- Space Shuttle Rocket Boosters are 4 feet 8.5 inches wide.
- Why such an odd dimension? Because the boosters, built in Utah had to be shipped to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida via rail through a tunnel, slightly wider than a railroad track. US Standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8 ½ inches.
- Where did this number come from? At the beginning of the American rail system, the rail spacing was set by English companies, who built the equipment. And that was the width of the rails in England.
- How did the English arrive at that dimension? The wagon makers of old England were the natural ones to make the wheel assemblies, once trains were invented. They had machinery and tools set up for that dimension.
- 4 feet 8.5 inches is still a weird number; explain. Wagon wheels in old England were spaced to accommodate the ruts worn in the roads and old trails. Otherwise, the wagons would be ruined.
- And that rut spacing? Horse drawn chariots and wagons, used by the Romans in England, were built to be pulled by two horses, side by side. Same width for horses and wagons, same ruts for horses and wheels. This limiting factor, the width of the horse’s ass, happened to be 4 feet 8.5 inches.
- So, there you have it. The size of a horse’s ass 2,000 years ago determines the size of a space shuttle booster rocket.
