Blue Origin thread.

[tater]

3 hours ago, mikegarrison said:

Can't they just drill for "ore" and turn it into anything they want?

This is BO, they haven't flown enough to unlock that part of the tech tree.

[sevenperforce]

On 3/4/2023 at 10:01 AM, tater said:

This is BO, they haven't flown enough to unlock that part of the tech tree.

Oh that's brutal.

[tater]

(I linked to the post-SpaceX part of this, so clicking play takes you right to BO)

It's short, then goes to Relativity stuff.

[CatastrophicFailure]

Engine nozzle went Kerbal, apparently. 

“Thermo-structural failure.”
 

 

 

[CatastrophicFailure]

There's this, too...

 

[sevenperforce]

Very interesting.

Quote

That investigation found evidence [of] structural fatigue failure in the engine nozzle, which it linked to temperatures that exceeded its design. “Forensic evaluation of the recovered nozzle fragments also showed clear evidence of thermal damage and hot streaks resulting from increased operating temperatures,” the company stated. “The fatigue location on the flight nozzle is aligned with a persistent hot streak identified during the investigation.”

Ground tests of the engine found that its flight configuration was running hotter than expected. Investigators concluded “design changes made to the engine’s boundary layer cooling system accounted for an increase in nozzle heating and explained the hot streaks present.” The company did not elaborate on the nature of the design changes.

I wonder if the unexpected differences in the boundary layer cooling system are linked to the inherent challenges of operating a combustion tap-off cycle.

[mikegarrison]

In a long-ago time in my career I did combustor design. Fixing hot spots was always considered a bit of a "black art", but back then we had far fewer computational resources available to us. The testing was always somewhat statistical in nature, because in combustion physics things don't always repeat. And sometimes tweaks that you thought would be insignificant actually turned out to not be so.

[darthgently]

3 hours ago, mikegarrison said:

In a long-ago time in my career I did combustor design. Fixing hot spots was always considered a bit of a "black art", but back then we had far fewer computational resources available to us. The testing was always somewhat statistical in nature, because in combustion physics things don't always repeat. And sometimes tweaks that you thought would be insignificant actually turned out to not be so.

Chaos theory is hard to apply

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

On 3/25/2023 at 7:24 AM, darthgently said:

Chaos theory is hard to apply

Um... Kindergarten says 'beebedebeebedebeeby' 

[darthgently]

2 hours ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

Um... Kindergarten says 'beebedebeebedebeeby' 

When a processes inputs includes its outputs roughly.  Think stock markets and fluidynamics

[tater]

 

[Barzon]

Quote

In order to support our commitment to our mission, we must return to the Moon permanently, and the Blue Moon Lander enables this goal. Blue Moon is a large, flexible, reusable commercial lander for cargo or crew. Our Lunar Pathfinder mission will demonstrate the lander’s core capabilities – including the privately funded BE-7 landing engine, precision landing sensors, and advanced integrated power and propulsion architecture – on an early New Glenn flight. The team building this vehicle is rethinking how space systems are designed, with a high-performing architecture, efficient reusability, and rapid design iteration.

from this job listing: https://blueorigin.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/BlueOrigin/details/Lunar-Navigation-Flight-Software-Engineer---Advanced-Development-Programs_R32802

Another few interesting extracts:

 

Quote

The Lunar Transportation Business Unit is Blue Origin’s team dedicated to developing mission architectures, creating, and fostering new technologies into our existing offerings, building our next generation of leaders, and commercializing new platforms, such as our planned Lunar Lander program, Blue Moon (Link: https://www.blueorigin.com/blue-moon ), and other ambitious space destinations programs that fuel Blue Origin’s growth and further its mission.
[22:21]
 

from https://blueorigin.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/BlueOrigin/job/Seattle-WA/Avionics-PCB-Layout-Engineer_R31684,

