NASA and a cheap solution.
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A cheap solution to a serious problem. http://gizmodo.com/5880850/how-nasa-solved-a-100-million-problem-for-five-bucks[^]
_____________________________ Give a man a mug, he drinks for a day. Teach a man to mug... The difference between an ostrich and the average voter is where they stick their heads.
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A cheap solution to a serious problem. http://gizmodo.com/5880850/how-nasa-solved-a-100-million-problem-for-five-bucks[^]
_____________________________ Give a man a mug, he drinks for a day. Teach a man to mug... The difference between an ostrich and the average voter is where they stick their heads.
Same vein: USA made a lot of researches to develop an ejection seat for choppers, trying to sync the ejection with the rotor ( so that the pilot does not get sliced), or to stop the rotor in a position that would allow the seat to pass without hitting the blades. The russians solved the problem on the Ka50 : they ejected the rotor, and then the seat.
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A cheap solution to a serious problem. http://gizmodo.com/5880850/how-nasa-solved-a-100-million-problem-for-five-bucks[^]
_____________________________ Give a man a mug, he drinks for a day. Teach a man to mug... The difference between an ostrich and the average voter is where they stick their heads.
They bought a handful of circuits that only cost a few bucks, hooked them up to the screen, and set it to strobe at 12Hz. And it worked! And for a totally free solution, the astronauts could have simply been taught to blink rapidly. ;P Marc
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Same vein: USA made a lot of researches to develop an ejection seat for choppers, trying to sync the ejection with the rotor ( so that the pilot does not get sliced), or to stop the rotor in a position that would allow the seat to pass without hitting the blades. The russians solved the problem on the Ka50 : they ejected the rotor, and then the seat.
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I've heard a similar story about how the Americans spent millions of dollars to develop a pen that could write in zero gravity, while the Russians just used pencils. Not sure of accuracy though.
lewax00 wrote:
Not sure of accuracy though
Pencils are very accurate. If you make a mistake, you can just erase it and fix it.
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lewax00 wrote:
Not sure of accuracy though
Pencils are very accurate. If you make a mistake, you can just erase it and fix it.
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Same vein: USA made a lot of researches to develop an ejection seat for choppers, trying to sync the ejection with the rotor ( so that the pilot does not get sliced), or to stop the rotor in a position that would allow the seat to pass without hitting the blades. The russians solved the problem on the Ka50 : they ejected the rotor, and then the seat.
-
A cheap solution to a serious problem. http://gizmodo.com/5880850/how-nasa-solved-a-100-million-problem-for-five-bucks[^]
_____________________________ Give a man a mug, he drinks for a day. Teach a man to mug... The difference between an ostrich and the average voter is where they stick their heads.
If you read Richard Feynman's account of the Challenger disaster investigation you will get a different picture. When the solid booster rockets were recovered from the sea, the sections would be stripped down for refurbishment and refuelling - it would come apart at the notorious field joints. When being re-assembled, the sections were often out of true and would need to be pulled back into a perfectly circular shape to allow them to fit properly into the each other. This was done by passing a threaded rod through opposite holes. then tightening nuts on each end to pull the edges in. Problem was, there were so many holes around the circumference that it was difficult to pick holes that were direct opposites - often they would be one or two holes off either way, which could cause the holes to be damaged. One engineer came up with a very simple idea - put a patch of black paint at 0, 90, 180 an 270 degrees around the circumference. You could then count the number of holes between the selected hole and the nearest paint patch, then count the same number on the opposite side. The engineers were told it would be too expensive to introduce this - nothing to do with the cost of the paint, but due to the cost of changing all of the documentation!
==================================== Transvestites - Roberts in Disguise! ====================================
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I've heard a similar story about how the Americans spent millions of dollars to develop a pen that could write in zero gravity, while the Russians just used pencils. Not sure of accuracy though.
-
If you read Richard Feynman's account of the Challenger disaster investigation you will get a different picture. When the solid booster rockets were recovered from the sea, the sections would be stripped down for refurbishment and refuelling - it would come apart at the notorious field joints. When being re-assembled, the sections were often out of true and would need to be pulled back into a perfectly circular shape to allow them to fit properly into the each other. This was done by passing a threaded rod through opposite holes. then tightening nuts on each end to pull the edges in. Problem was, there were so many holes around the circumference that it was difficult to pick holes that were direct opposites - often they would be one or two holes off either way, which could cause the holes to be damaged. One engineer came up with a very simple idea - put a patch of black paint at 0, 90, 180 an 270 degrees around the circumference. You could then count the number of holes between the selected hole and the nearest paint patch, then count the same number on the opposite side. The engineers were told it would be too expensive to introduce this - nothing to do with the cost of the paint, but due to the cost of changing all of the documentation!
==================================== Transvestites - Roberts in Disguise! ====================================
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A cheap solution to a serious problem. http://gizmodo.com/5880850/how-nasa-solved-a-100-million-problem-for-five-bucks[^]
_____________________________ Give a man a mug, he drinks for a day. Teach a man to mug... The difference between an ostrich and the average voter is where they stick their heads.
Let me guess. Some contractor lowballed the bid?