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- Jul 28, 2003
- Messages
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They're actually using Dark Ops now to combat the scare of aliens, and goblins as pictured on the website.
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Shuttle astronaut knives? (Present day)
- Thread starter Ultraman
- Start date
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2006
- Messages
- 76
peacefuljeffrey said:
It could have been a NASA requirement. Government requisitions are odd sometimes.
Thanks for the responses.
So the list shows, at any point in time:
Modified Emerson Specwar: check
Vic master craftsman: check
Vic cybertool: check, though to be honest I'm still not that sure
Now, the blurb below was from Victorinox's website, (right now I can only find it in a Google cache). So my question now is when they say officer's model, is this a generic term or does it connote a specific model?
Repairs in space
In May 1991 the Discovery space shuttle set off on one of its flights into near space. As always, each of the astronauts carried a Victorinox pocket-knife as part of their personal equipment. On this particular mission an expensive experiment would have failed if the little red tool hadnt got the astronauts out a jam. The remarkable story was even reported in detail in Le Figaro, the world-renowned French newspaper.
During the mission it was discovered that a piece of recording equipment was no longer functioning properly. The task of this piece of equipment was to record data from two telescopes for use in experiments. On the sixth day of the nine-day mission, Ground Control in Houston, Texas worked out a solution to the problem. A new cable connection was required to a sophisticated computer. In order to carefully strip the insulation from the wires, the astronaut used a Victorinox Army Officers Knife. The computer was successfully re-connected and the vital data rescue.
Very standard knives
As the spokesman for the mission, James Hartsfield, explained, the Victorinox Army Officers Knife is standard equipment for all astronauts. We give each astronaut a Swiss Army Officers Knife and they carry it with them on board. Its been with every mission right from the outset. The knives made for the astronauts at Victorinox are no different to the standard pocket-knives anyone can buy. In Hartsfields words: The knife accomplished its task well.»
Equipment repaired in the Space Lab
In 1983 the German Ulf Merbold became the first non-American to go into space on a space shuttle. A piece of luck as it turned out for NASA, since Merbold rescued experiments costing countless millions on board the space shuttle with the help of his penknife. He was celebrated as a hero in the German press, as can be seen from the following report in the illustrated «New Review»:
«Lets not get carried away. However, we are right to be just a little bit proud of our fellow countryman in space. Ulf Merbold, 42, a father of two, performed a small miracle. On the ten day flight on the US Space Shuttle «Columbia» he came to the rescue of a series of important experiments totalling several hundred million marks. All he needed for this was a Swiss knife and natural German thoroughness.
How did Merbold come to be up in space? The physicist from Stuttgart received a free place on the flight as a service in return, so to speak, for the financing by Europe of Space Lab to the tune of 2 billion German marks and for its being constructed in Bremen. Together with a second payload specialist his task was to carry out 72 experiments in the laboratory at a height of 250 kilometres and a speed of eight kilometres a second.
The wrong kind of wrench
It became evident during the very first days that things in the expensive laboratory need fixing, just like they do in an apartment. Things went wrong. And then came Ulf Merbolds finest hour. As he started to open his first piece of equipment it became obvious that he had been sent into space armed with the wrong kind of wrench. Merbold solved the problem using his Swiss pocket-knife. Shortly afterwards there was a failure in the reflector furnace, part of an experiment to manufacture alloys of metal in space under weightless conditions at 1600 degrees. Merbolds knife had a screwdriver to suit the purpose. Finally he used the knife to repair the electrical plug which had been incorrectly connected to the base. The United States, watching every move via satellite TV, was delighted: a genuine handyman in space.
Compliment from the commander
Even the commander of the Columbia, moon landing veteran John Young, who was initially rather distant, was impressed with his passenger. That guy over there he said to the Ground Control Station, has really been slogging his guts out and he doesnt even have a good window seat. Through Merbold (and thanks to Victorinox) Europe had indeed played its part in space travel»
So the list shows, at any point in time:
Modified Emerson Specwar: check
Vic master craftsman: check
Vic cybertool: check, though to be honest I'm still not that sure
Now, the blurb below was from Victorinox's website, (right now I can only find it in a Google cache). So my question now is when they say officer's model, is this a generic term or does it connote a specific model?
Repairs in space
In May 1991 the Discovery space shuttle set off on one of its flights into near space. As always, each of the astronauts carried a Victorinox pocket-knife as part of their personal equipment. On this particular mission an expensive experiment would have failed if the little red tool hadnt got the astronauts out a jam. The remarkable story was even reported in detail in Le Figaro, the world-renowned French newspaper.
During the mission it was discovered that a piece of recording equipment was no longer functioning properly. The task of this piece of equipment was to record data from two telescopes for use in experiments. On the sixth day of the nine-day mission, Ground Control in Houston, Texas worked out a solution to the problem. A new cable connection was required to a sophisticated computer. In order to carefully strip the insulation from the wires, the astronaut used a Victorinox Army Officers Knife. The computer was successfully re-connected and the vital data rescue.
Very standard knives
As the spokesman for the mission, James Hartsfield, explained, the Victorinox Army Officers Knife is standard equipment for all astronauts. We give each astronaut a Swiss Army Officers Knife and they carry it with them on board. Its been with every mission right from the outset. The knives made for the astronauts at Victorinox are no different to the standard pocket-knives anyone can buy. In Hartsfields words: The knife accomplished its task well.»
Equipment repaired in the Space Lab
In 1983 the German Ulf Merbold became the first non-American to go into space on a space shuttle. A piece of luck as it turned out for NASA, since Merbold rescued experiments costing countless millions on board the space shuttle with the help of his penknife. He was celebrated as a hero in the German press, as can be seen from the following report in the illustrated «New Review»:
«Lets not get carried away. However, we are right to be just a little bit proud of our fellow countryman in space. Ulf Merbold, 42, a father of two, performed a small miracle. On the ten day flight on the US Space Shuttle «Columbia» he came to the rescue of a series of important experiments totalling several hundred million marks. All he needed for this was a Swiss knife and natural German thoroughness.
How did Merbold come to be up in space? The physicist from Stuttgart received a free place on the flight as a service in return, so to speak, for the financing by Europe of Space Lab to the tune of 2 billion German marks and for its being constructed in Bremen. Together with a second payload specialist his task was to carry out 72 experiments in the laboratory at a height of 250 kilometres and a speed of eight kilometres a second.
The wrong kind of wrench
It became evident during the very first days that things in the expensive laboratory need fixing, just like they do in an apartment. Things went wrong. And then came Ulf Merbolds finest hour. As he started to open his first piece of equipment it became obvious that he had been sent into space armed with the wrong kind of wrench. Merbold solved the problem using his Swiss pocket-knife. Shortly afterwards there was a failure in the reflector furnace, part of an experiment to manufacture alloys of metal in space under weightless conditions at 1600 degrees. Merbolds knife had a screwdriver to suit the purpose. Finally he used the knife to repair the electrical plug which had been incorrectly connected to the base. The United States, watching every move via satellite TV, was delighted: a genuine handyman in space.
Compliment from the commander
Even the commander of the Columbia, moon landing veteran John Young, who was initially rather distant, was impressed with his passenger. That guy over there he said to the Ground Control Station, has really been slogging his guts out and he doesnt even have a good window seat. Through Merbold (and thanks to Victorinox) Europe had indeed played its part in space travel»