stackyFACTSDuring its launch, a briefcase-sized chunk of lightweight foam broke off and struck the wing of the Columbia shuttle. That seemingly harmless debris punched a fatal hole in the heat shield, causing the entire craft to tragically disintegrate upon reentry into the atmosphere.
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The Challenger disaster was entirely preventable. Engineers knew that abnormally freezing temperatures would stiffen the critical O-rings in the solid rocket…
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NASA's 1999 Mars Climate Orbiter burned up in the Martian atmosphere because one engineering team used imperial units while the other used metric. A $125…
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The greatest technological leap in mankind's history was double-checked with a fancy ruler. Engineers lacked sufficient computer terminals, so they physically…
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Talk about coming back from vacation to an absolute mess. Sergei Krikalev went to the Mir space station in May 1991 as a proud Soviet citizen. While he was…
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When NASA needed an airtight, temperature-controlled, bulletproof garment to protect men on the harsh surface of the moon, they didn't rely on rugged military…
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Navigating a probe across the entire solar system apparently does not require supercomputers. The initial gravity-assist trajectories that slung these famous…
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