The story is told that early in America's effort to get into space that officials in NASA realized that pens wouldn't work without gravity. A program was created to develop a pen to work in zero gravity. Millions and millions of dollars were "invested."
The Russians recognized the same problem and bought some pencils. Problem solved.
I thought of this as I read TSA will fly in screeners to an Alaskan outpost to inspect one flight per day:
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Because the tiny landlocked city of Gustavus, Alaska has a seasonal airport that is open only during the summer months and services only one Alaska Airlines flight per day, TSA has awarded a $40,000 contract to a small Juneau-based airline to fly four TSA security screeners from Juneau to Gustavus and back again, each day for 77 consecutive days.
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It seems like there has got to be a dozen better ways to solve this problem than to spend $40,000 for a town of 377 people. Maybe you could call the mayor and ask the people boarding the plane are people you need to worry about. With a population of 377 I'm sure everyone knows who boards the planes.
There are few secrets in a small town.
Hat tip: Boycott Flying
1 comment:
I didn't know the government invested money in trying to beat the space pencil when I read the Space Pen story a while back. We do sure love our technology [smile].
~Luke
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