Quote

As part of a hardworking team of diverse engineers, you will perform various functions, including those of the Lunar Refueling Phase Lead. The Refueling Phase lead is responsible for all lunar refueling design and operational requirements during the mission. You will validate requirements, decompose requirements, lead system-level analyses, and drive integrated testing. The Lunar Refueling Phase Lead is a Systems Thinker who proactively involves themselves in the design and development of systems that are active during the mission refueling phase. To be successful, experience in fluid dynamics and cryogenic fuel transfer will be required. 

from https://blueorigin.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/BlueOrigin/job/Seattle-WA/Senior-Systems-Engineer--Lunar-Refueling-Phase-Lead---Advanced-Development-Programs_R27203

 

and 

Quote

The Lunar Crew Module Flight Deck will provide manual control piloting for lunar descent.  It provides crew situational awareness and control of the Lander flight path and attitude, vehicle state and the cabin environment.  Essential manual controls and displays are integrated into the Communication, Guidance Navigation and Control (GNC), and Command and Data Handling (C&DH) subsystem designs. The flight deck is equipped with redundant displays and controls for two crewmembers.  Windows are provided for direct views of the landing site.

from https://blueorigin.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/BlueOrigin/job/Seattle-WA/Crew-Systems-Display-and-Controls-Lead-Engineer---Advanced-Development-Programs_R30843

[tater]

 

9 min video, and maybe 30 seconds of space hardware—most of which is CGI.

Sigh.

[sevenperforce]

14 hours ago, tater said:

9 min video, and maybe 30 seconds of space hardware—most of which is CGI.

Sigh.

"For the benefit of Earth"

Okay just stop talking and DO it.

[darthgently]

"For the benefit of Jeff Who"

[Royalswissarmyknife]

"We are blue origin and we will do all of this" made me laugh so hard

Edited April 17, 2023 by Royalswissarmyknife

[tater]

 

[tater]

 

[Scotius]

On 4/17/2023 at 3:49 PM, Royalswissarmyknife said:

"We are blue origin and we will do all of this" made me laugh so hard

At their own, glacial pace.

At one point they do have to start showing some flying hardware. Right? Right!?!

[AtomicTech]

1 hour ago, Scotius said:

At their own, glacial pace.

At one point they do have to start showing some flying hardware. Right? Right!?!

Not as long as Jeffy's Amazon is regurgiating money! 

(For Legal Reasons, that's satire.)

[tater]

Thought is that this is NG stage 2.

[tater]

An NSF thread mentions a reddit post where someone at BO says they currently have ~10,000 employees.

<blink>

 

[wumpus]

On 5/1/2023 at 11:19 AM, tater said:

An NSF thread mentions a reddit post where someone at BO says they currently have ~10,000 employees.

<blink>

 

At $100k a head (more likely 3-4 times that in overhead), that's a billion dollars a year.  Doesn't Bezos cover at least a billion/yr in burn rate, and hopefully they are getting some money for the vulcans (but the billions a year presumably necessary?).  All that money has to go somewhere.  I'm guessing at 10k employees, the average salary has to get pushed down a bit.

[mikegarrison]

5 hours ago, wumpus said:

At $100k a head (more likely 3-4 times that in overhead), that's a billion dollars a year.  Doesn't Bezos cover at least a billion/yr in burn rate, and hopefully they are getting some money for the vulcans (but the billions a year presumably necessary?).  All that money has to go somewhere.  I'm guessing at 10k employees, the average salary has to get pushed down a bit.

I would be surprised if the average Blue Origin employee is only making $100K/year.

I guess that might depend on what work they contract out versus what work they directly hire. Like security guards, cafeteria employees, janitorial staff, etc. versus engineers, machinists, marketing staff, managers.

[tater]

My own reaction was not the burn rate, it was the burn rate as a function of accomplishment.

In 2016, SpaceX had ~4k employees, and flew to orbit 8 times (plus 1 failure).

By 2018 they had 5k people, and flew 21 times.

They passed 10k people by maybe the end of 2021, a year where they flew 31 times.

10k employees for zero flights to orbit is... odd for a launch company.