The red warning light on Richard Branson’s space flight

Post by jamiek88 » Thu, Sep 02, 2021, 6:14 AM UTC

mmaunder wrote: post #121

bryananderson wrote: post #36

I recommend Schmidle’s recent book “Test Gods” if you are interested in Virgin Galactic and test piloting. Schmidle is not an engineer and I would have enjoyed a deeper dive into Virgin Galactic’s design choices, but it is a great book about (among other things) the tensions that emerge when a complex technical project is overseen from a distance by utterly nontechnical, PR-oriented upper management. The company’s co…

Agreed about the chickens and it will have a broader negative impact than the $SPCE stock price. Fundamentally I think it’s a culture problem. Collaborative engineering that identifies problems, views them as opportunities, doesn’t finger-point, and works each problem. Versus a sales and marketing organization with hard deadlines and a 100% focus on perception and revenue targets. We don’t need an Apollo 1 in the pri…

Post by snowwrestler » Thu, Sep 02, 2021, 6:53 AM UTC

mabbo wrote: post #67

This highlights why having automated pilots in spaceships is so critical. Software can be tested more thoroughly than humans, and cannot override safety protocols. If the rules say to abort, the software aborts. Humans get to say "I think we'll be fine", and put lives on the line.

Post by youngtaff » Thu, Sep 02, 2021, 7:02 AM UTC

TheOtherHobbes wrote: post #110

mc32 wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Heh. He’s probably a nice guy... and his example is just the one that came first to mind. It irks me people like Branson are blasé about faking something they don’t have to fake. He’s probably dedicated to the environment even if his activities and businesses aren’t friendly to the environment. But just faking it like he really did it, he carried on with the ruse during his little speech too. Like, why?

Because he's a professional narcissist, and everything narcissists do is attention-seeking and fake. There are a number of books about Branson, and they all underline that he's "not a detail person." As in, he literally doesn't understand what he's doing a lot of the time. He's good at surrounding himself with competent people who make things happen. He's also good at sales - talking a good game, being charming and o…

Post by aero-glide2 » Thu, Sep 02, 2021, 7:38 AM UTC

anonymousiam wrote: post #153

Good article, but I did not like the way it referred to Scaled Composites as a company "contracting" for Virgin. IIRC Burt Rutan (founder of Scaled Composites) began the whole program (Spaceship One. etc.), but became associated with Branson later, and that eventually led to an acquisition. I suppose that like many others, the acquisition deal required the re-writing of history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scaled_C…

Post by kevinventullo » Thu, Sep 02, 2021, 7:43 AM UTC

WalterBright wrote: post #139

theelous3 wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Typically warning lights appear when the thing they warn about is impending, not that you've past the point. Otherwise they would be useless, except for existential mockery.

I always wanted a street navigator that would say: "you should have turned left back there" followed by a random insult in various languages. Much like every human navigator I've ever had who has been as unhelpful as possible.