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Mechanical

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Society: ASMEMain Category: Aerospace & Aviation, MechanicalEra: 1980-1989DateCreated: 1981Space Commerce Way, Merritt IslandState: FLZip: 32953Country: USACreator: Marion Power Shovel Company

The crawler-transporters, formally known as the Missile Crawler Transporter Facilities, are a pair of tracked vehicles used to transport spacecraft from NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) along the Crawlerway to Launch Complex 39. They were originally used to transport the Saturn IB and Saturn V rockets during the Apollo, Skylab and Apollo-Soyuz programs. They were then used to transport Space Shuttles from 1981 to 2011. The crawler-transporters carry vehicles on the mobile platform launchers used by NASA, and after each launch return to the pad to take the platform back to the VAB.

YearAdded:
1982
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Society: ASMEMain Category: Mechanical, RoadEra: 1890-1899DateCreated: 1890515 Ruxton Ave, CO 80829Manitou SpringsState: COCountry: USA

The Broadmoor Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway (also known as the Pikes Peak Cog Railway) is a cog railway that climbs one of the most iconic mountains in the United States, Pikes Peak in Colorado. The base station is in Manitou Springs, near Colorado Springs.

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Society: ASMEMain Category: Mechanical, MiningEra: 1930-1949DateCreated: 1937State: AZCountry: USACreator: Carrier Corporation

The Magma Copper Mine AC system designed by the Carrier Corporation was the first underground mechanical air conditioning system in North America. The initial installation of refrigerated cooling equipment in the Magma Mine at Superior, Arizona was necessary due to the increase in temperature lower into the mine. Below the 2000-foot level, the increase in rock temperature is approximately 1½ degrees F. per 100 feet of depth. The rock temperature on the 2000-foot level is 109°. 

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Society: ASMEMain Category: MechanicalEra: 1890-1899DateCreated: 1872Creator: Paige, James

The Paige Compositor was an invention developed by James W. Paige (1842–1917) between 1872 and 1888. It was designed to replace the human typesetter of a lead type-composed printing form with a mechanical arm. In the early 1890s, a group of inventors signed a contract with Towner K.

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Society: ASMEMain Category: Mechanical, Naval EngineeringEra: 1910-1919DateCreated: 1912

The U.S.S. Texas is the last surviving warship of its kind--powered by reciprocating steam engines. It was built during a period in which naval authorities were switching to the newly-developed steam turbine for propulsion, but were unsure of its suitability. Only one more warship, the New York, commissioned one month after the Texas, was to be powered by the reciprocating engines.

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Society: ASMEMain Category: Civil, Electric, MechanicalEra: 1950-1959DateCreated: 1949Was located at 1715 Belle Isle Blvd, Oklahoma CityState: OKCountry: USACreator: Oklahoma Gas & Electric Company

 The Belle Isle gas turbine was installed in 1949 and was the first gas turbine built in the United States for the purpose of generating electric power. Its low cost and consistency aroused considerable interest in the electric utility industry, both here and abroad.

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Society: ASMEMain Category: Civil, Electric, MechanicalEra: 1920-1929DateCreated: 1925800 Boylston StreetState: MACountry: USA

The Edger station was the first steam electric plant produced that could tolerate over 1000 psi of pressure. Initially conceived by Mr. Irving Edwin Moultrop, then Assistant Superintendent, Construction Bureau of the Edison Electric Illuminating Company of Boston. He guided his company and the electric utility industry on a major step forward into the higher-pressure range of 1,200 psi steam.

Titan Crane
Society: ASCEMain Category: Civil, MechanicalEra: 1900sDateCreated: 1907Queens QuayClydebankZip: G81 1BFCountry: ScotlandWebsite: http://www.asce.org/project/titan-crane/Creator: Hunter, Adam

The Titan is a 200-ton electrically driven hammerhead cantilever crane, the earliest survivor of this type. It is now all that remains of the once great John Brown Shipyard in Clydebank near Glasgow where many of the world's great ships were built. Designed and constructed by Sir William Arrol and Co. Ltd., Glasgow, Scotland, in 1907 the Titan set the standard for many more similar cranes to be erected worldwide. It has been restored and opened as a tourist attraction in 2007.

