JIM HOLSONBACK wrote in a message to JASEN BETTS:

 JH> Hello, Jasen.  We were chatting about wind impact testing - - 

 JB> This is also how the test aircraft for collisions with birds...
 JB> they buy frozen chickens for the purpose of ammunution

 JH> they have a compressed air canon setup, and fire an actual
 JH> piece of "2x4" lumber of set size and weight to impact the door or
 JH> window at a specified velocity.  The door or shutter may be
 JH> damaged, but it passes if it is not breached.

 JB> some company making a very fast train locomotive borrowed the setup,
 JB> but on testing their mockup it they discovered that the chicken smashed
 JB> theought the windscreen an embedded itself in the rear bulkhead, they
 JB> asked for help

 JB> they got a three word response
 JB>   Thaw the chicken.

 JH> ROFLMAO!
 JH> Well, we're all human, and sometimes it is fun to have a chuckle
 JH> when we realize that others, even scientific testing types, also
 JH> sometimes make mistakes.

On the subject of the shuttle,  the best thing I've seen about it is the
article in the current issue of Analog magazine,  which I'd quote if I had
it handy.  Basically the author describes some horrendous travel hassles
while he was on the way to go to NY to do a certain well-known tv show.  It
seems that they had somebody who's whole job was to deal with travel
hassles.  For a tv show!  And he made a comparison to the way NASA is
running things... 

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