SpaceX: The New Normal
I grew up with the NASA space program in the news at regular intervals but I had no ambition to be an astronaut until I was too old and hadn't enough of a grasp of basic math to realistically consider this as a career option. But by the time I had reached the cosmic age of 40 the idea of going into space had become a bit of obsession. A dreamy one, to be sure, but linked in with a newfound fascination with theoretical physics in general, superstring theory in particular. It seems I skipped the basics and went straight to Einstein territory which made perfect sense to me. Which is odd given I was still adding some numbers using my fingers.
When I say I'm really, really bad in math, I am also proof that old brains can still learn because now I'm back in fourth grade with Sweetpea, learning about algebraic formulas, variables, and building a backbone of memorized times tables. I have to do this in order to check my daughter's homework and it can easily take me twice as long as it took for her to dash it off. But miracles happen. Weeks of correcting thirty-two math papers as a volunteer in her class every Monday and I may be able to keep up yet.
I most certainly will never be at the level of the hundreds of MIT/Cal Tech/or other Ivy League graduates who had found employment at SpaceX, one of three new private space enterprises in the U.S., but I was grateful nonetheless. A friend won this amazing opportunity at a fundraiser and was kind enough to include me. Yippee!
I was here to see rockets.
Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, or SpaceX, is located in nearby Hawthorne, and was begun by Pay Pal billionaire, Elon Musk. It's a knife-edge, dot.com culture run with massive brain power and a work ethic tuned to making the space industry competitive and accessible. With two successful launches and dockings with the International Space Station (the second just this week), they've proved the nay-sayers satisfyingly wrong. Musk recently told reporters he named the capsules Dragon because of a remark made when he was starting the business that his dream was about as viable as Puff the Magic Dragon. Another of their rockets, the Falcon, is named after Hans Solo's craft in Star Wars. Musk, who knew nothing about rockets before founding SpaceX, was bright enough to bring aboard enough starting expertise to become an expert himself and is in the office at least three days a week when he is intimately involved in every aspect of R&D.
Musk was not in the day we had our tour, but we were given amazing access to almost everything in the plant (with the exception of a room with Top Secret government clearance for reviewing certain documents - hmmm about aliens, perhaps?). Our guides, the assistant to the CFO and COO, along with a very nice guy who's job at SpaceX is to bridge the technological gap between scientists, builders, and laypeople, brought us into their conference room and showed us a couple of videos about SpaceX and their story. Then they led us past offices with the names of several NASA astronauts (who are more likely consultants and spokespersons), past a vast network of cubicles filled with above-mentioned very young engineers, computer scientists, mathematicians, and into the plant where they build their rockets. Our guide told us they take all their employees straight out of school, and do not employ any ex-NASA staff. His explanation: "These kids are used to a 24/7 challenge environment in school and they have the work ethic we need here."
As a commercial enterprise SpaceX was envisioned as a cost-effective, one-size fits all model, with a fraction of the workforce NASA once employed (I think the construction crew numbers were 20,000 vs. 100 at SpaceX). In a re-purposed aviation hangar, they make everything in pieces, and most of them are re-usable after re-entry. Our first stop was to view the two Mission Control rooms they've built which will be in constant use because they plan to be putting missions out every day. Inside these glass-walled rooms with their banks of giant screens, technicians launch SpaceX missions from Cape Canaveral or Vandenberg Air Base. Gone are the days of blinking digital screens and clunky hardware. The technicians we saw in Mission Control that day were running dozens of computer models and launch scenarios as part of their R&D. Nothing in this building is wasted.
The SpaceX hangar is basically an assembly line - many of the workers in this area are not engineers or computer geeks, but they work in close proximity and in relationship with them. They are welders, fitters, metal guys, working in aluminum, carbon fibre and a few other proprietary materials developed by SpaceX. These materials are so secret that they don't even issue patents, lest the technology be 'borrowed' by others, as has been so often the case with China and other developing nations who don't want to put in the time themselves. One such material was the new two-inch coating they put on the capsules to replace the heat tiles developed by NASA. This material resembles ceramic but is lighter and a thick skin of it covers the capsule seamlessly so no tiles can break off. This material, which is formed, extruded and baked into any shape they want is also re-usable, along with the entire capsule.
In this cavernous building with eight story ceilings, pieces of rockets lay and stood in various stages of assembly. From what I remember (and for more complete information visit the SpaceX website) they have three different models and they all use the same propulsion system. One is a basic, unmanned capsule for re-supplying the Space Station (SpaceX's current contract with the U.S. Government), and the other two are in development - a manned capsule (we saw the current prototype) and a cargo ship for taking satellites up to orbit.
