Tolerance Sequence
Index Entry
Tolerance Sequence:
"We've discovered that while you can't be exact, you can progressively reduce error, and that's exactly what mechanica and technology are doing. As we went, for instance, from building a man's house, where an eighth of an inch is a close enough tolerance to make the house stand up, to a hundredth or a thousandth of an inch automobile tolerances; and you couldn't fly unless you held the tolerances finer--to ten thousandths of an inch. Then in rocketry we're getting into millionths of an inch, which is all that we'll allow for error. The space program has a fantastic record so far of not having lost a single man in space-- coming out of the extraordinary reduction of tolerance of error. I find that what we will tolerate in the way of error is very important in the hierarchy of events."
Citations
- RBF to World Game at NY Studio school, 12 Jun-31 Jul'69, Saturn Film Tape #327, p.1.
