Brain Teasers
I Would Rather Not be an Astronaut
In the early 1960's, NASA was sending electronic gear into outer space on unmanned missions. They'd already sent somebody into space, but they wanted to make sure that if they were going to send people up for longer flights, that they had a chance of surviving. They were sending electronic gear up to test a variety of things like radiation exposure, and so on.
The equipment kept failing, but they couldn't figure out why.
Finally, someone determined that the circuits were overheating, so they installed a fan to cool off the devices.
However, the problems persisted. Why?
The equipment kept failing, but they couldn't figure out why.
Finally, someone determined that the circuits were overheating, so they installed a fan to cool off the devices.
However, the problems persisted. Why?
Answer
On those early, unmanned flights they didn't pressurize the cabins. Since there is no air in outer space, and if there is no air to blow around, a fan has no effect. In fact, all it does is add heat. Kind of scary that most of us regular folk could figure this out, but the so called "rocket scientists" couldn't. Doesn't make me want to be an astronaut anymore...Hide Answer Show Answer
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