All are straight up, old-school models and unlike NASA's vehicles which required massive moving vehicles, a 747 host, or barges to move around, these units are all made to transport on a standard tractor-trailer. According to our guide, NASA's shuttle might have looked pretty, but rocket fuel is dangerously volatile and failure is a reality (as we all know from previous disasters). SpaceX engineers and designers decided to keep the payloads on top of the fuel, rather than joined to it. They've even developed a quick release system so that if things start to go bad, the payload can be quickly separated and with it's own propulsion system, descend safely back to earth. An important factor in a commercial venture where your payload must be delivered, or in the worst case, put on another launch.
We spent about three hours there, and marvelled at the simplicity of this assembly-line approach. The first cargo ship, a large egg-shaped module, was under construction when we came by, and because it's made of only 4 inches or so thick of honeycomb aluminum covered with a baked skin of woven carbon fibre, the whole thing is feather-light by rocket standards and can be moved by a few men. We gathered around one of the three 10' shiny aluminum engines that mix fuels and oxygen in a delicate dance to provide the massive lift necessary. Our guide promised he would explain how it worked so we would understand and he delivered. SpaceX is currently working on how to bring these massive (and costly) engines back to earth - currently all of the rocket stages that provide the initial propulsion separate near the edge of space and burn up on re-entry. As part of their reuse and recycle ethic, the engines are currently the biggest loss during a mission.
The company model works brilliantly because of the symbiotic nature of both aspects of the process: The R&D team works in close proximity to the construction process, and what they envision they can test quickly as they go along. There is even a 3-D printer where they can create a part specific to their needs and use it right away.
In this age of global crisis and the specter of a war-mongering Republican once again in the White House, this visit to the land of dreams realized was a balm to the creative and inspirational soul. Musk has told his staff that his goal is to retire on Mars and he's 41, a thrilling possibility to envision. I understand where he is coming from because I've always argued that we would get off this planet and begin our next historical migration before we fixed our inter-populace issues here. I'm a realist, and being at SpaceX confirmed human beings seem to be moving ahead much faster on one area of our brain development than the other. We can get to Mars but we cannot settle our differences and live in peace. Such is our struggle.
SpaceX: The Final Frontier. For a girl who wants to go to space, this three hour tour of the fantastical world of Mr. Musk may be the closest I get, but it was a tactile connection that was as satisfying as any I could have imagined.
For more information on SpaceX, visit them at http://spacex.com
Over and out.
 |
| Paper astronaut for a day - no other photos allowed |
When I say I'm really, really bad in math, I am also proof that old brains can still learn because now I'm back in fourth grade with Sweetpea, learning about algebraic formulas, variables, and building a backbone of memorized times tables. I have to do this in order to check my daughter's homework and it can easily take me twice as long as it took for her to dash it off. But miracles happen. Weeks of correcting thirty-two math papers as a volunteer in her class every Monday and I may be able to keep up yet.
I most certainly will never be at the level of the hundreds of MIT/Cal Tech/or other Ivy League graduates who had found employment at SpaceX, one of three new private space enterprises in the U.S., but I was grateful nonetheless. A friend won this amazing opportunity at a fundraiser and was kind enough to include me. Yippee!
I was here to see rockets.
Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, or SpaceX, is located in nearby Hawthorne, and was begun by Pay Pal billionaire, Elon Musk. It's a knife-edge, dot.com culture run with massive brain power and a work ethic tuned to making the space industry competitive and accessible. With two successful launches and dockings with the International Space Station (the second just this week), they've proved the nay-sayers satisfyingly wrong. Musk recently told reporters he named the capsules Dragon because of a remark made when he was starting the business that his dream was about as viable as Puff the Magic Dragon. Another of their rockets, the Falcon, is named after Hans Solo's craft in Star Wars. Musk, who knew nothing about rockets before founding SpaceX, was bright enough to bring aboard enough starting expertise to become an expert himself and is in the office at least three days a week when he is intimately involved in every aspect of R&D.
Musk was not in the day we had our tour, but we were given amazing access to almost everything in the plant (with the exception of a room with Top Secret government clearance for reviewing certain documents - hmmm about aliens, perhaps?). Our guides, the assistant to the CFO and COO, along with a very nice guy who's job at SpaceX is to bridge the technological gap between scientists, builders, and laypeople, brought us into their conference room and showed us a couple of videos about SpaceX and their story. Then they led us past offices with the names of several NASA astronauts (who are more likely consultants and spokespersons), past a vast network of cubicles filled with above-mentioned very young engineers, computer scientists, mathematicians, and into the plant where they build their rockets. Our guide told us they take all their employees straight out of school, and do not employ any ex-NASA staff. His explanation: "These kids are used to a 24/7 challenge environment in school and they have the work ethic we need here."
