Xah Lee's Unixism

[Alan Balmer]

On Thu, 02 Sep 2004 15:38:15 -0400, Peter Hansen <peter at engcorp.com>
wrote:

>CBFalconer wrote:
>
>> Peter Hansen wrote:
>>>Brian {Hamilton Kelly} wrote:
>>>>wyrmwif at tango-sierra-oscar-foxtrot-tango.fake.org "SM Ryan" wrote:
>>>>>There's a story about why railroad tracks are spaced the way they are.
>>>>
>>>>Is this the one about two Roman horses' arses?  If so, it also accounts
>>>>for the physical dimensions of the Space Shuttle's boosters.
>>>
>>>A quick search using Google will show that while there is a
>>>certain amount of truth in the original story, most of the
>>>details are wrong, and the final bit about the booster rockets
>>>is unsubstantiated.  But it's still a cute story.
>> 
>> I know nothing about those stories, but it seems reasonable to me
>> that the boosters would have been designed to be transportable by
>> railroad, which ties their dimensions to track gauge.
>
>You know, it's really rather helpful when people take the time to
>read the things they are trying to discuss, since quite often
>those things end up answering questions that those people
>might have.
>
>See the snapes.com article that Dave Hansen (no relation) posted
>for more... and a response to your reasonable thoughts above.
>
The shuttle boosters are 3.7m diameter. Quite a bit larger than the
gage of any railroad I've ever seen.

More than you ever wanted to know:
http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Space%20Shuttle%20Solid%20Rocket%20Booster

-- 
Al Balmer
Balmer Consulting
removebalmerconsultingthis at att.net