I KNEW spaceflight would eventually lead to something which had actual real-life usefulness!

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modeltrains

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Aha! I KNEW spaceflight would eventually lead to something which had actual real-world real-life usefulness!
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A precision magnetic valve originally designed to help steer a lander down to a comet has found a surprise terrestrial use through ESA’s Technology Transfer and Patent Office: adding flavours to beverages within a few thousandths of a second per each can or bottle.

https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Suppor...Spacecraft_magnetic_valve_used_to_fill_drinks
 
Aha! I KNEW spaceflight would eventually lead to something which had actual real-world real-life usefulness!

You mean besides Tang?
 
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If you use Velcro, it was created for the space program. :)
 
Re: velcro
Used for the space program, but invented in the 40's.
Truly one of the most brilliant everyday inventions, because it is simultaneously simple, fantastically useful, unique, and even in hindsight not obvious in its design.

We are surrounded by the accumulated genius of generations of inspired inventors. So easy to take it all for granted.
 
Not exactly. It was a piece of velcro that caught first, iirc. But it never would have caught without an electrical spark, and the fire wouldn't have been anything to speak of if not for the pure oxygen atmosphere, and the astronauts might still have escaped if not for a poor hatch design. Blaming velcro for the fire is like blaming asphalt for a car crash.
 
Not exactly. It was a piece of velcro that caught first, iirc. But it never would have caught without an electrical spark, and the fire wouldn't have been anything to speak of if not for the pure oxygen atmosphere, and the astronauts might still have escaped if not for a poor hatch design. Blaming velcro for the fire is like blaming asphalt for a car crash.

Agreed . . . 100% !

Not only was it 100% pure Oxygen, but it was also pressurized above atmospheric pressure to compensate, since it was a "plugs out, ground test".

In space, I believe that 5.5 psi was to be used ( vacuum of space outside ) but, for the ground test, it would have been at 14.7psi + 5.5psi = 20.2psi !

Dave F.
 
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