Blue Origin thread.

[Lewie]

On 9/13/2021 at 5:52 AM, sh1pman said:

Almost completed engines for Vulcan rocket.

And when were these engines supposed to be delivered?

Older then Spacex, yet they have no orbit capable rocket, flown less people then Spacex (on small suborbital jaunts, too) and are years late on the BE-4 while spacex has already surpassed 100 Raptors 

Edited September 17, 2021 by Lewie

[mikegarrison]

On 9/13/2021 at 6:21 AM, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

I took my car to the shop to have a simple repair done (fix a broken door handle).  They told me that I needed to schedule the repair - so we did that and I brought my truck back two weeks later.  Figured it wouldn't take long for them to fix it, so I asked what time I could pick up the truck. They said they would call me. 

So for the next 4 days we had daily conversations about how they had almost gotten started with my scheduled repair. 

Makes me wish I had just bought the specialized door panel tools and done it myself.  The 'convenience' of the dealership proved inconvenient.

It works differently if they have given you a free loaner car. All of a sudden, they get a lot more motivated to finish the work and get their car back.

[magnemoe]

On 9/13/2021 at 3:21 PM, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

I took my car to the shop to have a simple repair done (fix a broken door handle).  They told me that I needed to schedule the repair - so we did that and I brought my truck back two weeks later.  Figured it wouldn't take long for them to fix it, so I asked what time I could pick up the truck. They said they would call me. 

So for the next 4 days we had daily conversations about how they had almost gotten started with my scheduled repair. 

Makes me wish I had just bought the specialized door panel tools and done it myself.  The 'convenience' of the dealership proved inconvenient. 

Guessing ULA feels a bit like this now. 

Now that sounds like bad planning. Yes large repairs like collision damage can take time to fix and might be delayed over fast jobs if they are overbooked. Not part swaps, now if its an special part, especially from an old it can be delivery time but this was an planned repair so they should have the part then you delivered your car. 

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

1 hour ago, magnemoe said:

Now that sounds like bad planning. Yes large repairs like collision damage can take time to fix and might be delayed over fast jobs if they are overbooked. Not part swaps, now if its an special part, especially from an old it can be delivery time but this was an planned repair so they should have the part then you delivered your car. 

I needed a new door handle (Neanderthal yanked the old one off) and a repaired window switch - both of which require panel tools and special fasteners.  I actually scheduled the repair 10 days out from the initial visit. 

 

Now - don't you think that a guy who is willing to accept a 10 day wait from when he needs the repair done and when the shop says they can do it should be able to expect that they will be able to do the work when they are scheduled to do the work? 

ULA is likely looking at BO the way I feel about this 

[tater]

 

 

[Beccab]

48 minutes ago, tater said:

 

 

They said that he is not a paying customer, so likely this is for PR I think?

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

17 minutes ago, Beccab said:

this is for PR I think

Yeah - he's getting paid to say 'To Infinity... 

AND BEYOND!' 

or something like that that. 

 

 

[CatastrophicFailure]

20 minutes ago, Beccab said:

They said that he is not a paying customer, so likely this is for PR I think?

Yeah, otherwise he might have to pay for two seats, he’s been looking a bit… tribble-esque the last few years.  
Oh, and a third seat for his ego. 

still love the guy. Kirk>Picard. 

[Beccab]

24 minutes ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

Yeah - he's getting paid to say 'To Infinity... 

AND BEYOND!' 

or something like that that. 

"To the Karman line, and a couple meters beyond"

or if you prefer
"These are the voyages of the suborbital capsule New Shepart. Its five-minutes mission: to go barely in space.  To boldly go where many people have gone before!"

[tater]

Hey, if the price was far less, I'd do it.

6 minutes ago, Beccab said:

"These are the voyages of the suborbital capsule New Shepart. Its five-minutes mission: to go barely in space.  To boldly go where many people have gone before!"

When "many" is still a really small number.

[Meecrob]

Bezos Wants to Create a Better Future in Space. His Company Blue Origin Is Stuck in a Toxic Past.

Alexandra Abrams, Former Head of Blue Origin Employee Communications, and 20 other Blue Origin employees and former employees on the New Shepard, New Glenn, Blue Engines, Advanced Development Programs, Test & Flight Operations, and Human Resources teams

https://www.lioness.co/post/bezos-wants-to-create-a-better-future-in-space-his-company-blue-origin-is-stuck-in-a-toxic-past

[mikegarrison]

39 minutes ago, Meecrob said:

Bezos Wants to Create a Better Future in Space. His Company Blue Origin Is Stuck in a Toxic Past.

Alexandra Abrams, Former Head of Blue Origin Employee Communications, and 20 other Blue Origin employees and former employees on the New Shepard, New Glenn, Blue Engines, Advanced Development Programs, Test & Flight Operations, and Human Resources teams

https://www.lioness.co/post/bezos-wants-to-create-a-better-future-in-space-his-company-blue-origin-is-stuck-in-a-toxic-past

Well, that doesn't sound good.

[StrandedonEarth]

Ouch. Explains a lot though. 

[Mitchz95]

 

[sevenperforce]

Oh I bet they said she was terminated for cause.

[Codraroll]

8 hours ago, sevenperforce said:

Oh I bet they said she was terminated for cause.

Just cause. Or maybe just because.

