Why did I use Legos?
Once upon a time, a long time ago, I convinced my line management at NASA Glenn Research Center to purchase $100 worth of Legos -- I mean, "LEGO bricks or toys" -- for visualization of various configurations of Space Station Freedom, which was soon thereafter referred to by critics, amidst massive budget cuts and redesign efforts, as "Space Station Fred." Anyway, what's pictured is Valerie DuFore, then a student intern working with me, holding one of the LEGO Space Stations we'd made.I left NASA in 1996, but the "LEGO bricks or toys" are still there. At least, I think they are. Who takes responsibility for stuff like that when there are reorganizations? And in retrospect, there are problems with physical visualization of a large space structure made with what's really a crude block-based toy. Crude in this context, anyway -- no offense meant to young kids out there. If visualization is what you need, then you need to create a model that both looks and moves (or can be positioned) something like the real article. Solar arrays, for instance, are not really mounted on wheels free to turn; they're mounted on gimbals that must BE turned. And solar arrays are also flexible, yadda yadda yadda.
But I think what makes me regret that $100 expenditure the most is the little bit of polite complaining the LEGO people do about the way the rest of us "misuse" their brand (pictured). Doesn't it make you feel sorry you bought their stuff to have them lecture you on what you should CALL their stuff? That's how I feel when I read this.Labels: engineering
posted by Ron @ 1:43 PM
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