tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924773307171301256.post3588427675586438264..comments2024-03-29T05:15:59.987-04:00Comments on Just An Earth-Bound Misfit, I : Fifty Years AgoComrade Misfithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15404477636451308763noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924773307171301256.post-18276919214373235312017-01-28T00:55:26.750-05:002017-01-28T00:55:26.750-05:00 Cripes, I learned about what oxygen does when the... Cripes, I learned about what oxygen does when they taught me how to gas weld in high school. Maybe when you get that far along in technology and engineering, you sort of lose touch with the basics. That was my experience as a machinist, anyway. <br /> I was only six when it happened, but as I really loved rockets at the time, I do still remember it well.<br /><br /> -Doug in Oaklanddinthebeasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12941071534250216503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924773307171301256.post-17868159606005657582017-01-27T23:56:51.137-05:002017-01-27T23:56:51.137-05:00Engineers can focus on the wrong things, like RFP-...Engineers can focus on the wrong things, like RFP-manship and what do the specs require, not what the real world demands... <br /><br />I worked on the Space Station power system during the design phase in the Systems Engineering group. We did the high-level specs and translations from the RFP down to usable requirements. One big item was if a system was life-critical, and the power system wasn't (at the time). It is 100% computer controlled so if the lights go out hard you can't just suit up and close a circuit breaker out at the power module. <br /><br />I was in a meeting and asked how we would recover power in the event of a hard crash, and the rote response was it would be restarted from the attached Shuttle.... OK, what if there isn't a shuttle docked? The answer was shrugged shoulders.. I am a submariner, so safety and recoverability is second nature. When I pushed harder about restarting the power system I was finally told "it is't designated as life-critical, we don't have to worry about that". Well, I lost my temper and barked out the question if people had to die on orbit for them to realize power (for lights, air movement, CO2 removal, etc.) was a life-critical system...<br /><br />I didn't make any friends but I think the designers took things a bit more seriously...Rick Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04748076795783834112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924773307171301256.post-69520832585431730682017-01-27T21:29:26.741-05:002017-01-27T21:29:26.741-05:00Roger Chaffee was my classmate in grad school. Tod...Roger Chaffee was my classmate in grad school. Today all my engineering classes start with a first-day lecture on ethics & competence...deadstickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11507470381678244421noreply@blogger.com