[tater]

 

 

[AtomicTech]

23 minutes ago, tater said:

 

 

Heehee

[StrandedonEarth]

What goes around, comes around. 

Something about glass houses?

Edited October 1, 2021 by StrandedonEarth

[tater]

Quote

Team Blue,

Today, you may have seen that some claims were made against our team.

As with any criticism, whether personal or professional, and whether the criticism is fair or baseless, it is never easy to hear. It requires reflection and humility to sort through what is useful and what is not.

It is particularly difficult and painful, for me, to hear claims being levied that attempt to characterize our entire team in a way that doesn’t align with the character and capability that I see at Blue Origin every day.

Yet, one of our Blue Leadership Principles states that “Leaders are sincerely open-minded, and examine their own strongest convictions with humility. They value diversity, in all of its forms, since different viewpoints result in novel ideas. Their openness enables them to trust those around them – and to earn the trust of others in turn.”

We wrote and published that principle, and others, and will today, and always, be self-critical and hold ourselves to the highest standard.

While we reflect on what we can learn and improve, I do want to reassure the team on a few points.

First, the New Shepard team went through a methodical and pain-staking process to certify our vehicle for First Human Flight. Anyone that claims otherwise is uninformed and simply incorrect. That team is appropriately proud of the work they’ve done and we should be as well.

It should also be emphatically stated that we have no tolerance for discrimination or harassment of any kind. We provide numerous avenues including a 24/7 anonymous hotline for employees, we investigate and act on any findings, and we will promptly investigate any new claims of misconduct. As always, I welcome and encourage any member of Team Blue to speak directly with me if they have any concerns on any topic at any time.

Finally, it should never be doubted that we have an amazing team that is doing amazing work. Our team is comprised of the best and brightest professionals in the aerospace industry. People who are dedicated, work hard and are passionate about our mission.

We’ll continue to rapidly grow that talented team, stay focused on our efforts, and support each other. And, step by step, we will make even greater strides.

Gradatim Ferociter,

Bob

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/01/blue-origin-ceo-bob-smith-email-response-to-toxic-workplace-essay.html

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

2 hours ago, tater said:

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/01/blue-origin-ceo-bob-smith-email-response-to-toxic-workplace-essay.html

'We '

Used gratuitously and deliberately. 

Suspect that may engender some resentment from a few people... And thus we should hear more whispers in the next few days 

[mikegarrison]

55 minutes ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

'We '

Used gratuitously and deliberately.

Not sure what you are trying to get at, but I saw nothing objectionable there in the pronoun selection. He's speaking for the company and its management. "We" is the expected pronoun.

The use of "I" would deliberately indicate an individual point of view. 

Quote

It is particularly difficult and painful, for me, to hear claims being levied that attempt to characterize our entire team in a way that doesn’t align with the character and capability that I see at Blue Origin every day.

In that paragraph he's talking about himself, and he uses the personal pronouns.

Quote

We wrote and published that principle, and others, and will today, and always, be self-critical and hold ourselves to the highest standard.

In that paragraph he's talking about the company (or at least the executive management), and he uses the collective pronouns.

Edited October 1, 2021 by mikegarrison

[mikegarrison]

I will add, though, that this whole response has the tone of some white guy saying "I never see racism or sexism around here".

Well no %$#& you don't, because it's not aimed at you, dude.

[tater]

Yeah, it seems like an entirely reasonable response.

I absolutely think he's a big part of the problem with BO (not the harassment claims, I have zero information aside from that article), but what's he supposed to do, say nothing?

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

17 minutes ago, mikegarrison said:

Not sure what you are trying to get at, but I saw nothing objectionable there in the pronoun selection. He's speaking for the company and its management. "We" is the expected pronoun.

The use of "I" would deliberately indicate an individual point of view. 

In that paragraph he's talking about himself, and he uses the personal pronouns.

In that paragraph he's talking about the company (or at least the executive management), and he uses the collective pronouns.

Read in connection with the article - which to my mind was leveled directly at the C-Suite - the "we" in the response publication does not read like 'we executives' but the we and us of 'we (all of us at BO) have been maligned' and lets circle the wagons.  Examples:

Quote

 

Team Blue,

 

Today, you may have seen that some claims were made against our team.

 

Quote

 

painful, for me, to hear claims being levied that attempt to characterize our entire team in a way that doesn’t align with the character and capability that I see at Blue Origin every day.

 

Emphasis mine.

 

The article levels accusations of 'swept under the rug' allegations of workplace impropriety and sexism.  Further it accuses that 'troublemakers' were identified, and that leaders were directed to speak to them - not listen - speak.  If there's any truth to that, and the resentment is still festering, then this part: 

Quote

we investigate and act on any findings, and we will promptly investigate any new claims of misconduct. As always, I welcome and encourage any member of Team Blue to speak directly with me if they have any concerns

may have people speaking out of school, as it were, expressing dissatisfaction publicly even if anonymously.

That's what I mean by 'additional whispers' in the next few days.

 

3 minutes ago, tater said:

Yeah, it seems like an entirely reasonable response.

I absolutely think he's a big part of the problem with BO (not the harassment claims, I have zero information aside from that article), but what's he supposed to do, say nothing?

If they had slightly changed it to 'we are looking into our leadership practices' rather than 'we as a whole have been maligned' I think it would stink less.

Edited October 1, 2021 by JoeSchmuckatelli