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The world adopted widespread use of rotorcraft though, so clearly their benefits out weighed their drawbacks.

So I got hammered a bit in the Bulging Disc thread when I asked how does aviation wreck the spine (LINK) and one of the things mentioned was bad weather and vibration. I must have in my memory mixed that up as turbulence. But for the issues of bad weather and vibration, I would think a seat with...

So my understanding is turbulence can vibrate the plane and wreak havoc on the spine of the pilot over time. My question is, why don't they put some kind of shock absorbers in the seats? Like how you have hard seat mountain bikes (no suspension) and soft seat ones where there is a...

The former program manager of Blue Origin's BE-4 engines has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit over (he says) being fired for blowing the whistle on safety violations at the company. Apparently the CEO of the company, who recently stepped down, had a very controversial tenure with allegations...

If they lack a safety culture, then why does NASA entrust them to launch astronauts? Why has the Air Force given them the contract for development of a logistics rocket? I agree that there is a Musk cult unfortunately, but I do not see that affecting SpaceX's safety culture right now.

SpaceX was ready. They don't just build the rocket and launch. They test fired on the ground both the Super Heavy booster and the Starship itself. But to really learn, they have to launch. As for Starship's ability to land safely on the Moon, NASA seems to think it is a good design. I am sure...

They most certainly have revolutionized things. This is actually a very ironic thing I've seen happen: 1) SpaceX says they're going to achieve X 2) The industry says impossible, no, idiots, Elon Musk doesn't know what he's doing, can't be done, etc... 3) SpaceX achieves X 4) Industry and...

Keep in mind fan of SpaceX != fan of Elon Musk.

Given their level of accomplishment thus far and the fact that they are actually launching Starships right now, it would be pretty foolish of them to have not started doing actual design work on the thing. From glancing at the Wikipedia, it says they initially constructed and destroyed via...

I'd say it's likely more than a concept at this point. I am sure SpaceX has done quite a bit of actual design by now. And launching one hundred people into space may or may not be dumb. The point is to make humans a multiplanetary species, to ensure our survival in case something happens to...

Not really a fair comparison though. Two very different vehicles. The Space Launch System is not reusable and as such, costs a lot more than what Starship will cost if SpaceX is successful with it. In addition, Starship is larger and far more powerful than SLS. Yes the SLS made it to the Moon...

Yup, they have money to (literally) blow regarding these rockets. It isn't just the process of rapid iteration with rockets though, there are some other things. Big Aerospace apparently has a lot of legacy practices to it that are just there from decades ago but which are not really necessary...

Saturn V had two (successful) launches before they put crew in it:) And sent them straight to the Moon to orbit (I think ten times) and then come back! Not saying they should only do two for Starship but just interesting.

I don't think that is a proper comparison though. Airplanes aren't giant bombs executing a controlled explosion. They also are reusable. Imagine if historically, every time the Navy sent up an aircraft, they had to destroy it after the mission. So the pilot would go up, execute the mission, then...

NASA is well aware though of the difficulty involved in such a large rocket design, so I think they are willing to cut SpaceX some slack.

Whoops, yes I mixed up the Raptor engines with the Merlin engines, which from what I understand are a fairly simple design. The Raptor is much more complex as its the first full flow staged combustion cycle engine to ever really be used. However, the current Raptor 2 is significantly less...

How is it failure or dumb if they are continually learning and making improvements to the design each time? Also, they didn't launch without a plan to land. They were hoping to land the rocket. Nor do they launch with the intent to blow up "just to see what happens," they launch with the...

Not really. And I don't think the two are comparable. Saturn V was an immensely costly undertaking and the rockets extraordinarily costly. Yes none blew up, but the issue is if it blows up when the rocket is supposed to be safe, not during the development phase. Blowing up rockets is part of...

The Raptor engines used are fairly simple, unimpressive engines by the standards of rocket engineering. So they are fairly reliable.

Just curious, but why does architecture count? Architecture isn't a STEM degree as far as I know. Structural engineering would be.