Image Credit: Courtesy Leslie Barrie (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Thrust SSC Supersonic Car
Society: ASMEMain Category: MechanicalEra: 1990-1999DateCreated: 1997Coventry Transport MuseumCoventryZip: 024 7623 4270Country: EnglandWebsite: https://www.asme.org/about-asme/who-we-are/engineering-history/landmarks/256-thrust-ssc-supersonic-car, https://www.asme.org/wwwasmeorg/media/ResourceFiles/AboutASME/Who%20We%20Are/Engineering%20History/Landmarks/256-ThrustSSC-booklet.pdfCreator: Noble, Richard

First Land Vehicle to Exceed the Speed of Sound; averaged 763.04 mph 

YearAdded:
2014
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Ben Sutherland (CC BY 2.0)Image Caption: The Thrust SSC at Coventry Motor Museum
Society: ASMEMain Category: MechanicalEra: 1980-1989DateCreated: 19873D Systems, Inc.Rock HillState: SCZip: 29730Country: USAWebsite: https://www.asme.org/about-asme/engineering-history/landmarks/261-stereolithographyCreator: Kodama, Dr. Hideo

Although the origins of three-dimensional printing date back to the mid 19th century, and the first patent application for rapid prototyping technology was filed by Dr.

YearAdded:
2016
Image Credit: Scopigno R., Cignoni P., Pietroni N., Callieri M., Dellepiane M. (2017). "Digital Fabrication Techniques for Cultural Heritage: A Survey". Computer Graphics Forum 36 (1): 6–21. DOI:10.1111/cgf.12781.Image Caption: Schematic representation of Stereolithography. A light-emitting device a) (a laser or DLP) selectively illuminates the transparent bottom c) of a tank b) filled with a liquid photo-polymerizing resin. The solidified resin d) is progressively dragged up by a lifting platform e)
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Innovations

abacus II

The ABACUS II, designed and built by Texas Instruments, was the first practical automated production machine for the assembly of integrated circuits. Using heat and pressure, it bonded fine gold wire to microscopic contacts on the silicon chip and pin connections on the package.

The…

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Curtis 500-kW Vertical Turbine

This, the first Curtis vertical turbine built, was constructed by the General Electric Co. for the Newport & Fall River Street Railway Co. It operated in the Newport, R.I., generating station until June 1927. It was transferred to the Harding Street Station of the Indianapolis Power &…

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A.O. Smith Automatic Frame Plant

In 1899, during the earliest days of the automobile revolution, A. O. Smith developed a new, lightweight steel car frame. Within a few short years, he was selling these frames to a “who’s who” of car makers including Cadillac, Oldsmobile, and Ford. A. O. Smith’s son, Lloyd Raymond, carried on…

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AC Electrification New York, New Haven & Hartford

This was a pioneering venture in mainline railroad electrification and was a proving ground for railroad electrification technology. It established single-phase alternating current as a technical and economical alternative to direct current. This concept exerted considerable influence over…

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AAR Railroad-wheel Dynamometer

This inertia dynamometer is used to test railroad wheels under controlled conditions that can greatly exceed normal service. It is the first and only…

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Aberdeen Range, Aberdeen Proving Ground

During the 1930's, research into advanced ballistic measurement techniques began at Aberdeen Proving Ground—the world's first large-scale, fully-instrumented ballistic range producing data on the aerodynamic characteristics of missiles in free flight.

Although this research had begun…

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Mount Washington Cog Railway

People thought inventor Walter Aiken was crazy when he proposed a railway to the top of Mt. Washington.  Aiken built a model of the roadbed and track with a cog rail system, but entrepreneur Sylvester Marsh is credited for launching the Cog Railway and bringing Aiken's ideas to fruition.

