Cape Canaveral, Florida (IPP) - Scientists at Cape Canaveral became frustrated with the problems they were having with the Space Shuttle's fuel guage. Rocket scientists with advanced engineering degrees were in tears over their inability to repair the stubborn guage.
A janitor who works at the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) told the scientists that his brother was a mechanic at a local gas station and that he could fix anything.
The rocket scientists said, "what the heck" and decided to give it a try.
The Space Shuttle was then mounted on the huge tractor that is the size of a football field and the traffic lights and telephone poles were all removed between the VAB and the gas station where the janitor's brother works. Each individual link on the Shuttle's tractor weighs one ton and fire trucks had to spray water in the path of the tractor to prevent the friction created by the tractor's movement from igniting brush fires.
The Shuttle tractor moves at one mile per hour and the trip took three days one way.
When the Shuttle arrived at the gas station the mechanic climbed on board the Shuttle and hit the gas guage with his hand really hard and the needle moved from the "full" position where it had been stuck for weeks to the "empty" position where it belonged.
NASA scientists withdrew $60 from petty cash and paid the mechanic for the required one hour labor minimum and the Shuttle was then returned to the VAB. The next launch has been scheduled for the second week of January.
