Wednesday, July 10, 2019

A voyage in a vacuum produces a different sort of vacuum


I didn't know that the Dustbuster was the fruit of the Apollo moon landing program, but it seems it is, along with several other iconic products.

The Dustbuster was only made possible thanks to Black & Decker’s work with NASA on developing a lightweight and power-efficient tool for the Apollo Lunar Surface Drill. The same motor design used on the 1969 moon landing was then used to create the Dustbuster.

There's more at the link.

There's a certain wacky circular logic to that.  Design a motor that will work in a vacuum - then use the same motor to power a vacuum-cleaner in atmosphere.  It's a sort of function reversal, isn't it?




Peter

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2 comments:

  1. UnknownJuly 11, 2019 at 8:09 AM

    "Design a motor that will work in a vacuum - then use the same motor to power a vacuum-cleaner in atmosphere."

    That's comparing apples and oranges.

    ReplyDelete
  2. MacDJuly 11, 2019 at 5:28 PM

    A vacuum cleaner being used in a vacuum? NASA thinks they have a great sense of humor apparently.

    ReplyDelete

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