Stuck Knob Causes Serious Window Damage To Atlantis 291
FTL writes "While in orbit a metal knob floated between a window and the dashboard of Atlantis. Once back on Earth, the shuttle contracted, wedging the knob firmly in place and damaging the window. Initial attempts to free the knob have failed and engineers may need six months to disassemble that section of the orbiter. Given that the shuttle program will probably end next year anyway, such a delay might mean scrapping Atlantis early rather than repairing it. Efforts to remove the knob using less invasive techniques continue."
The Inanimate Carbon Knob! (Score:5, Funny)
finally, a use for a dremel tool (Score:2, Funny)
they can borrow mine. I never use it.
missed opportunity (Score:4, Funny)
Title suggestion: "Shuttle has a Wedgie"
Well, it works with dogs... (Score:3, Funny)
Throw a bucket of cold water on it and the knob should slip right out.
since the shuttle programming is so old (Score:5, Funny)
and is underfunded and ending soon anyways, give atlantis the same proper ghetto treatment a contemporary of its time would receive, like 25 year old plymouth horizon: plastic sheeting and duct tape
also knock out a back tail light and finger daub "wash me" in the cosmic dust on its hood
Well... (Score:2, Funny)
Listen to the radio ads (Score:5, Funny)
Been there done that (Score:5, Funny)
I know how they feel: Toyota's quoting me $400 to fix a loose sun visor because they have to take the entire @&%#! side of the car apart to get to it.
Re:physics (Score:3, Funny)
The guys at NASA are pretty clever.
Oh come on - it's not like they're rocket scientists or anything! :) :) :)
Re:finally, a use for a dremel tool (Score:5, Funny)
they can borrow mine. I never use it.
I read your comment before reading your title and assumed you meant your knob.
Re:Dissolve it (Score:5, Funny)
Don't you think dissolving the space shuttle is overkill?
Re:physics (Score:4, Funny)
Knobs do not belong in vacuum cleaners. And once it warms up, there's no pulling it out of anything. There was one bad evening I did get my knob suck it something. Don't mix up lube and super glue.
Re:finally, a use for a dremel tool (Score:3, Funny)
belly lol.. me too ;o)
Stuck knob (Score:5, Funny)
If this condition lasts for more than 4 hours, call a doctor.
Re:physics (Score:5, Funny)
I used to do tech support at Honeywell. Had real rocket scientists there. Called them my brilliant idiots.
Re:Well, it works with dogs... (Score:4, Funny)
How did you get a knob stuck in a dog?
You know you should go to bed, when... (Score:5, Funny)
...you read that as "Stuck Know Causes Serious Windows Damage To Atlantis", and think "How the hell do they know what OS they were using on that sunken island?"
I just know realized, that even my question does not make any sense...
This reminds me of my dashboard ... (Score:2, Funny)
Why any car is made with other than LED lights (perhaps cold-cathode is good enough, or for some reason that I don't know even better) rather than little incandescent bulbs is beyond me. "Here's an important part we know will fail, that's about 18" from the driver. Let's make it very, very difficult to remove, so when the important dashlights fail, he'll need to pay someone with more tools a lot of money to fix the 10-cent lightbulb."
Headlights, the same way, at least the ones on a) a 1998 Subaru Outback and b) a 2003 (?) Mazda Protege5. I have no yet had the courage to well investigate on my current car, but since it's also a Subaru, I bet it will lead to much cursing. Ooh, how I hate those little bendy-pins, straight of our Rube Goldberg, and the awkward angles / hand positioning needed to do a repair that's to be easily expected.
And it's not even a space shuttle!
timothy
Re:Aren't the windshields replaced all the time? (Score:5, Funny)
How about reheating the orbiter to expand it again (Score:4, Funny)
... the engineers working on this ... have thought of just about anything ... Drill/cut? ... Pressurize orbiter? ... Apply cold to the knob to shrink it?
How about tying a string to the knob (so it doesn't get away), reheating the orbiter, and pressurizing it - recreating the situation (except for zero G) that let it float in in the first place?
Re:Aren't the windshields replaced all the time? (Score:3, Funny)
They are easy to replace FOR A SPACE SHIP.
Re:Dissolve it (Score:5, Funny)
Look, do you want the knob back or not?
Re:The Inanimate Carbon Knob! (Score:3, Funny)
Did he have a sex change?
Re:pressure (Score:5, Funny)
<Slaps Head> Of course! The answer is in the article. Phone NASA and tell them to read it.
Re:Aren't the windshields replaced all the time? (Score:2, Funny)
Other ideas that probably won't work:
-- Thaw out one of the aliens from Hangar 18 to spit on the knob and dissolve it.
-- Beam the knob out of there using NASA's experimental teleportation device.
-- Eliminate the space between the atoms in the knob, causing it to shrink to the size of an amoeba.
-- Use the sun's gravity to travel back in time to before the knob got stuck.
-- WD40.
-- Have the holographic doctor reach through the windshield and poke the knob out.
-- Talk to the knob. Teach it Phenomenology.
-- Wait until the knob's warranty expires, then it will fall to pieces on its own.
New Eternal Question. (Score:3, Funny)
Re:NASA forgot low tech approaches? (Score:3, Funny)
Yeah, why didn't those rocket scientists think of using a magnet to clean up aluminum dust - what losers!
Re:This reminds me of my dashboard ... (Score:3, Funny)
The radio that came with my 99 Grand Am has an incandescent bulb to light up the display. No way to easily replace it, in order to fix it I had to pull the whole radio apart. Tell me that's not planned obsolescence. Oh and if I ever find the guy that designed the headlights I'm going to kick him square in the nuts.