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| Scott Adams once said, "Engineers like to solve problems. If there are no problems handily available, they will create their own problems." However, in some cases, even if there are problems, some engineers (I am not stating any in specific) fancy to create even more problems. And to make this entry completely anonymous, I will refrain from using any names, fail to mention a particular time or day, and use third person writing to make my presence at this event ambiguous. After all, "if at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried."
For those who are not familiar with solid rocket motors, rocket motors are cylinders made of propellant in a solid casing. The rocket is ignited with a small amount of propellant heated by an electrical wire. The rocket motors are listed from A to O where type A motors has half the total impulse of type B motors. A license is required to use rockets above type G.
This particular group of engineers had permission to use an H50-10 motor. However, after setting up the rocket, the first ignition did not light the rocket. Bewildered by the lack of success, the group decided to try alternative ways to light the rocket. After all, isn't this what engineers do best? Think outside the box to find innovative solutions? Well, by the end of this entry, I think we will all agree that thinking outside the box can produce very interesting ideas, but acting on those ideas can be dangerous, risky, and down right stupid.
The first attempted solution was to try to ignite the motor with 2 igniters rather than one. Imagine, the igniters were about about 5 mm in diameter and needed to pass through a 10 mm diameter hole in the rocket. Shoving the two igniters in was a difficult but not entirely impossible task. Additionally, this solution was rather safe because the igniters are contained within the rocket. So, the engineers managed to jam the two igniters into the rocket. Despite their efforts, the first solution failed to light the motor.
So came the second attempt. What if they took a type A rocket, lit it, and used the energy from that motor to light the H motor? Not an entirely bad idea if only there was a way to arrange a safe setup for this transfer. In fact, the engineers did come up with a solution. Only one word could describe the brilliance of their setup: tape. Yes, you heard me. The long strips of paper with an adhesive side was used to mount a 2-in long rocket motor to a 13-in motor capable of producing an excess of 20 lb. thrust. To put this in perspective, I can't even curl 12 lbs with one arm. It took 4 engineers to bind the two rocket motors together. Not surprisingly, this produced limited success. After lighting the A rocket, the 1.3 lb of thrust was just enough to shoot the small motor across the room. What made the engineers think that the A motor will remain mounted securely after lighting the H motor still leaves me dumbfounded.
As if seeing this isn't enough to prove the recklessness of this group of engineers, the group came up with a third solution. Let's put a bunch of igniters into the hole, one after another, and bind them all with a copper wire. Fortunately, the copper wire was too thick to allow for multiple igniters to be loaded into the rocket. Whew!
So, I think we can all learn a lesson from this incident. (1) Tape is not enough to secure rocket motors. (2) Sometimes listening to engineers is not the smartest move. (3) If at first you don't success, for goodness sake, give up! | | |
| "Success always occurs in private, and failure in full view." -Anonymous
Years ago, the Triparte began a chronicle of amusing events occuring in their lives. This short-lived journal ended several months after its commencement not because of the lack of absurd occasions, but rather the inevitable, time-consuming nature of the academic life. When I came across the historic blog a month ago, I took a step back to reminisce. What made the entries works of art was not the artful writing. Rather, it was the bewildering pride in flaunting embarassing mistakes.
I decided that it is time to begin yet another series. I don't know what this xanga will contain and how frequent I will contribute. I just have a sudden impulse to, once again, display my somewhat hilarious life for the public to see. So, I will follow Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s brilliant advice, to "take the first step in faith. [I] don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step." | | |
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