The Apollo lunar module (LM-13) was developed by the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp. (now Northrop Grumman). The LM's main functions were to carry two astronauts from lunar orbit to the moon's surface, and then return them to lunar orbit to rendezvous and dock with the Apollo command-service modules. On the surface, the LM served as a shelter and base of operations as the astronauts carried out their exploration and experiments. On July 20, 1969, the LM "Eagle" touched down on the moon, becoming the first piloted spacecraft to land on a celestial body other than Earth.
ASME
Term Image
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Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Michael Gray (CC BY-SA 2.0) Image Caption: The Apollo Lunar Module LM-13 on display in the Cradle of Aviation Museum Era_date_from: 1972
2002
The "Alligator" amphibian tractor is the progenitor of all amphibian assault vehicles used since 1941, a pioneer venture both in its design and the materials used in its construction. Donald Roebling, a grandson of Colonel Washington Roebling (designer of the Brooklyn Bridge), built an amphibian tractor to rescue victims of Florida's devastating hurricanes (particularly those in 1926, 1928, and 1932 that hit southern Florida).
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Image Credit: Public Domain (US Marine Corps)Image Caption: An Alligator Amphibian on the slope of a Landing Craft Tank, armed with machine gunsEra_date_from: 1940
1997
The idea of constructing a rotating boom for
hydromechanical tests at the Alden Hydraulic Laboratory
originated with Professor Charles Metcalf Allen, head of
the lab from 1896 to 1950. The original boom was designed
in 1908 by Professor Allen, assisted by two Worcester
Polytechnic Institute students.
Professor Allen needed a moving test stand for hydraulic
experiments and for rating current meters.
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Image Credit: Courtesy ASMEImage Caption: L.J. Hooper (left), Charles M. Allen (center) and Clyde W. Hubbard (right) sit together on the rotating boom.Era_date_from: 1908
1982
The Ljungstrom air preheater is a regenerative heat exchanger, invented in the 1920s and soon used throughout the world. Dr. Fredrik Ljungstrom, then technical director at Aktiebolaget Ljunstrom Angturbin, invented it for preheating combustion air in boiler plants, but the use has expanded to include energy recovery in combination with the removal of oxides of sulfur and nitrogen.
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Image Credit: Public DomainImage Caption: Ljungstrom Air PreheaterEra_date_from: 1920
1995
This 50,000-ton die-forging press is among the largest fabrication tools in the world. It was designed and built for the U.S. Air Force by the Mesta Machine Company of Pittsburgh, following the discovery of a 30,000-ton press used by the Germans in World War II (later acquired by the Soviet Union). By 1950, a Heavy Press Program was organized to establish a self-sustaining industrial base for a press capable of producing large forgings and extrusions for the United States. The 50,000-ton Mesta press was one of the first built under this program between 1952 and 1955.
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Image Caption: The true enormity of the ALCOA 50,000-ton Hydraulic Forging Press can be fully appreciated when put into comparison of the average-sized person (lower right and on the platform).Era_date_from: 1954
1981
A majority of the buildings, used originally in steam locomotive repair and maintenance, are still intact, including the backshop (erecting shop), roundhouse, flue shop, paint shop, and parts storage buildings. The 37-stall roundhouse is one of the largest remaining roundhouses in North America still in continuous operation. The site contains other significant buildings including the car repair shed, yard office, oil house, sand house, and wheel balancing shed.
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Image Credit: Courtesy ASMEImage Caption: The Bob Julian Roundhouse, part of Southern Railway Spencer ShopsEra_date_from: 1896
2011
Designed in 1873 by Christopher Latham Sholes, with Carlos Glidden, Samuel Soulé and Mathias Schwalbach, the Sholes & Glidden 'Type Writer' was the first commercially successful device that rapidly printed alphanumeric characters on paper in any order.
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Image Credit: Public Domain (Produced prior to 1/1/1923)Image Caption: Sholes & Glidden 'Type Writer'Era_date_from: 1873
2011
The Saugus Ironworks, the first commercial ironworks in North America, was an impressive technological achievement for an early colony. The same basic processes are used today: reducing iron oxide with carbon to produce metallic iron that can be cast in a mold, producing wrought iron by puddling cast iron, and fabricating wrought iron with power hammer and rolls.
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Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Kristin Shoemaker (CC BY-ND 2.0)Image Caption: One of the Saugus Ironworks' water wheels in motionEra_date_from: 1647
1975
Kinematics is the study of geometry of motion. Reuleaux designed the models in the Cornell collection as teaching aids for invention, showing the kinematic design of machines. The mechanisms in the collection represent the fundamental components of complex machines and were conceived as elements of a basic “language of invention.” Today the models are still used in the teaching of machine design and synthesis, robotics, dynamics, architectural drawing and mathematics.
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Image Credit: Courtesy ASMEImage Caption: A page taken from Gustav Voigt's catalog of Reuleaux's Mechanisms,Era_date_from: 1882
2004
The precision "choreographed" staging of Radio City Music Hall offers size and versatility, unlike any other. Built in 1932 by Peter Clark, its innovative elevator system is a forerunner of other stage designs (including the Metropolitan Opera House) as well as aircraft carrier systems built in World War II. These elevators can handle people, animals, props and scenery at variable speeds, delivering them to the stage or above and also dropping out of sight in front to reappear again in the back, just as effectively.
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Image Credit: Public Domain (Author's Choice)Image Caption: Underneath the Orchestra Lift at the Radio City Music Hall
2001
Innovations
