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Multidisciplinary
Design, Analysis, and
Optimization Branch
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EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES: THE NASA AEROQUIZ
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Week of 10/1/01:
Q:
"The job position you're interviewing for calls for the inspection
and maintenance of our company's jet engines," said the interviewer.
"As an employee, your duties would include the inspection of rotating
and stationary turbomachinery components, primarily in inaccessible
areas. The inspections include crack detection and crack propagation
measurements, checks for structural integrity, corrosion, damage,
misalignments, pitting, wear, and general material irregularities.
Do you have any qualifications in this area?"
"Well," offered the candidate. "I'm an out-of-work proctologist."
"Great. You're hired," replied the interviewer. "When can you start?"
Why is the candidate qualified? And has the Aeroquiz entered a new
era of questionable taste? Let's hope not!
All kidding aside, some technologies commonly used in the aerospace
industry were pioneered in the medical industry. What is the relationship
in this week's question?
A:
The candidate would have extensive experience in the use of boroscopes.
As a proctologist, he would have had plenty of experience inspecting
areas that do not often see the light of day, just as in the case of
hot section or compressor blade inspections.
Congratulations to Peter Sanz.
Week of 10/8/01:
Q:
Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, is one of the most interesting and
isolated places on the
planet. A tiny outcropping of land in the vast South Pacific Ocean, it is
home to massive stone statues and ... a Space Shuttle landing site?
Why build a Space Shuttle-compatible runway there?
A:
Precisely because it is so isolated. Over 2000 miles away from the
nearest civilization, Easter Island is one of the most isolated
places on Earth. And since it's underneath the orbital range of the Shuttle,
it's not a bad place for an aborted mission landing field.
Congratulations to "wavy."
"In the middle of the Great Ocean, in a region where no one ever passes,
there is a mysterious and isolated island; there is no land in the
vicinity and, for more than eight hundred leagues in all directions,
empty and moving vastness surrounds it. It is planted with tall,
monstrous statues, the work of some now-vanished race, and its past
remains an enigma..."
- Pierre Loti, Isle de Paques, 1872
Aeroquiz Editor's Note:
On October 19, the NASA Glenn and many other government websites
were temporarily taken offline following the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01
to ensure that dissemination of information regarding NASA is appropriate.
This website was reactivated on 12/5/01.
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