Duct Tape wows the world as it is selected to be one of the most indispensable tools in a space station, both currently and as far back as the 1970s
The Heroic Duct Tape in Space
There is one honorary member on almost every space expedition and the introduction of this member who has played diverse important roles in the success of this expedition would leave many floored. Duct tape has been carried onboard since the time of the Apollo mission in 1970 to its use in the space station today. The duct tape uses differ greatly from it just being used to do makeshift mending of some important engineering mishaps to it being used to hold things together to fight against gravity.
In fact, a story has been released already documenting the importance of duct tape in the days during the Apollo 17 mission. The story explains how this duct tape saved astronauts Jack Schmitt and His partner Gene Cernan when their wheel buggy got damaged as they were on the moon’s surface. Apparently, the damage was quickly mitigated using good old duct tape which saved the duo from a possibly life-threatening situation.
This roll of extremely sticky tape which has a notorious reputation for keeping mouths shut and limbs tied together in action movies seems to have been employed for much more used than that in space expeditions and also in NASA.
Some Examples of How Duct Tape Saved The World
Duct tape heroism is hardly overemphasized as there happen to be several pieces of evidence pointing to the diverse nature of duct tape and how it has been able to hold the entire space station together. The news about duct tape went viral when a piece of it was spotted in one of NASA’s astronomy pictures which gave insight to both duct tape and velcro’s importance in holding things together.
These stories have been corroborated by well-known professors of schools like Professor Paul Shiue from the Christian Brothers University, who gave a joke about how the duct tape got the medal for ‘best engineering tool’ from his team. He commented on how this tape can be used to do all sorts of things. It is quite common to see this tape is used in many capacities at a space station.
The truth of the matter is that many people tend to view space expeditions are something out of this world and so the use of such a common, every day, even cheap product tends to beat their imagination. Especially in the case of Jack Schmitt and his partner, the duct tape became very handy when they were threatened with a moon dust situation after Cernan’s moon buggy’s fender at the rear was torn. This exposed the duo to the dangers of having moon dust all over them as the moon buggy whose job is to prevent the dust from flying in the air was damaged. Thanks to duct tape, a makeshift repair was done for the buggy and then they were able to complete their expedition.
Sometimes everyday tools can be of great benefit in even the most complicated of situations. Since duct tape seems to be the solution to the world’s problem, do carry along some other handy tools as you go about your day to day activities. You never know what you might need them for.
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