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That anecdote, by the way, is an urban legend: http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp
by quanticle 15y ago
That anecdote, by the way, is an urban legend: http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp
- wazoox 15y agoBut the Italians say Si non è vero, è ben trovato. I've read a book from a former astronaut though, that tend to prove there's some truth to the legend; it was about the vacuum cleaner used in Mir. The NASA devised a sophisticated way to clean up the Space Shuttle; the Russians simply used an ordinary vacuum cleaner from the nearest supermarket.
- wazoox 15y agoWhy the downvotes? I've checked, this story is in Patrick Baudry's book : "conquête spatiale, la déroute". ( http://www.patrick-baudry.com/bibliographie/patrick-baudry-auteur/ http://www.patrick-baudry.com/bibliographie/patrick-baudry-a... )
- wazoox 15y agoI've dug out the book :) p. 99 it says (rough translation): "I remember an anecdote from 1982. That year, the vacuum cleaner used in the saliout 7 station failed. I had the opportunity to admire the simplicity and efficacy of the Russian method. An ordinary vacuum cleaner was bought from Star City supermarket, sent to Baïkonur via the next plane and loaded into the next Progress cargo ship. Once aboard the station, it was plugged in, and worked perfectly. Problem solved. The whole operation costed 5 rubles (1 US $)".
- pavel_lishin 15y ago> The whole operation costed 5 rubles (1 US $) If it only costs a buck to launch a commercial vacuum cleaner into space, I will eat a hat of your choosing.
- quanticle 15y agoIf there was a mission already scheduled, the marginal cost of adding the vacuum cleaner is $1.