Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Tool Porn



One guilty pleasure of mine is pouring over the details of military equipment, there is real purity and dedication to purpose displayed in every object. Function, durability and maintenance are the only considerations, there is no marketing department, and the accountant has funds that need to be allocated rather than justified.

The reason I say "guilty pleasure" is because I'm always uneasy about the purpose they are designed for, however I have no such qualms about the tools above. These are specialised tools designed for particular tasks to be undertaken by in the Hubble telescope repair mission by NASA.

Medical tools are another terrestrial field that approaches the same function over form mantra, but that just lacks something in the "cool" department!

Click over to the gallery at NPR for more stunning photos of even more stunning tools.

via Chris Fetherston

1 comment:

Punk said...

Its the very same reason military aircraft are so intriguing - even moreso in the days of prop engine aircraft. These things are usually bought from specs by Defense Departments across the world, so they're designed to perform according to those specs and for no other reason.