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Rocket Launch in New Zealand Brings Quick, Cheap Space Access

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Re: Rocket Launch in New Zealand Brings Quick, Cheap Space Access

#181

Post by toomanybeersies »

lostlogin wrote: post #177
toomanybeersies wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the reasons I moved from Wellington to Melbourne was the earthquake risk. After the Kaikoura earthquake in 2016, I realised how vulnerable Wellington is if there's a similar sized, magnitude 7-8 earthquake centred on Wellington (which there is a significant risk of). There's only one highway into Wellington, and if that gets cut off after an earthquake (which is very likely, it was down to one lane after the 2…

> it's still very vulnerable to earthquake damage. And tsunamis.

Wellington has enough hills that tsunamis never had me particularly worried.

Re: Rocket Launch in New Zealand Brings Quick, Cheap Space Access

#182

Post by toomanybeersies »

unknown_apostle wrote: post #173
toomanybeersies wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you've really hit the nail on the head there. I also grew up in New Zealand and left for Australia for the reasons that you specified. Cost of living is the same or higher than Australia, but with lower wages. My grocery bill is almost half of what it was in New Zealand, my rent is about the same, and my salary is double what it was back home. New Zealand is a great country if you want what it offers. If I di…

Even if they're paying you half your current salary? :-)

Yes, money isn't everything, it's a means to an end. A lot of Kiwis move over to Australia for 5 years or so to make a pile of savings, then move back to NZ and settle down. If you get a decent job and don't blow all your money living the big city lifestyle you can save $15-20k per year. The trades pay a lot better in Australia than New Zealand, and if you live outside central Melbourne or Sydney cost of living is fairly low.

Re: Rocket Launch in New Zealand Brings Quick, Cheap Space Access

#183

Post by syntaxing »

Gibbon1 wrote: post #151
syntaxing wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would love to read that paper if you can find it! Does metal 3D printing mitigate any of these challenges? Or is the problem a packaging problem where there is a minimum size required for the mechanical parts?

This is the paper I'm drawing most of my blather from. Apparently helpfully linked from the great wiki. https://www.aacademica.org/hernan.emilio.tacca/9.pdf I did some more looking, the linked study says that turbopumps scale better then electric as the burn time increases. Because burning fuel and oxidizer is more weight efficient than batteries. At short burn times that's offset by the increased weight of the turbo…

Super awesome! Thanks! I really wish I learned more about rockets during my graduate studies. Haven't really learned much about them besides supersonic nozzles and the math behind the staged combustion cycle during my ICE class.

Any good websites or books you recommend to learn more about them?

Re: Rocket Launch in New Zealand Brings Quick, Cheap Space Access

#184

Post by indemnity »

toomanybeersies wrote: post #163
nathan_f77 wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also grew up in New Zealand, and it's not for me. It's great if you want to start a family and have a very quiet life. I think I might retire there if I can somehow afford a house. One of the main reasons I left is that I could never afford a house, or even the down-payment on a mortgage. If I had lots of money then New Zealand would probably be more appealing to me, but it's not a good place to earn it. I don't kn…

I think you've really hit the nail on the head there. I also grew up in New Zealand and left for Australia for the reasons that you specified. Cost of living is the same or higher than Australia, but with lower wages. My grocery bill is almost half of what it was in New Zealand, my rent is about the same, and my salary is double what it was back home. New Zealand is a great country if you want what it offers. If I di…

When you say double, are we talking for lower/mid-range career levels? At the upper levels, I think it's quite comparable (living & working in Auckland atm, but for a multi-national, so being paid a bit above market due to rolling RSUs).

I can't see myself earning 500k p.a. in Australia doing software PM, if so, I'm moving tomorrow :)

Re: Rocket Launch in New Zealand Brings Quick, Cheap Space Access

#185

Post by Ono-Sendai »

toomanybeersies wrote: post #181
lostlogin wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it's still very vulnerable to earthquake damage. And tsunamis.

Wellington has enough hills that tsunamis never had me particularly worried.

It also has some flat areas by the sea - Lyall bay / Kilburnie, Mirimar, Petone. The Tsunami risk to Wellington is, in my opinion, severely underrated.

