View Single Post
  #2  
Old August 16th 16, 12:54 AM posted to sci.space.history
Jeff Findley[_6_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,307
Default Skylab, engineering deadpan, and the old "knowing where to put the X joke"

In article , says...

I have been looking through
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...9840017669.pdf
which was posted here recently in a different thread. On PDF page 309
there is an example of some of the instructions sent-up via the
teleprinter to the first Skylab crew:

I. PREFLIGHT HISTORY HAS INDICATED PAST RELAY HANG-UPS WHICH HAVE BEEN
FREED BY MECHANICALLY SHOCKING THE RELAY.
2. RECOMMENDED PROCEDURE IS TO STRIKE THE CBRM HOUSING AT THE POINT
INDICATED BELOW. TESTS INDICATE THAT YOU CANNOT HIT THE CBRM HARD
ENOUGH TO DAMAGE IT.
3. DIAGRAM BELOW IS DETAIL OF CBRM. LOCATION

and then some teleprinter/ascii art. The artwork has the equivalent
to the proverbial "X" in chalk on the side of the machine. I also
like the engineering euphamism "mechanically shocking the relay."

In addition to the old "Knowing where to put the 'X'" and hitting
things with a hammer, starting about 03:00 of
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL9-Va6_SVY comes to mind

rick jones


Percussive maintenance. Sometimes you really do want to hit it to fix
it. ;-)

Jeff
--
All opinions posted by me on Usenet News are mine, and mine alone.
These posts do not reflect the opinions of my family, friends,
employer, or any organization that I am a member of.