# Auuuuugh! There's A Shuttle Arm For Sale on eBay! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 6, 2005, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auuuuugh-theres-a-shuttle-arm-for-sale-on-ebay/293155 "2005-03-06T01:50:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auuuuugh-theres-a-shuttle-arm-for-sale-on-ebay/293155/21 "2005-03-07T00:39:20Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > The robotic arm or the sofa. If the former, I am amused by your notion that a vehicle-mounted robotic arm _needs_ to be tricked out. Well, Pimp My Sofa just doesn’t have that ring to it. ---
**Author:** ![Scarface\_Z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Scarface\_Z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarface_Z)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auuuuugh-theres-a-shuttle-arm-for-sale-on-ebay/293155/22 "2005-03-07T01:01:10Z")
$25,000? Are you kidding? You can easily make that money back with your own giant robotic arm! Whether it’s running an arm wrestling booth at the fair, or starting your own homer movers business, it pays for itself! 🙂 Eh, there’s probably something terribly wrong with it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auuuuugh-theres-a-shuttle-arm-for-sale-on-ebay/293155/23 "2005-03-07T01:29:59Z")
> [@Scarface Z](#): > > Eh, there’s probably something terribly wrong with it anyway. Yeah, it was probably designed for pure EVIL! or some such. Perhaps it’s possessed by the spirit of Mickey Rourke, returned from beyond the grave to molest beautiful young ladies, if only they’d just come over by this flatbed - just a little closer, yes _you’re_ a pretty one, aren’t you? And he’s not even dead yet, either. Hollywood, I ask you. ---
**Author:** ![Tenar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auuuuugh-theres-a-shuttle-arm-for-sale-on-ebay/293155/24 "2005-03-07T04:03:28Z")
The seller doesn’t seem to be doing too well with meeting his reserve, so far. I wonder how he got this thing. I’ve heard of Army surplus, but is there “NASA Surplus” for sale? ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auuuuugh-theres-a-shuttle-arm-for-sale-on-ebay/293155/25 "2005-03-07T04:09:27Z")
> [@Tenar](#): > > The seller doesn’t seem to be doing too well with meeting his reserve, so far. > > I wonder how he got this thing. I’ve heard of Army surplus, but is there “NASA Surplus” for sale? Yup. One engineer bought boatloads of rockets back in the 60s via their surplus sales. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auuuuugh-theres-a-shuttle-arm-for-sale-on-ebay/293155/26 "2005-03-07T04:28:49Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > Yup. One engineer bought boatloads of rockets back in the 60s via their surplus sales. He struck while the iron was hot: I’ve heard that sale only lasted 20 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auuuuugh-theres-a-shuttle-arm-for-sale-on-ebay/293155/27 "2005-03-07T04:33:19Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > He struck while the iron was hot: I’ve heard that sale only lasted 20 minutes. I think he planned to use them for the 1920s style death ray he was restoring, but died before he could complete it. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auuuuugh-theres-a-shuttle-arm-for-sale-on-ebay/293155/28 "2005-03-07T04:33:55Z")
> [@jinwicked](#): > > Have you ever seen a shuttle launch **Tucker**? I won an art contest back when I was about 15 and got to go see an Endeavour night launch. It’s pretty awesome. We saw it from the employee viewing centre, about 2 miles away (I think.) I am soooooo jealous. Anyway the real robotic arm has a Canadian Flag and the word Canada on it. This can’t be a real space shuttle robotic arm. ---
**Author:** ![inkleberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f17d59/32.png) [@inkleberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inkleberry)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auuuuugh-theres-a-shuttle-arm-for-sale-on-ebay/293155/29 "2005-03-07T07:33:51Z")
All I can think of is giving the worst purple nurples in history. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auuuuugh-theres-a-shuttle-arm-for-sale-on-ebay/293155/30 "2005-03-07T08:42:39Z")
It looks like maybe it was a tool for repositioning some device while working on it; I’m thinking large, delicate, complex pieces of engineering like (_like_, but obviously not _exactly like_) a satellite; if you need to work on a bit that is on the underside, you can’t exactly yell “OK, everybody, _lift and turn_” - mounting the device on an arm like this would allow it to be moved about so that it could be worked on from any angle. ---
**Author:** ![butter\_pie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aca169/32.png) [@butter\_pie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butter_pie)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auuuuugh-theres-a-shuttle-arm-for-sale-on-ebay/293155/31 "2005-03-07T10:00:34Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > I am soooooo jealous. [Here, I uploaded this for you.](http://diversions.jinwicked.com/gallery/misc/spaceshuttle) Just stomp your feet a lot so it feels like the ground is shaking, and make some rumbly booming noises, and you can pretend you were there. 🙂 Sadly most of my other NASA pics I took were lost. When I was 15, I didn’t think I’d give a damn about those pics much later. I have a bunch from last year at NASA down here in Clear Lake… maybe I’ll get around to scanning them eventually. ---
**Author:** ![robotic\_panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed8c4c/32.png) [@robotic\_panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robotic_panda)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auuuuugh-theres-a-shuttle-arm-for-sale-on-ebay/293155/32 "2005-03-07T12:20:22Z")
I could use another robotic arm… but i’d probably waste it. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auuuuugh-theres-a-shuttle-arm-for-sale-on-ebay/293155/33 "2005-03-07T14:42:20Z")
> [@](#): > > It shares some similarities to the Robotic Arm inside the SPACE SHUTTLE Well, I share some similarities to Einstein, so… ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auuuuugh-theres-a-shuttle-arm-for-sale-on-ebay/293155/34 "2005-03-07T15:06:35Z")
> [@jinwicked](#): > > [Here, I uploaded this for you.](http://diversions.jinwicked.com/gallery/misc/spaceshuttle) > > Just stomp your feet a lot so it feels like the ground is shaking, and make some rumbly booming noises, and you can pretend you were there. 🙂 > > Sadly most of my other NASA pics I took were lost. When I was 15, I didn’t think I’d give a damn about those pics much later. I have a bunch from last year at NASA down here in Clear Lake… maybe I’ll get around to scanning them eventually. Thanks! Ooooo A NIGHT LAUNCH! COOL! Now all the people in my office are wondering why I’m roaring in here but they already think I’m weird. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auuuuugh-theres-a-shuttle-arm-for-sale-on-ebay/293155/35 "2005-03-07T21:02:43Z")
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