As a commercial enterprise SpaceX was envisioned as a cost-effective, one-size fits all model, with a fraction of the workforce NASA once employed (I think the construction crew numbers were 20,000 vs. 100 at SpaceX). In a re-purposed aviation hangar, they make everything in pieces, and most of them are re-usable after re-entry. Our first stop was to view the two Mission Control rooms they've built which will be in constant use because they plan to be putting missions out every day. Inside these glass-walled rooms with their banks of giant screens, technicians launch SpaceX missions from Cape Canaveral or Vandenberg Air Base. Gone are the days of blinking digital screens and clunky hardware. The technicians we saw in Mission Control that day were running dozens of computer models and launch scenarios as part of their R&D. Nothing in this building is wasted.
The SpaceX hangar is basically an assembly line - many of the workers in this area are not engineers or computer geeks, but they work in close proximity and in relationship with them. They are welders, fitters, metal guys, working in aluminum, carbon fibre and a few other proprietary materials developed by SpaceX. These materials are so secret that they don't even issue patents, lest the technology be 'borrowed' by others, as has been so often the case with China and other developing nations who don't want to put in the time themselves. One such material was the new two-inch coating they put on the capsules to replace the heat tiles developed by NASA. This material resembles ceramic but is lighter and a thick skin of it covers the capsule seamlessly so no tiles can break off. This material, which is formed, extruded and baked into any shape they want is also re-usable, along with the entire capsule.
In this cavernous building with eight story ceilings, pieces of rockets lay and stood in various stages of assembly. From what I remember (and for more complete information visit the SpaceX website) they have three different models and they all use the same propulsion system. One is a basic, unmanned capsule for re-supplying the Space Station (SpaceX's current contract with the U.S. Government), and the other two are in development - a manned capsule (we saw the current prototype) and a cargo ship for taking satellites up to orbit.
All are straight up, old-school models and unlike NASA's vehicles which required massive moving vehicles, a 747 host, or barges to move around, these units are all made to transport on a standard tractor-trailer. According to our guide, NASA's shuttle might have looked pretty, but rocket fuel is dangerously volatile and failure is a reality (as we all know from previous disasters). SpaceX engineers and designers decided to keep the payloads on top of the fuel, rather than joined to it. They've even developed a quick release system so that if things start to go bad, the payload can be quickly separated and with it's own propulsion system, descend safely back to earth. An important factor in a commercial venture where your payload must be delivered, or in the worst case, put on another launch.
We spent about three hours there, and marvelled at the simplicity of this assembly-line approach. The first cargo ship, a large egg-shaped module, was under construction when we came by, and because it's made of only 4 inches or so thick of honeycomb aluminum covered with a baked skin of woven carbon fibre, the whole thing is feather-light by rocket standards and can be moved by a few men. We gathered around one of the three 10' shiny aluminum engines that mix fuels and oxygen in a delicate dance to provide the massive lift necessary. Our guide promised he would explain how it worked so we would understand and he delivered. SpaceX is currently working on how to bring these massive (and costly) engines back to earth - currently all of the rocket stages that provide the initial propulsion separate near the edge of space and burn up on re-entry. As part of their reuse and recycle ethic, the engines are currently the biggest loss during a mission.
The company model works brilliantly because of the symbiotic nature of both aspects of the process: The R&D team works in close proximity to the construction process, and what they envision they can test quickly as they go along. There is even a 3-D printer where they can create a part specific to their needs and use it right away.
In this age of global crisis and the specter of a war-mongering Republican once again in the White House, this visit to the land of dreams realized was a balm to the creative and inspirational soul. Musk has told his staff that his goal is to retire on Mars and he's 41, a thrilling possibility to envision. I understand where he is coming from because I've always argued that we would get off this planet and begin our next historical migration before we fixed our inter-populace issues here. I'm a realist, and being at SpaceX confirmed human beings seem to be moving ahead much faster on one area of our brain development than the other. We can get to Mars but we cannot settle our differences and live in peace. Such is our struggle.
SpaceX: The Final Frontier. For a girl who wants to go to space, this three hour tour of the fantastical world of Mr. Musk may be the closest I get, but it was a tactile connection that was as satisfying as any I could have imagined.
For more information on SpaceX, visit them at http://spacex.com
Over and out.
posted by vallie at 9:21 AM
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