’ could do to its astronauts. So it is going to sit said astronauts on 16 big springs. As AP notes, this is “a space-age version of the rusty springs under old pickup trucks”.

Florida Today explains:

A spring-and-damper ring will separate the first and second stages of Ares 1 rockets, which NASA is developing for missions to the International Space Station, the moon and later Mars. Sixteen actuators that act like shock absorbers also will be added to the bottom of the rockets, significantly reducing the gravitational forces and vibrations astronauts will be exposed to in flight.

“It’s a lot like the shock absorbers on your car,” said Steve Cook, the Ares project manager told a teleconference (Space.com). “It isolates the vibrations just travelling through the structure, all the way up to the seat.”

Image: NASA