[meteorite-list] standards
From: mafer <mafer_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:22:35 2004 Message-ID: <010501c32ee8$b09d6020$6501a8c0_at_vs.shawcable.net> This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_00F8_01C32EAD.F1AEF1E0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hey list, ran across this and thought of those folks here that follow = space missions. Kinda off topic, but interesting JUST A QUESTION OF STANDARDS=20 =20 =20 Does the statement, "We've always done it that way" ring any=20 bells...?=20 =20 The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4=20 feet, 8.5 inches. That's an exceedingly odd number.=20 =20 Why was that gauge used?=20 =20 Because that's the way they built them in England, and English=20 expatriates built the US Railroads.=20 =20 Why did the English build them like that?=20 =20 Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who=20 built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used.=20 Why did "they" use that gauge then?=20 =20 Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and=20 tools that they used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing. = =20 Okay! Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing?=20 =20 Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels=20 would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England, because=20 that's the spacing of the wheel ruts.=20 =20 So who built those old rutted roads?=20 =20 Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (and=20 England) for their legions. The roads have been used ever since.=20 =20 And the ruts in the roads?=20 =20 Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else=20 had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the = chariots=20 were made for Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of wheel=20 spacing.=20 =20 The United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is=20 derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war=20 chariot. And bureaucracies live forever.=20 =20 So the next time you are handed a spec and told we have always=20 done it that way and wonder what horse's ass came up with that, you may = be=20 exactly right, because the Imperial Roman war chariots were made just = wide=20 enough to accommodate the back ends of two war horses.=20 =20 =20 =20 Now the twist to the story...=20 =20 When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are=20 two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. = These=20 are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at = their=20 factory in Utah. The engineers who designed the SRBs would have = preferred=20 to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from=20 the factory to the launch site.=20 =20 The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a=20 tunnel in the mountains. The SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The=20 tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad = track,=20 as you now know, is about as wide as two horses' behinds.=20 =20 So, a major Space Shuttle design feature of what is arguably the=20 world's most advanced transportation system was determined over two=20 thousand years ago by the width of a Horse's ass.=20 =20 =20 ------=_NextPart_000_00F8_01C32EAD.F1AEF1E0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META content=3D"text/html; charset=3Diso-8859-1" = http-equiv=3DContent-Type> <META content=3D"MSHTML 5.00.2614.3500" name=3DGENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff> <DIV><FONT size=3D2>Hey list, ran across this and thought of those folks = here that=20 follow space missions. Kinda off topic, but interesting</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>JUST A QUESTION OF STANDARDS </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> Does the statement, "We've always done it that way" ring any = </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>bells...? </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 = </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>feet, 8.5 inches. That's an exceedingly odd number. </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>Why was that gauge used? </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>Because that's the way they built them in England, and English = </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>expatriates built the US Railroads. </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>Why did the English build them like that? </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who = </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used. = </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>Why did "they" use that gauge then? </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and = </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>tools that they used for building wagons, which used that wheel = spacing.=20 </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>Okay! Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing? = </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels = </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England, = because=20 </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>that's the spacing of the wheel ruts. </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>So who built those old rutted roads? </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (and = </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>England) for their legions. The roads have been used ever since. = </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>And the ruts in the roads? </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else = </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the = chariots=20 </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>were made for Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of = wheel=20 </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>spacing. </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>The United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is = </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war = </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>chariot. And bureaucracies live forever. </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> So the next time you are handed a spec and told we have = always </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>done it that way and wonder what horse's ass came up with that, you = may be=20 </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>exactly right, because the Imperial Roman war chariots were made = just wide=20 </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>enough to accommodate the back ends of two war horses. </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>Now the twist to the story... </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are = </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel = tank. These=20 </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at = their=20 </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>factory in Utah. The engineers who designed the SRBs would have = preferred=20 </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train = from=20 </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>the factory to the launch site. </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>tunnel in the mountains. The SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. = The=20 </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad = track,=20 </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>as you now know, is about as wide as two horses' behinds. </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>So, a major Space Shuttle design feature of what is arguably the = </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>world's most advanced transportation system was determined over two = </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>thousand years ago by the width of a Horse's ass. </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML> ------=_NextPart_000_00F8_01C32EAD.F1AEF1E0-- Received on Mon 09 Jun 2003 08:38:31 PM PDT |
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