This was expected by many. This launch, SpaceX got loads of additional data, so their next launch may explode as well, but make it significantly further. This launch itself was improved by data from the first launch. Regarding the Super Heavy, from what I've read, it uses lots of smaller rocket...

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Only the second link works, the first says I don't have permission, so I am guessing that is the moderator thread. However my understanding was there were two working links...?

Pardon my ignorance on this, so does the phrase "Helo Bubbas" refer specifically to Navy helicopter pilots?

Wow what did I miss?

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Not sure if you understood, but I was joking there.

And that's bigoted, you are implying that the spacecraft to do the cleanup is referred to as a man. It should be gender-neutral, so you need to create an acronym for PACPERSON.

SpaceX already actually accounts for this. When a Starlink satellite dies, they have it designed where it will just burn up in the atmosphere. Something will need to be done eventually for all the other space junk up there though.

SpaceX isn't the only one putting these mini satellites up there, other companies are as well and now China is planning to. In terms of infringing on the ability to see the stars, I think SpaceX is working with the astronomy world to help avoid this, but also from what I've read, they'd need a...

Operational Risk Management?

I Google it, but can't find what I assume is the meaning of ORM. I get Object-Relationship Mapping, Online Reputation Management, etc...?

I don't know if Zippy meant it this way, but "incel," while "technically" meaning involuntarily celibate, also refers to a subculture (?) of such men who hate women and much of society. The hate is because they can't get laid, however being involuntarily celibate by itself does not mean one is...

Slight tangent, but why do modern fighter planes even have machine guns if the pilot only gets like four trigger pulls? Is that really enough to defend against an enemy plane?

I am surprised anyone in a high/respected/prestigious position would join something like this. Aside from the moral issues of the women being trafficked, it is (I'd think?) common knowledge that the government busts stuff like this. The college admissions scandal from 2019 is a good example. Why...

Since when have I talked down to anyone on military matters? I have debated some on military history issues and on geopolitical issues, but beyond that, I don't know what you're referring to.

Russia was/is the aggressor though. And fighting a war doesn't mean directly proportional numbers. Given the sheer brutality of Hamas, Israel probably views it that there is a higher tolerance for acceptable casualties in order to destroy Hamas. Some are saying Israel is just indiscriminately...

One problem is the individual European countries do not have the economies of scale the United States has, so manufacturing/purchasing military equipment individually can be more expensive for them. This could be remedied if the countries all banded together as one Europe to purchase equipment...

I certainly hope the defense ministries aren't that clueless.

For all of the talk of equality in our society and Hollywood portrayals of women being as tough or tougher than men, I wonder how well all this would hold up with a draft? Because a truly equal draft would pull both men and women, especially since the combat arms roles have been opened up to...

Wow, FOUR FEET long, that must've been epic to receive as a kid!

They only do additive manufacturing to create fixtures for parts, usually for measurement purposes with the coordinate measuring machines, but other wise not any commercial AM.

I make parts, some of which go into heavy vehicles and machines, some go into medical equipment, some are defense-related, etc...the company actually makes some SpaceX parts as well.

That's that not what a machinist does. A machinist makes parts from prints. In the old days, machinists operated manual lathes and mills, today though it is much more CNC (computer numerical control) machines which often combine both. Almost all mechanical parts are made by machinists. Even a...

Machinist

So then what's your point? We're talking about launching rockets, not test piloting aircraft. What sevenhelmet sees as defects to SpaceX are actually features of what has made it so successful. I am not saying SpaceX is without criticism (and I am in no way qualified on the safety issues you...

Nope, I'm explaining some aspects of SpaceX's culture and how they operate. Also, test piloting is not the same as launching rockets.

The cheers were likely because they knew the rocket would blow, as it is the largest, most powerful rocket ever launched. The goal is to learn from the launch so they can figure out what went wrong and do better next time. That is part of their modus operandi. That isn't SpaceX's attitude...

Elon is smarter in an engineering sense, but that's it IMO. From a business sense, he is not very smart and he is incredibly thin-skinned and vindictive. He also had better watch it. The majority of his massive net worth is tied to the valuation of Tesla, but the company is likely very...

Hey man, don't pull me into this and I never said you were arrogant.