82-year-old Irish mam’s mispronunciation creates new NASA drone

As the old saying goes, 'Mother knows best'...

Listening to your mam talking on the phone is can sometimes be draining.  What is it about Irish mams on the phone? They talk for absolute ages, gossiping, bitching and often repeating misinformed news about their precious kiddies - namely you. For this one Irish man, listening to his mam on the phone spiked the inspiration for a new invention that can be used on future space missions. Yes, space missions. 82-year-old Limerick lady Delia Hinchey was chatting on the phone not knowing that her misunderstanding would lead to her being credited as a co-author on a US patent for space-age drones. Her son, director of Lero, the Irish Software Research Centre, Professor Mike Hinchey was inspired with an idea for a drone-based repair system after hearing his mother in conversation. image via Lero According to the Irish Examiner, Hinchey confessed:

"I overhead my Mum on the phone describing a project I was working on. She said I was researching a system whereby a drone could chase after another one and fix it. "I was working on no such thing but then I thought to myself, 'hey, that’s not such a bad idea'".

Professor Hinchey, who acts as a consultant to NASA, applied the idea to space exploration vehicles that travel in swarms. Elements of the vehicles that fail can be used to support the rest of the vehicles. “The system is not unlike the behaviour of bees who sacrifice themselves for the sake of the colony,” he said. Now Mrs Hinchey is listed in the US as a co-author of the patent and was happy to have contributed. “It’s all a bit beyond me but I’m delighted I sparked something which might be of value to space exploration in the future,” she said. It's proven - mams do know best!