Archive through October 25, 2024
Star Fleet Universe Discussion Board: Non-Game Discussions: Real-World Space Exploration:
Archive through October 25, 2024
Well SpaceX and their Dragon Capsule seems to be working well.
Safe launch and the 4 private individuals will get to do some experiments over the next 3 days** - and get to be the 'highest' people since the Apollo missions in the 1970's.
** Including the first privately funded Spacewalk - which will see the most people being 'in space' at the same time (as the Dragon capsule bascially opens up and doesn't have an airlock - so all 4 will be suited and booted).
How Boeing must wish for the level of success?
SpaceX launched their "Billionaire space walk" mission this morning. Not sure it counts for purpose of this topic, as the only thing being explored is how quickly money can be siphoned out of a billionaire's bank account.
Jessica
There are some actual experitments planned - up to 40, over the next 3 days (including how Radiation effects the Human body, as the craft will go beyond the Van Allen radiation belt) - so it's not just a very very very very very expensive trip!
I do agree though, proportionally, only buying Football Clubs, new Cars and Computers will have a higher proportional cost factor than going for a Space Walk 
Hopefully the experiments will give some benefit to the rest of us - and no doubt, the cost will gradually fall (alas the article I read didn't mention how much this trip had cost Isaacman) - and so mere multi-multi millionires will be able to afford it in 10 years time.
Well, they opened their hatch and did their EV!!
Another tick for a SpaceX mission.
There are now a record numbers of humans in orbit at 19; 6 cosmonauts and 6 astronauts of the ISS (A crew rotation on a Soyuz arrived at the ISS). Four astronauts on the Polaris Dawn. Three taikonauts on the Chinese space station.
Record 19 drops to a a 'high' 16 with 2 Cosmonauts and 1 US Astronaut returing safely via the Russian Soyuz.
How Boeing must wish for the reliability of Soyuz?
Respectfully, Raven, while Soyuz has matured into a reliable system, please recall the fate of the crew of the Salyut 1 mission. Their Soyuz return craft leaked their air out and all three perished on their return flight. 
Jeff
Space travel has never been safe.... but Soyuz has the best safety record so far (but Falcon 9 might take that soon - although Rockets probably can have more things go wrong - Capsules can't!!?)??
Just last year, Soyuz MS-22 failed on orbit and had to be sent back unmanned. Soyuz MS-23 was sent uncrewed to replace it. Basically the same as the Starliner scenario.
The Soyuz has two total crew lose in 153 missions; plus two aborted launches that the crew was lucky to survive. The Shuttle was lost twice in 135 missions. The Shuttle lost more crew members but similar percentage.
So I wouldn't award the Soyuz with the best safety record.
It appears that both Boeing and the folks behind the long-standing Soyuz projects are preferring to err on the side of caution when human lives are involved.
Not that my opinion matter to either, but I applaud both for this prudence.
INCREDIBLE! SpaceX caught the Super Heavy booster on the first try. Such an achievement. Just waiting for the Starship to return.
Well SpaceX's Starship also returned succesfully.
Next milestone is repeat both aspects I think - and if they can do that = they can provide neither aspect was 'luck'.
Amazing how far SpaceX has gone - from launching Rochets and seing how far they go before they blow up.... to now.
Boeing - Bad to worse?
A Satellite built by Boeing back in 2016 has 'disintergrated' (Intelsat 33e) - cause of the destruction is currently not known - could have been hit by space debris - could have just 'failed' - but this isn't good news for Boeing.
Boeing is in a bad way. It's being destroyed from the top down by horrifically bad management that is good at corporate speak and puffery, but substitute self-serving artificial metrics and lame excuses for true excellence. I've personally watched them destroy *centuries* of experience and institutional knowledge in penny-wise and pound-foolish decisions.
Frankly, I don't care how big it is. Boeing management should either get interested in true excellence, or the company should die.
Note I say Boeing *management*. The Boeing scientists, engineers, lower-level attorneys, and technicians I've worked with over the decades have been excellent. It's the management and their willingness to lie and cut corners for short term stock gains that is making one hot mess of that once great company.
From 1986 to 1992 my father worked for Boeing technically, as they bought De Havilland. Back then the president was sufficiently wise and warned them not to change things that worked just to do it the Boeing way. But unfortunately lower management paid no attention, and office politics/the Boeing Way mostly became the norm. Dad got to avoid a lot of that as chief stress engineer, but it was fairly clear their middle management were rather poor for the most part. At least those that were sent out here! Dad fortunately retired before Boeing sold De Havilland to Bombardier, who apparently from Dad's co-workers were vastly worse in terms of politics and incompetence.
My dad worked for McDonnell Douglas (then later Boeing) from 1982-1992. He reported something similar happening after Boeing acquired them.
