NASA & a Horse’s Ass
Back in Roman times transportation was via horse and cart or horse and chariot. It was determined that it was best to have the wheels set apart at 4′8-1/2″. The reason for this was because when two horses pulled the cart, the wheels left ruts in the muddy streets and so the horses’ asses were measured and it was felt it best to have the horses be able to walk in between these ruts.
After time, somone came up with the idea of moving traffic via rail. Converting the carts to rail traffic was easy because they made the rails to accomodate the new wheels required to adapt to the old carts. It was set at 4′ 8-1/2″.
This standard is used by most of the world. China, Europe and North America, as well as others, but not most of Africa.
When NASA needed to build it’s booster rockets to assist it’s flights. they were built by a company who had to ship them by rail to the launch pad. Bet this is starting to come together for you now eh? Well you’re wrong….The rails dimensions we’re just a part of the engineering that went into play of the width of the booster rockets. While the booster rockets we’re being transferred to the launch site they had to go through a tunnel. That tunnel was made wide enough to handle regular traffic freight, as was the norm worldwide based on height for clearance and width of the tracks. NASA engineers took that into account when designing the booster rockets so they would fit through the tunnel. Imagine placing yourself in the Challenger knowing that the components were built by the lowest bidder, and a horse’s ass!