That's so Kerbal! - Real-world Kerbality in space programs

[Saaur]

http://www.popsci.com/technology/gallery/2013-05/space-stations-most-macgyver-moments

[Kerbal01]

That's not kerbal that's quality Russian engineering

Edited June 12, 2013 by DarthVader

[OdinYggd]

Sounds like a day's work for me, only they probably don't have the flexibility in their choice of toolboxes and they don't have the luxury of going to the local hardware store to pick up a few extra bolts and belts.

Good to know that I've got comrades in space.

[Moon Goddess]

You know, What's wrong with this?

I was reading last night about how in the Gemini project the US made gelatin covered food the astronauts hated but was so there would be no crumbs in the instruments.... The russians packed a vacuum.

There's the old story of nasa investing millions on a pen that works in microgravity, russians use pencils.

If there is a simple solution that works, use it. Especially when you're miles above the ground with only the tools you have in a small box.

[WhiteWeasel]

The kerbality.

[bsalis]

Space tape on Mercury-Atlas 2.

http://books.google.com.au/books?id=mhFNx--MQasC&lpg=PA104&dq=Mercury%20atlas%20belly%20bands&pg=PA104#v=onepage&q&f=true

[rodion_herrera]

There's the old story of nasa investing millions on a pen that works in microgravity, russians use pencils.

The Americans actually thought of using pencils--the worry was, if a pencil tip broke in microgravity, that tiny piece of lead can either get into an astronauts eye, or get sucked into his lungs, and present an injury or health anomaly that could endanger a mission or the life of the astronaut.

[4 IN 1]

Not to mention the mess you made when you sharpen your pencil in microgravity.

Simple and brutal may works, but sometimes it is necessary to go the complex way.

Oh, and if you think fixing ISS is scary business, when you going on vacation you better think twice before choosing commercial jets.

Edited June 13, 2013 by 4 IN 1

[rodion_herrera]

Not to mention the mess you made when you sharpen your pencil in microgravity.

Fully-enclosed pencil sharpeners were already in-use on earth, by the 1950's, so that wasn't the main reason.

[Plur303]

You know, What's wrong with this?

I was reading last night about how in the Gemini project the US made gelatin covered food the astronauts hated but was so there would be no crumbs in the instruments.... The russians packed a vacuum.

There's the old story of nasa investing millions on a pen that works in microgravity, russians use pencils.

If there is a simple solution that works, use it. Especially when you're miles above the ground with only the tools you have in a small box.

The pen story is a myth. The nitrogen pressurized ink cartridge was invented by a private inventor and sold to NASA. NASA also used mechanical pencils but decided against it considering graphite is a very good conductor and a piece of broken pencil lead floating into a circuit board can cause lots of problems.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Pen#Uses_in_the_U.S._and_Russian_space_programs

[rdfox]

If memory serves, NASA also used felt-tip pens that don't require pressurization *or* gravity to work; capillary action will keep moving ink to the tip while you write.

[Agent30632]

From Wikipedia for STS-1

The orbiter's heat shield was damaged when an overpressure wave from the solid rocket booster caused a forward RCS oxidizer strut to fail. The same overpressure wave also forced the shuttle's "body flap" – an extension on the orbiter's underbelly that helps to control pitch during reentry - more than 5° out of position and into an angle well beyond the point where cracking or rupture of the hydraulic system would have been expected. Such damage would have made a controlled descent nearly impossible, with John Young later admitting that had the crew been privy to the potential for catastrophe, they would have flown the shuttle up to a safe altitude and ejected, causing Columbia to have been lost on the first flight.

[jwenting]

There's the old story of nasa investing millions on a pen that works in microgravity, russians use pencils.

which though sterotypical is wrong on both sides.

Both the Soviets and Americans used ballpoint pens, and the Fischer Space Pen was a private initiative that NASA adopted after it was designed and built using private funding only by a company that very smart thought to profit from the idea that it was space related and used by NASA (wouldn't surprise me at all if the first batches delivered to NASA were complimentary).

[jwenting]

Fully-enclosed pencil sharpeners were already in-use on earth, by the 1950's, so that wasn't the main reason.

and mechanical pencils have existed since at least WW2, no need for sharpening.

[NASAFanboy]

http://www.popsci.com/technology/gallery/2013-05/space-stations-most-macgyver-moments

This is how we fix things on a Kerbal Space Station!!! RAWR *hammer smashes through instrument panel*

[rryy]

Not necessarily a space program, but Kerbal nonetheless!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gfGZwRDPRM

Also, found a video about Operation Credible Sport.

[rdfox]

Sucking the gear up while on the ground happens relatively frequently--even though they design the flaps lever to have a handle shaped like a flap and the gear lever handle to be shaped like a wheel, AND tell you not to retract flaps until you turn off the runway, people still manage to grab the wrong lever and try to retract the gear during the landing rollout.

This is why retractable-gear airplanes have a "squat switch," basically a normally-closed pushbutton type in the landing gear suspension that opens when the aircraft's weight is on the wheels, acting as a cutoff for the landing gear control circuit. Of course, the only way to test the squat switch is to throw the landing gear handle while on the ground, and if it's not working...