Lighting a 40-year old candle by NASA

Saint in Paradise · 25 February, 2014

"Because they didn't have the analytical tools we have today for minimizing weight, everything was very robust,"

noted Betts, when I asked what they found as they tore down the engine. "That's apparent in really every aspect

of the engine. The welds—"

"Oh, the welds!" interrupted Case. "The welds on this engine are just a work of art, and everything on here was welded."

The admiration in his voice was obvious. "Today, we look at ways of reducing that, but that was something I picked up

on from this engine: just how many welds there were, and how great they looked."

You look at a weld that takes a day," he continued, "and there are thousands of them. And these guys were pumping

engines out every two months. It's amazing what they could do back then and all the touch labor it took."

"Their ability to withstand imperfection, too," said Betts. "There were a few things on the engine that we disassembled,

where today you may throw that part away because of the imperfections, but it goes to show that they fully understood

what the big drivers were in their design. That's one thing we were trying to get knowledge on: what imperfections were

OK to live with versus what imperfections are going to give us problems?"

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