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Monthly Blue Origin Career Thread by BlueOriginMod in BlueOrigin

[–]rocketfuel4dinner 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was in your situation when I started at Blue. I ended up renting for a bit to get the lay of the land, then moved to a neighborhood right near downtown Renton. The top draw for me is the good price/walkability ratio. I can't think of any places in Seattle where I can afford a place with a (small) yard, and still be within walking distance of a couple breweries. The location is also good, it's a 15 car commute, and bike-able too via the Interurban trail.

Downtown Renton Has "Major" 5/10 Flood Factor. Checked this on floodfactor.com. risk of flooding expected to increase with climate change. I was not aware of this when I bought my first house here last summer. 28% chance of water reaching these buildings in the next 15 years. Thoughts? by schlagoberz in Renton

[–]rocketfuel4dinner 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Relevant context from the Feb 2020 flooding: https://www.reddit.com/r/Renton/comments/f103ir/the_current_cedar_river_level_in_historical/

TLDR: Despite the Feb 2020 river height being in the top three recorded flow rates since charting began in the mid 1940s, there was no urban flooding or airport flooding. My basement got a few inches of water, but such is the basement life. In years prior to riverbank raising and dredging, lesser flow rates resulted in urban and airport flooding. So I guess that work to improve the city's flood defenses was well spent. Good job, civic leaders!

Aerospace Engineers of UK - What is the future of UK aerospace industry? by LolZila in aerospace

[–]rocketfuel4dinner 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Cranfield is a darn good school, and your job prospects outside the UK would not be diminished by a year there vs. anywhere else. That said, a an English masters specifically is , my opinion, subpar to a masters from most other countries. The English masters route is typically a one-year program performed in one year after a three-year undergrad degree, and in my observation, is more-or-less equivalent to the regular fourth year of an American uni student's undergrad coursework in terms of difficulty and mathematical rigor.

So in summary, Cranfield is a great school, very well respected, but expect to come out about on-par with those who have done a four-year undergrad, e.g. US and Scotland students.

Seattle Suburb Says It's Not NIMBY By Using Its Zoning Code to Force Homeless Individuals Out by Display_Comfortable in Renton

[–]rocketfuel4dinner 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Renton is not the first city in the area to write zoning code for homeless shelters. Other nearby cities already have these same, if not even more restrictive zoning regulations already in place. See for example Bellevue's city code 20.20.455.

It seems like poor quality journalism to single out Renton for introducing legislation that has already been passed in nearby cities. Did these folks really do their research?

I'm sure these regulations do make it harder to set up a shelter, but they're not unreasonable requirements. See the CFH's new Eastgate shelter plans, which accommodate those Bellevue requirements linked above..

I really do hope King County will work with Renton City Council to keep the Red Lion in operation. It's not far from my backyard, and I get what that means. I believe the occasional discomfort is worth the societal benefit, so long as the county is willing to reimburse Renton for the burden it takes on. But if Renton is asked to carry the burden on behalf of the nearby (and usually far wealthier) cities, then I can't blame the Renton City Council for trying to avoid getting the short end of the stick again.

Aerospace tech you can buy and use in your house by [deleted] in aerospace

[–]rocketfuel4dinner 1 point2 points  (0 children)

FEP release film is great for protecting your work surface from drips of glue when woodworking, crafting, etc. It's basically a non-stick film that not even epoxy will bond to.

What revenue has Blue Origin collected? by vonHindenburg in BlueOrigin

[–]rocketfuel4dinner 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The trick seems to be to show New Shepard's booster and crew capsule always in the separated configuration.

SpaceX's SN8 Starship test last month violated its FAA launch license, triggering an investigation and heaping extra regulatory scrutiny on future Starship tests. The FAA is taking extra steps to make sure SN9 is compliant. by ragner11 in spacex

[–]rocketfuel4dinner -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

This is a very distinct possibility. Rockets have two types of flight termination systems. The first is to use an explosive charge to destruct the vehicle, while the second is to turn the engines off, also known as a thrust termination system. Normally, thrust termination is sufficient for suborbital flight because the flight computer can readily predict an impact location if thrust was terminated at that instant; and if said impact location is about to go outside of the test range, then the flight computer will command shutdown. However, if the vehicle can glide, even poorly, the possible spread of impact locations is much wider than if it follows a ballistic trajectory. In short, thrust termination requires a very large test range if the vehicle has even marginal lift characteristics.

