Figuring out and successfully executing a hardware hack is fun in and of itself, not to mention that you end up with a working device at the end but for the pinnacle of this craft you should check out this article at Hack a Day.  NASA has pulled off some very inspired hardware hacks in the most inhospitable place for humans imaginable, with serious repercussions if the kludges don't work.  Skylab was launched unmanned but before the crew was even prepping for launch numerous problems began to plague the space station, including an internal temperature of 77C.  These issues needed a workable solution in place before humans could set foot in the station, preferably ones that could be enacted remotely without any humans on the spot.  That is only one of the examples in the article, check out the other examples of ingenuity under extreme pressure by clicking that link.

"From the repairs to fix the blinded Hubble Space Telescope to the dodgy cooling system and other fixes on the International Space Station, both manned and unmanned spaceflight can be looked at as a series of hacks and repairs."

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