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The Tacoma Narrows Bridge, nicknamed “Galloping Gertie” by the locals because of its intense sway in heavy winds, was a bridge in Washington that collapsed after just 4 months. It was initially designed to be more stable, with trusses, or a series of structural triangles for support, that were 25 feet high. The only problem is that it would cost $11 million. Another engineer came along and proposed a much less stable design with plate girders, but it cost only $8 million, and

In December of 1998, NASA launched a spacecraft to Mars. They were hoping this orbiter would stay in Mars’ orbit and collect weather data for them. It did not. On September 23 rd  of the next year, NASA lost contact with the orbiter. The reason is because NASA engineers and contractors used different units when designing the craft, so it was doomed to fail from the jump. Nobody caught the $125 million mistake until it was off course and 416 million miles away from Earth. NASA

Poor attention to detail . In this field of study, one must always be looking at the bigger picture as well as the most miniscule of details. Sometimes those details are what makes or breaks a product. Complicating the design . It is possible to overcomplicate things and bog down production or balloon the costs. Sometimes simple is best, the bells and whistles can come later or will not be needed at all. Rushing any phase of a project . Rushing leads to all sorts of problems,

Back in August of 2016, Samsung released their latest flagship mobile device, Galaxy Note 7. To no one's surprise it was filled to the brim with the latest technology, making it one of the fastest phones on the market. Unfortunately, they would have to recall Note 7 just two months later because there was a problem with the battery. It was charging just fine and the phone lasted all day, so what could possibly be wrong? Well, it had a problem with self-combusting. Yes, Note 7

Just 73 seconds after its launch on January 28, 1986, Space Shuttle Challenger exploded, killing all 7 of its crew members on-board. Wix image "Rocket Launches Skyward" There were 7 human lives lost on this mission. SEVEN. That's seven sons and daughters, seven mothers and fathers, seven people that are no longer here because of a small part (in relation to the size of the rocket) called an O-Ring. O-rings create seals between mechanical joints, preventing liquids and gases f

The abandoned ruins of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Uploaded to Wix by Mads Eneqvist During the Cold War, the United States and the USSR were ramping up their nuclear divisions and seemingly had all of their nuclear devices aimed at one another. Nuclear power plants, like the one in Chernobyl, were build to produce weapons-grade plutonium. The number four reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded on April 26, 1986. The explosion killed 2 individuals and radi