Comments on: Duct tape on the moon http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2008/04/22/duct-tape-on-the-moon/ The blog of John D. Cook Sat, 11 Feb 2012 01:10:06 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Apollo 11 wasn’t perfect — The Endeavour http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2008/04/22/duct-tape-on-the-moon/comment-page-1/#comment-53333 Apollo 11 wasn’t perfect — The Endeavour Mon, 29 Nov 2010 17:29:18 +0000 http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2008/04/22/duct-tape-on-the-moon/#comment-53333 [...] Moon Duct tape on the moon ? [...] [...] Moon Duct tape on the moon ? [...]

]]> By: ekzept http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2008/04/22/duct-tape-on-the-moon/comment-page-1/#comment-24209 ekzept Tue, 08 Sep 2009 04:55:31 +0000 http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2008/04/22/duct-tape-on-the-moon/#comment-24209 Ah the <a href="http://www.universetoday.com/2008/04/21/the-best-engineering-tool-in-space-duct-tape/" rel="nofollow">prime space engineering tool</a>! (See <a href="http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/images/ducttape/fenderrepair.mov" rel="nofollow">movie</a>.) The <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2006/03/02/1577701.htm" rel="nofollow">stuff</a> must remain popular with engineers and astronauts, because a standard waste stream assessed for the design of the Orion spacecraft included some amount per unit volume of duct tape as a waste component! 'Twas used on Apollo 13 as well in that CO2-scrubbing fiasco. In my travels (through Google) to dig some of this up I learned that Professor Draper who headed the effort to build nav systems for LEM and Command Module <i>absolutely insisted</i> the two be compatible in software, so they could back each other up. Alas, the same wasn't done with the environmental subsystems. I also learned that if you probe into Google using "Apollo 13" and "duct tape", you run into an <i>awful</i> lot of sermons and religious pages, including one I was tempted to cite which claimed tangible evidence that Apollo 13 was saved by the Power of Prayer and <i>that's all</i>. Uh, I think that's overdoing it. ;) Ah the prime space engineering tool! (See movie.) The stuff must remain popular with engineers and astronauts, because a standard waste stream assessed for the design of the Orion spacecraft included some amount per unit volume of duct tape as a waste component! ‘Twas used on Apollo 13 as well in that CO2-scrubbing fiasco. In my travels (through Google) to dig some of this up I learned that Professor Draper who headed the effort to build nav systems for LEM and Command Module absolutely insisted the two be compatible in software, so they could back each other up. Alas, the same wasn’t done with the environmental subsystems.

I also learned that if you probe into Google using “Apollo 13″ and “duct tape”, you run into an awful lot of sermons and religious pages, including one I was tempted to cite which claimed tangible evidence that Apollo 13 was saved by the Power of Prayer and that’s all. Uh, I think that’s overdoing it. ;)

]]> By: John http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2008/04/22/duct-tape-on-the-moon/comment-page-1/#comment-224 John Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:25:39 +0000 http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2008/04/22/duct-tape-on-the-moon/#comment-224 Mike, you can find out the full story about the moon dust depth and the age of the moon in "Science Held Hostage" by Howard Van Till. The story about the depth of dust and the age of the moon is somewhat of an urban legend. There are elements of truth in it, but when astronauts actually measured the rate of dust deposition on the moon and took into account the depth of compacted dust below the surface, the results were consistent with other estimates of the age of the moon. So moon dust actually implies the moon is billions of years old. Mike, you can find out the full story about the moon dust depth and the age of the moon in “Science Held Hostage” by Howard Van Till. The story about the depth of dust and the age of the moon is somewhat of an urban legend. There are elements of truth in it, but when astronauts actually measured the rate of dust deposition on the moon and took into account the depth of compacted dust below the surface, the results were consistent with other estimates of the age of the moon. So moon dust actually implies the moon is billions of years old.

]]> By: Michael Harris http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2008/04/22/duct-tape-on-the-moon/comment-page-1/#comment-223 Michael Harris Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:11:39 +0000 http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2008/04/22/duct-tape-on-the-moon/#comment-223 On a completely different note (speaking about the moon), I heard something a while ago that was quite interesting regarding the supposed age of the moon. The rate of deposition of star dust is such that, if the moon were millions of years old, the moon would have a miles-thick coat of dust. But if it were merely a few thousand years old, it would have a few inches of dust. The astronauts encountered a few inches of dust. There was a lot of concern that when the moon unit landed, it would sink into deep, deep dust! Hmmm. Makes ya think. On a completely different note (speaking about the moon), I heard something a while ago that was quite interesting regarding the supposed age of the moon. The rate of deposition of star dust is such that, if the moon were millions of years old, the moon would have a miles-thick coat of dust. But if it were merely a few thousand years old, it would have a few inches of dust. The astronauts encountered a few inches of dust. There was a lot of concern that when the moon unit landed, it would sink into deep, deep dust! Hmmm. Makes ya think.

]]>