[time-nuts] OT NASA Research
SAIDJACK at aol.com
SAIDJACK at aol.com
Mon Aug 16 21:47:07 UTC 2010
Off topic.
Some time ago we talked about what would happen if a legally-flown 4lbs
weather balloon was being hit by an airplane.. I think this is a similar,
albeit somewhat more funny story, but it does show what would happen due to
the momentum during such an impact, keeping in mind that they were "only"
simulating the speed of a train, not an airplane:
____________________________________
Sometimes it DOES take a Rocket Scientist!! (True Story)
Scientists at NASA built a gun specifically to launch standard 4 pound
dead chickens at the windshields of airliners, military jets and the space
shuttle, all traveling at maximum velocity.
The idea is to test the strength of the windshields by simulating the
frequent incidents of collisions with airborne fowl .
After hearing about the gun, British engineers were eager to test it on
the windshields of their new high speed trains. Arrangements were made for a
gun to be sent to the British engineers.
When the gun was fired, the engineers stood shocked as the chicken hurled
out of the barrel, crashed into the shatterproof shield, smashed it to
smithereens, blasted through the control console, snapped the engineer's
back-rest in two, and embedded itself in the back wall of the cabin, like
an arrow shot from a bow.
The horrified Brits sent NASA the disastrous results of the experiment,
along with the designs of the windshield and begged the US scientists for
suggestions.
You're gonna love this ...
NASA responded with a one-line memo --
"Defrost the chicken."
(True Story)
More information about the time-nuts
mailing list