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This machine, which began operation on December 15, 1891, for the New York Edison Illuminating Company, represents the beginning of large-scale electric power generation in the United States. The generator was designed by chief engineer John Van Vleck, David Joy (known in England for his valve…

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Idols Station, Fries Manufacturing & Power Company

This run-of-the-river plant is a typical example of late nineteenth-century small-scale (750 kilowatt) low-head hydroelectric power technology. The Fries Manufacturing and Power Company began operating the Idol's Station on April 18, 1898, making it the first commercial hydroelectric plant in…

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Michigan-Lake Superior Power Hydroelectric Plant

This low-head operating plant is representative of nineteenth-century hydropower-plant practice using many small turbines in contrast to twentieth-century use of few large turbines and generators. Its 40,000 horsepower capacity made it the largest in the country using turbines of American design…

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Owens AR Bottle Machine

Only since 1912 have glass jars and bottles been in cheap and plentiful supply for pharmaceuticals, household products, food and beverages, and an endless variety of uses. The bottle-making machine introduced the safety, standardization, quality, and convenience of glass containers. Not only did…

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Quincy Mining Company No. 2 Mine Hoist

The largest mine hoist in the world, it serves the two incline skipways of Shaft No. 2, almost 9,300 feet long. The overhead winding drum has a diameter of 30 feet, of which the cylindrical center section is 10 feet long. The two 10-foot long end sections taper down to a 15-foot diameter. Wire…

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Rocky River Pumped-storage Hydroelectric Plant

The Connecticut Light & Power Company pioneered the use of pumped storage in the United States at this hydroelectric station. First operated in 1929, the Rocky River Plant had two reversible pumps that somewhat resemble large hydroelectric turbines. This permitted significant improvements in…

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First practical US helicopter, pioneering the single-main-rotor concept

America's first practical helicopter, it pioneered the single main rotor concept that became the predominant helicopter configuration throughout the world. The principles that were developed and demonstrated by the VS-300 had direct application in the design of the early mass-production…

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The Wildcat's innovative "Sto-Wing" mechanism developed on the XF4F-4 prototype by Leroy (Roy) Grumman (1895-1982), a founder of Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, was crucial to the U. S. Navy's success during World War II.

The idea of a folding wing was not new: as early as 1920…

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Norfolk & Western #611, Class J Steam Locomotive

Developed for use in both the plains and mountains, this coal-fired passenger locomotive was among the most advanced in design, construction, and performance of any 4-8-4. Designed by Norfolk & Western engineers and built in the Norfolk & Western Roanoke shops, the 611 was specially…

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Penn. RR GG1 Electric Locomotive #4800

The 4,620-horsepower GG1 was primarily a passenger locomotive, routinely operating at over 100 miles per hour, but was used in freight service as well. Conceived by the Pennsylvania Railroad and built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works and General Electric Company, No. 4800 logged nearly 5 million…

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Southern Pacific #4294 Cab-in-Front Steam Locomotive

The articulated wheel-base steam locomotive represents the final phase of steam locomotive development in size and power. The cab-in-front feature was widely used by the Southern Pacific Railroad beginning in 1909 to alleviate smoke and heat problems for locomotive personnel en route through…

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Thermo King© C Refrigeration Unit

The refrigeration units placed on trucks in 1938 by Thermo King Corp. revolutionized the transportation of perishable foods. Today they are a common sight on streets everywhere. Consumer demand for meat, poultry, produce and dairy products increased at an astounding rate. These installations and…

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Hiwassee Dam Unit 2 Reversible Pump-Turbine 1

The integration of pump and turbine was the first of many to be installed in power-plant systems in the United States. It was the largest and most powerful in the world. As a "pump storage" unit in the Tennessee Valley Authority's system, it effected significant economies in the generation of…

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