# Από τι εξαρτάται το διαστημικό λεωφορείο;



## drsiebenmal (Aug 29, 2009)

Tο διαστηµικό λεωφορείο εξαρτάται από το φάρδος του κώλου ενός αλόγου (!)

Se non è vero è ben trovato...


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## nickel (Aug 29, 2009)

Μετά από ένα «ben trovato» χρειάζεται πάντα λίγο snopes:
http://www.snopes.com/history/american/gauge.asp

Το οποίο καταλήγει:
Over and above our love of odd facts, this tale about railroad gauges succeeds because of the imagery of its play on words: space shuttle technology was designed not _by_ a horse's ass (figuratively, some overpaid government know-it-all) but _because_ of a horse's ass (literally, the width of that particular portion of equine anatomy). People find this notion amusing, feeding the story's popularity as charmed readers to pass it along to others in a cascade of forwards. Were it not for this internal play on words, this entire breathless "Did you know?..." would likely die a quiet and unnoticed death, because when you get right down to it, why rails are spaced the way they are isn't all that interesting a topic to most people.


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## drsiebenmal (Aug 29, 2009)

nickel said:


> Μετά από ένα «ben trovato» χρειάζεται πάντα λίγο snopes:



Τα σπέκια μου!


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## daeman (Aug 29, 2009)

Κι άλλο ένα ανάλογο και διαστημικά σχετικό, που μας προβλημάτισε (τρόπος του λέγειν· πόσο μπορείς να προβληματιστείς αραχτός πάνω στο κύμα στο ψαροχώρι μεταξύ ψητού ροφού και απογευματινής ρακής; ) ένα πρόσφατο, Αυγουστιάτικο απόγευμα. Παρουσιάστηκε ως αστικός μύθος, και ενώ όλοι στην παρέα συμφωνήσαμε ότι ήταν πράγματι ένας ευφάνταστος _αστειακός_ μύθος (και για μας τότε Σητειακός, αφού εκεί κοντά μάς τον διηγήθηκαν;)), ο γκατζετάκιας της παρέας με το ίφωνο βρήκε στο ιντερνέτι ένα υποτιθέμενο απόσπασμα της συνέντευξης του Άρμστρονγκ, όπου το ανέφερε ο ίδιος ο αστροναύτης (μοντάζ προφανώς). Η συζήτηση που ακολούθησε έβγαλε ξεκαρδιστικό γέλιο, πάντως.

Αντιγράφω από το snopes.com (κι ευχαριστώ τον Νίκελ για την ευκαιρία να το ξεδιαλύνω· έφυγε ήδη ως ηλεμήνυμα προς την παλιοπαρέα):

*Neil Armstrong cryptically uttered "Good luck, Mr. Gorsky" as he first stepped onto the moon.*
When Apollo Mission Astronaut Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon, he not only gave his famous "One small step for man; one giant leap for mankind" statement, but followed it by several remarks, including the usual COM traffic between him, the other astronauts, and Mission Control. Before he re-entered the lander, he made the enigmatic remark "Good luck, Mr. Gorsky."
Many people at NASA thought it was a casual remark concerning some rival Soviet Cosmonaut. However, upon checking, [they found] there was no Gorsky in either the Russian or American space programs.
Over the years, many people have questioned him as to what the "Good luck, Mr. Gorsky" statement meant. On July 5, in Tampa Bay, FL, while answering questions following a speech, a reporter brought up the 26- year-old question to Armstrong. He finally responded. It seems that Mr. Gorsky had died and so Armstrong felt he could answer the question. When he was a kid, Neil was playing baseball with his brother in the backyard. His brother hit a fly ball which landed in front of his neighbors' bedroom window. The neighbors were Mr. and Mrs. Gorsky. As he leaned down to pick up the ball, he heard Mrs. Gorsky shouting at Mr. Gorsky, _"Oral sex? Oral sex you want? You'll get oral sex when the kid next door walks on the moon!"_
Sometimes the story is told with Armstrong uttering, "That's one small step for man; one giant leap for Manny Klein," with the unfortunate Mr. Klein having received the same response from his wife as Mr. Gorsky had from his.
This legend, seemingly an obvious joke, began circulating on the Internet in mid-1995 and was picked up by the media a few months later. The inclusion of specific details (e.g., the name of Armstrong's neighbor, the date of the press conference on which he revealed the meaning of his remark) apparently led some to believe the farcical story might have some truth to it.
At its most basic level, this tale is a humorous anecdote that plays on the stereotypical portrayal of Jewish wives as reluctant to engage in recreational sex (and especially oral sex). In variant forms of this legend the last name of Neil Armstrong's neighbor is different, but the name used is always a "Jewish-sounding" one, such as Gorsky, Seligman, Schultz, Lipinski, or Klein; the unusual word order employed by the wife in her refusal ("Oral sex you want?") is also a stereotypical speech pattern attributed to Jews. On another level, this legend can be seen as an attempt to humanize a cultural hero by associating him with a story that is both humorous and racy: Neil Armstrong, the world-famous astronaut, is made to seem like a "regular" guy.
Any doubts about the veracity of this legend are laid to rest by the NASA transcripts of the Apollo 11 mission, which record no such statement having been made by Armstrong. Armstrong himself said in late 1995 that he first heard the anecdote delivered as a joke by comedian Buddy Hackett in California.


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