Scientists at NASA built a gun specifically
to launch standard 4 pound dead chickens at the windshields of airliners,
military jets and the space shuttle, all traveling at maximum velocity. The idea
is to simulate the frequent incidents of collisions with airborne fowl to test
the strength of the windshields.
British engineers heard about the gun and
were eager to test it on the windshields of their new high speed trains.
Arrangements were made, and a gun was sent to the British engineers.
When the gun was fired, the engineers stood
shocked as the chicken hurled out of the barrel, crashed into the shatterproof
shield, smashed it to smithereens, blasted through the control console, snapped
the engineer's back-rest in two, and embedded itself in the back wall of the
cabin, like an arrow shot from a bow.
The horrified Brits sent NASA the disastrous
results of the experiment, along with the designs of the windshield and begged
the U.S scientists for suggestions.
NASA responded with a one-line memo --
"Defrost the chicken." (True Story)