NASA's 30 Billion Dollar Scam

[Jason Thompson]

So does that mean they were actually using gaffer tape in the Mythbusters duct tape episodes? I'm pretty sure they hand-tore it there.

[JayUtah]

I don't know about most notibly. Without duct, or gaffer, tape, the crew of Apollo 13 wouldn't have made it back home,

True.  I meant notably from the visual perspective.  On Apollo 17 we can see the crew on camera fumbling with the tape roll, while on Apollo 13 we see only the still photos of the result.

[Abaddon]

I don't know about most notibly. Without duct, or gaffer, tape, the crew of Apollo 13 wouldn't have made it back home,

True.  I meant notably from the visual perspective.  On Apollo 17 we can see the crew on camera fumbling with the tape roll, while on Apollo 13 we see only the still photos of the result.

I can't see any Apollo 13 crew member doing this:

"Here is a device that may well save our lives"

"Screw you, I am going to sit back and just take photographs"

I think not.

[JayUtah]

"Screw you, I am going to sit back and just take photographs"

Well put.  After the danger had passed, NASA asked for photographs so that they could compare the as-built device with what the engineers had described.   They had the foresight to realize that future missions might need ad hoc procedure call-ups just like this one, so an assessment of how successful the process had been was deemed good practice.

[Noldi400]

...held together with gaffer's tape (which is -- in a lesser degree -- to duck tape as Kapton is to Scotch).

And which is actually the tape carried on Apollo and on subsequent space missions -- not duct tape.  The official supplier is Shurtape.

Gaffer tape is cotton duck impregnated with fire retardant and electrically insulative resins, supplied in different colors but used chiefly in black.  The pressure-sensitive adhesive is low residue when removed within a few weeks, and functions in a vacuum.  It can be torn easily by hand either lengthwise or widthwise (i.e., the cardinal dimensions of the duck weave), but maintains high tensile strength when axially loaded.  (It does, however, shear somewhat more easily than duct tape.)  It has been flown on every space mission since Apollo, for the same reasons it's so useful in the entertainment industry.  A square of gaffer tape is robust enough to plug a quarter-inch hole in a spacecraft pressure hull.

Well, now I'm a happy camper - I'm closer to the aerospace industry than I thought. Shurtape's corporate headquarters is just across the river from me and the plant that manufactures cloth tapes is just up the road.  And as I've said before, the other primary industry in the county is Schneider Mills, who made the fabric for Curiosity's parachute.

I've done computer service and emergency responder training at both facilities, so I guess I've made my own tiny contribution to space exploration, which I have to admit gives me a bit of a warm fuzzy feeling.

Gaffer's tape is, indeed, pretty impressive. Right now I have in my back pocket a pair of gloves patched with the stuff where the fingers wore through - staying in place with the constant flexing is remarkable for any kind of tape.

[Count Zero]

Expecting the exterior of the LM to be structural is like believing that shirts & pants are what hold human beings upright.

I like pictures like this one that show the big structural struts, the lightweight stringers from which the external shield hung, and just all-around that these were extremely complex constructions, not just some slip-shod prop.

[Tedward]

This tape has cropped up before here, I thought I would lay out my trump card, a gaffer tape wallet (sans gooey stuff obviously) then I was super trumped by someone with a link to people making clothes out of it

The wallet is still alive but relegated to the substitution bench as it deformed slightly and was awkward with the notes after a year or so stuffed in my pocket.

I also have a padded postal bag with various adapters in I use at work. A proper receptacle is on my roundtoit list. The bag bottom is now 9/10 gaffer. I might sort it out next year.

WIt is also handy for sticking cables to various structures and tarmac and walkways. Wonder what the weirdest Earthly use has been?

Edit. Spilling mistook conected.

[gillianren]

The fine people at Duck Tape actually run a scholarship contest every year for people who make their prom outfits primarily out of the product.  Helpfully, it now comes in a wide array of designer colours.

[nomuse]

I dunno weird, but I've used it underwater, and used it on hot lighting instruments.  It doesn't handle thick dust/sawdust/other powders well, though.  I've also used it as light-weight strapping to dangle small weights (usually folding it over).

And even further off the subject, when you don't have anything but tape and you are securing a roll of cable, start the winding inside-out, then reverse it after one full turn.  That way you get a band of tape securing the cable but none of the adhesive is in contact.

[JayUtah]

It doesn't handle thick dust/sawdust/other powders well, though.

Gene Cernan found it didn't handle lunar regolith very well either.  This is why we tape stuff up in clean, controlled environments where possible.  I have yet to see a stage or scenery shop that qualified.  Gene and Jack eventually had to take the LRV fender into the LM cabin to finish the repair.

And even further off the subject, when you don't have anything but tape and you are securing a roll of cable, start the winding inside-out, then reverse it after one full turn.  That way you get a band of tape securing the cable but none of the adhesive is in contact.

Wow, I learned a new trick today.  Thanks!

[Peter B]

Expecting the exterior of the LM to be structural is like believing that shirts & pants are what hold human beings upright.

I like pictures like this one that show the big structural struts, the lightweight stringers from which the external shield hung, and just all-around that these were extremely complex constructions, not just some slip-shod prop.

An example which occurred to me is the dome of Saint Paul's Cathedral in London.

It's actually three domes: http://www.explore-stpauls.net/oct03/textMM/DomeConstructionN.htm

The outer and inner domes are decorative, not structural, and there's a considerable gap between them. The space separating them contains the structual dome. The difference between the three is that the inner and outer domes are hemispherical, while the middle, structural, dome is conical, which is close to a parabola. The conical shape is structurally much more stable, and needed to support the lantern on the top of the outer dome, but it isn't as aesthetically pleasing as the hemisphere.

[Tedward]

And even further off the subject, when you don't have anything but tape and you are securing a roll of cable, start the winding inside-out, then reverse it after one full turn.  That way you get a band of tape securing the cable but none of the adhesive is in contact.

Another tape I have seen with less sticky residue, called camera tape. That may be a generic term but it feels more like a cloth and the glue less tacky (?). Still tears easy and you can write on it.

Edit. I do not think it is as strong as gaffer.

But, never ever thought of that. Give that a go soon.

[Glom]

What would be good for fixing my rubber watch strap?

[nomuse]

And even further off the subject, when you don't have anything but tape and you are securing a roll of cable, start the winding inside-out, then reverse it after one full turn.  That way you get a band of tape securing the cable but none of the adhesive is in contact.

Another tape I have seen with less sticky residue, called camera tape. That may be a generic term but it feels more like a cloth and the glue less tacky (?). Still tears easy and you can write on it.

Edit. I do not think it is as strong as gaffer.

But, never ever thought of that. Give that a go soon.

Sounds like the stuff we call spike tape.  Which is a low-residue, less-sticky soft cloth tape that tears well.  We use it for marking stages, trick lines, edges of things you don't want to run into in the dark, etc.

Heh.  My world is a lot of tape.  Specialized tapes, but none of them particularly strong/sticky.  There's also white painter's masking tape, universally called "board tape" -- smooth finish, residue is so low you can use it as drafting tape, takes Sharpie well.


Think the OP will ever come back?

[Tedward]

What would be good for fixing my rubber watch strap?

Self amalg and an outer strip of denso......

Sorry, no idea

Something pleasing applying denso, sod to get off your hands though.