Re: Rocket Launch in New Zealand Brings Quick, Cheap Space Access

#186

Post by dwd »

toomanybeersies wrote: post #162
djrobstep wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't do it. I grew up there. Parochial, small-minded, cliquey people, all the money is in construction and farming rather than tech, poor range of jobs, low wages, and relatively expensive real estate. I moved to Australia, found more interesting work at more than double the salary. Nicer weather and more genuine people, and real multicultural culture due to truly international big cities.

> Parochial, small-minded, cliquey people, all the money is in construction and farming rather than tech, poor range of jobs, low wages, and relatively expensive real estate It's funny that you moved to Australia and complain that NZ is parochial and small minded. I've found Australia to be even worse, although Sydney and Melbourne are large enough that you can self select into groups of people where you avoid that.…

Agreed, you could have been talking about Brisbane/SE Qld as well. Just swap farming for mining.

Real estate prices relative to wages have been in the extremely unaffordable range for a decade and construction continues to be propped up to protect years of misguided investment in what is a ponzi scheme in all but name.

Re: Rocket Launch in New Zealand Brings Quick, Cheap Space Access

#187

Post by tjpnz »

kibwen wrote: post #8

I was about to say that launching so far from the equator sounds very fuel-inefficient, but it turns out that their launchpad's latitude (39 degrees south) is nearer the equator than Russia's primary launch site, the Baikonur Cosmodrome (45 degrees north). For reference, Cape Canaveral is 28 degrees north.

This has always bothered me especially given their plans to send a rover to the moon. Launching from Tokelau, Niue or the Cook Islands would make more longterm sense.

Re: Rocket Launch in New Zealand Brings Quick, Cheap Space Access

#188

Post by peterashford »

djrobstep wrote: post #137
unknown_apostle wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So why did you leave? (Asking because I have an opportunity to move there.)

Don't do it. I grew up there. Parochial, small-minded, cliquey people, all the money is in construction and farming rather than tech, poor range of jobs, low wages, and relatively expensive real estate. I moved to Australia, found more interesting work at more than double the salary. Nicer weather and more genuine people, and real multicultural culture due to truly international big cities.

"Parochial, small-minded, cliquey people" and so you moved to Australia? I don't believe you have ever met any Australians. Or New Zealanders. One or the other.

Re: Rocket Launch in New Zealand Brings Quick, Cheap Space Access

#189

Post by peterashford »

unknown_apostle wrote: post #89
peatmoss wrote: post #2

The years I spent in New Zealand painted a vivid picture of a society of doers. I think there’s something to the idea that this comes in part from being a landmass the size of Colorado, with not much more than 4 million people, with the freedom and requirements to maintain the infrastructure of being a sovereign nation. Seeing a NZ rocket launch condures an image of a small group of doers dreaming big. Way to go NZ!

So why did you leave? (Asking because I have an opportunity to move there.)

As a New Zealander working in IT (games dev), I would agree with the criticism that NZ cost of living is high and house ownership is expensive (esp. in Auckland) and wages are relatively low. However, the other criticisms I saw reported here about cafes closing at 3pm(!) and Australians being more open-minded are just bizarre. The NZ game dev community is very warm and sharing (actually, the Australian game-devs are too)

Re: Rocket Launch in New Zealand Brings Quick, Cheap Space Access

#190

Post by nathan_f77 »

peterashford wrote: post #179
nathan_f77 wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also grew up in New Zealand, and it's not for me. It's great if you want to start a family and have a very quiet life. I think I might retire there if I can somehow afford a house. One of the main reasons I left is that I could never afford a house, or even the down-payment on a mortgage. If I had lots of money then New Zealand would probably be more appealing to me, but it's not a good place to earn it. I don't kn…

I don't know what century you lived in NZ, but none of what you mentioned about shops closing is true. Sounds like when I was a kid in the 70's.

Sorry yeah, there some better places to live if you want a nightlife, like the Auckland city center or Newmarket, but that's even more expensive. (And still really quiet compared to other places in the world.)

I was talking about the suburbs in west Auckland, like Henderson, Kumeu, etc. And in smaller towns as well. One time we were thinking about moving to New Plymouth, so we stayed for a week, and that was definitely way too quiet for me.

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