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On 27, Nov , at 7:07 AM, Sandy wrote:
Let me make sure I have this right.
Two horse's ass's (how do you spell the plural of ass?) determined the
diameter of the Space Shuttle booster rockets. Is that about it?
Ass is another name for a donkey; the word you want is 'arse' and the plural of arse is arses
The width of a roman road was determined by the wheel tracks of a roman war chariot drawn by two horses side by side. When the railroads were developed in England they followed the main arterial roads which were originally the roman roads, so the rails were laid on the wheel tracks; about 5 feet apart. 19th century rail technology in the US came from England so US railroads indirectly were based on roman roads. The space shuttle boosters were designed to be transported by rail so the width was based on roman two horse chariots.
That is about it, BR, Dave McC
Hang on Dave, aren't the American tracks wider than the English and Australian tracks - perhaps the horses were bigger or fatter. I know we have narrow gauge and I believe the US is wide gauge. Can't remember the actual measurements.
Interesting thing about the Roman roads though!
George (down under)
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