I worked for McDonnell Douglas (then later Boeing) from 1976-2016. My recollections are MD started going downhill by the early 90s, with bean-counter, bottom-line, shareholder emphasis upper management to the point where they had to be "acquired" by Boeing, which MD promptly began assimilating, injecting in the "MD" way to replace the Boeing Way, leading to today's similar result for Boeing.
Boeing resistance to assimilation appears to have been futile.
I'm just thankful I was able to retire when I did before Boeing slid further downhill.
(NOTE: due to advancing age, this cognitive recall could be faulty)
Michael, your recall is fine. I've been with Boeing since 1990 and the view from my side is exactly what you recall.
In my experience MBAs think that their "Management" education trumps actual experience doing things or technical education.
I have been on construction sites with Project Managers (MBAs) telling the Superintendents (Construction people) what to do. Never ends well.
Conversely, sites run by Superintendents with MBAs as back office assistance often were excellent.
For some odd reason MBAs tend to think that just because you work(ed) with your hands, you are an idiot. Yes, there are plenty of idiots attached to a screwdriver (etc) but those that become leaders tend to be pretty smart.
true story, on the Mall Of Georgia project I was the insurance company representative for safety, so I walked around all the time and went to the progress meetings. Everyone knew who I was; from laborer with a broom to the Superintendents on teh Prime Contractors (we had multiple prime contractors). One day, the chief sheet metal worker (wearing the mandatory Harley Davidson clothing) comes to me and says the stands for all the Air Handling Units on the roof are under designed and will fail. So I go to the construction manager (owners representative MBA contract guy) and he calls the HVAC engineers. They send out their guy. This is an Iranian Mechanical Engineer. We have a meeting and this engineer calls the sheet metal mechanics stupid and dirty. Sheet metal guy turns red but just says "OK, we'll build to your design." I see him later and he says "those da*m things ain't gonna get a single extra f***ing screw."
Big day comes (a weekend because the site has to be evacuated). Sky crane (an incredibly cool S-64) helicopter is mobilized to fly the AHUs to the roof. This happens with no drama. Air crane leaves and sheet metal guy comes to me and says, all the stands failed. So I climb onto the roof with the CM and yep, they buckled. We call the HVAC engineers and this dude starts to scream at the sheet metal guys in the meeting. "Why didn't you stop when the first stand failed?" Guy hitches up his pants and says "I'm just a dirty sheetmetal worker, and you an engineer. There weren't nothing on the prints you gave me about that." Meeting ends with HVAC engineers (and their insurance bond) sucking up the cost to fix the problem. PAY the sheet metal mechanics on overtime AND the air crane to come back next weekend to fly all the AHUs off the roof. Pay Sheet metal workers on OT to demo all the failed stands. PAY the sheet metal mechanics on OT to build proper stands (plus materials). PAY the sheet metal mechanics & air crane to fly the AHUs back onto the roof. I guessed it was HUNDREDS of thousands of dollars in delta. Engineer guy got fired. I see this foreman dude later and he says "just because I got dirty fingernails don't make me stupid."
I love construction workers, though I could never be one.
The most capable engineer I have ever worked with spent every evening getting grease under his fingernails working on cars for free and every weekend getting slivers in his arms volunteer building low-income housing. He started as a house framer, went to trade school and started as a drafter (like me). Got his mechanical engineering degree later. Took no bovine excrement from MBA types once he was a lead engineer I worked under.
When I was in engineering school, the daily mantra was "Engineers are a higher form of human being. Non-engineers can provide no useful input."
Then I would walk across the street to the ROTC building where the daily mantra was "You will one day be Second Lieutenants, which are stupid. If you are lucky a nice sergeant will teach you your job instead of just killing you. Try to learn from them."
When I got out of the Army and into the gas company, I found that I was the only engineer who would ask a non-engineer for information or advice or suggestions or conventional wisdom. Doing so often caused something akin to a major scandal. People would talk for days about "That new engineer actually asked a mechanic how much room to allow between the two buildings. I don't know why he asked. What would a mechanic know. Something about truck access, I guess, but it's a mystery to me."
I think Dilbert's PHB said it best. Experienced managers know how to identify bad ideas. Bad ideas come from other people.
--Mike
Always said, College teaches Intelligence, while removing Smart and Common Sense.....
Logic is the fallacy of intelligence as it removes outside factors in favor of what it should do....
I've frequently heard a phrase, "Too big to fail." It's been used to justify bailouts for corporations that still continue to do stupid stuff.
Might I propose a new phrase? "Too big to succeed;" it refers to companies that are so large that the various elements are unable to openly communicate with each other without the interference of excessive bureaucracy. Without this communication, there is no opportunity to develop the camaraderie and respect between engineers and technicians.
Sound good to anyone else, or is this just another one of those weird ideas from my (alleged) mind?
"Too big to succeed;"
Explains Microsoft to the tee around the turn of the century, when more flaws in their OS' were fixed by users than the actual coders.....