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You're referencing that one chain mail from the late 90s right? That said that Americans spent millions developing zero-g pens but the Russians used a pencil?
by hoorayimhelping 7y ago
You're referencing that one chain mail from the late 90s right? That said that Americans spent millions developing zero-g pens but the Russians used a pencil?
Yeah, it's fake and stupid. Pencil shavings chip off and don't fall to the floor in space. The graphite parts float around and clog up critical equipment. Pencils themselves are flammable and after the Apollo 1 fire killed three astronauts, NASA was a little gun-shy about sending flammable material into space. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/the-write-stuff/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/the-write-stuff/
It's super fun to talk about simple solutions and how NASA loves to overengineer things, but there are actual constraints to consider in micro gravity.
- noonespecial 7y agoIf you'd like a more believable "just so" legend, try the toothpaste box story. https://cs.txstate.edu/~br02/cs1428/ShortStoryForEngineers.htm https://cs.txstate.edu/~br02/cs1428/ShortStoryForEngineers.h...
- Retric 7y agoWhat’s interesting about this is how poor the fan would have been on it’s own. Let’s say you set it up on day 1, now on day 200 you notice it’s off, and suddenly you have no idea how many empty boxes you just shipped. However, as part of a redundant system it seems like a great idea.
- russdill 7y ago"You don’t have to be an engineer to appreciate this story.". Actually It's a lot easier to enjoy the story if you aren't an engineer. The use of compressed air is so bog standard on production lines it would be the first solution proposed before a meeting was even scheduled.
- noonespecial 7y agoThat's why it's a great "just so" along the lines of how the leopard got his spots. "And that, oh best-beloved, is how we came to use compressed air to sort by density on production lines..."