On Tue, 2 Jun 2020 21:38:56 +0000, Jesse 1 Robinson wrote:
>My favorite OT theme. Related in my mind. The diameter of the original space
>shuttle booster rocket was an odd value determined as follows:
>
>-- The booster was built in rural Utah
>-- To reach the eventual launch pad, it had to travel through a train tunnel
>-- The booster had to fit through the tunnel
>-- So the spacing of train tracks determined the booster's diameter
>-- The spacing of RR tracks was influenced by the spacing of ancient wagon
>wheels
>-- Wagon wheel spacing was influenced by the horses that once pulled them
>-- In other words, the diameter of the booster rocket derived from a horse's
>*ss
>-- QED?
>
Partly: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/railroad-gauge-chariots/
Too good to be untrue.
The railroad gauge disputes in 19th Century England were remarkably
similar to cell phone incomaptabilities and ASCII-EBCDIC. Each side
imagines a competitive advantage in incompatibility.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Break_of_gauge#Overcoming_a_break_of_gauge
-- gil
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