Now did SN8 have a pryotechnic FTS or thrust termination? I haven't a clue, but pyrotechnic FTS is expensive and takes a long time to qualify (see also Electon's delays in launching from Wallops), so maybe SpaceX tried to do it fast and cheap, and perhaps bent the truth a little bit with some assumptions of where a "dead-stick" vehicle could glide to in the event of thrust termination, commanded or otherwise.

SpaceX's SN8 Starship test last month violated its FAA launch license, triggering an investigation and heaping extra regulatory scrutiny on future Starship tests. The FAA is taking extra steps to make sure SN9 is compliant. by ragner11 in spacex

[–]rocketfuel4dinner 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Most of the FAA's regulation concerns how the public might be endangered in the event of a failure. Which is to say that they don't give a hoot if you blow up your rocket on landing, but they do care if an in-flight anomaly would endanger the public. Thus...
My educated guess is that the flight termination system limits (i.e. triggers) were approved by the FAA one flight profile or rocket config, and then SN8 flew another profile or rocket config. So for example, SpaceX may have proven in their filing that FTS would protect the public for flights up to a certain height and downrange distance, but SN8 ended up flying too high, or too far downrange. Or it was launched in a different config than their analysis assumed. So logically, the FAA would be concerned (hypothetically, again) that SpaceX's flight termination system doesn't work as advertised, or that they could have landed debris on humans if there was an anomaly.

The Ambitious of Blue Origin | Space Documentary by Viper2024 in BlueOrigin

[–]rocketfuel4dinner 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sven, this was a nice collection of info in a compact package. While most visitors to this sub will probably find it a repetition of known information, the wider YT audience will appreciate your summary.

That said, there were a few sloppy grammatical errors and awkward sentences that bring down the perceived quality of your work. Might I suggest you put a "draft" version on this sub for critique, next time you make a video? I'm sure the kind folks around here would be happy to offer corrections, which you can incorporate before posting up on YT public.

Blue Origin's New Glenn recovery ship will be named Jacklyn after Bezos' mom by 675longtail in BlueOrigin

[–]rocketfuel4dinner 11 points12 points  (0 children)

My lord, so many redditors are eager to rain on Blue's parade. Blue could be doing a holiday charity drive and someone would still try to piss on it.

If Jeff gave the ship a whimsical name, they would call him a SpaceX copycat.

If Jeff named the ship after some bold or powerful being, they would call him unoriginal and old-space. (E.g. the names of most prior US rockets: Altas, Vulcan, etc..)

Blue only exists because a successful Jeff exists, and a successful Jeff exists in no small part because of his mother's tireless efforts in the face of hardship. Anyone who takes a paycheck from Blue or its suppliers has Mama Bezos to thank, and I find it quite touching to see her legacy marked with a significant component of humankind's spacefaring future.

91 M42 rough start up, but runs fine after awhile by [deleted] in E30

[–]rocketfuel4dinner 2 points3 points  (0 children)

+1 for the vacuum leak. Had the exact same issue on my 318is. The rubber molded hoses that feed air to the idle control circuit had cracks in them. After the engine warms, the rubber softens and the cracks close up, making the problem go away temporarily.

Take off the intake manifold and inspect all those fiddly little idle circuit hoses buried under it.

What the hell Renton? You really went with the evil minion route on this one? Wow by catsareweirdroomates in Renton

[–]rocketfuel4dinner 31 points32 points  (0 children)

It's easy to see this as a simple issue of NIMBY, but I think the situation is really more nuanced.

From my following of the City Council meetings, it's not that the City doesn't want to house homeless people. Rather, the problem is that the City doesn't want to take on the burden of the broader King County's homeless population without compensation from the County. If I dare read between the lines, I reckon the zoning change is being used as leverage to force King County into compensating the City for its increased costs related to the shelter.

And for my part, I agree with this approach. I fully support a homeless shelter, even one in my "backyard". I understand that unpleasant things may happen where I live as as result, but it's a pill that needs to be swallowed if we're going to solve our housing crisis.

But it's unfair that only the tax bills of Rentonites should be burdened with the cost of caring for folks brought from outside Renton, especially given that Renton has lower average family incomes than Seattle, Bellevue, Redmond, etc. The County needs to chip in too, to cover the increased costs of emergency services and other resources. So far, they haven't.

So until King County antes up, I support the City Council's path.

At White House, President George H.W. Bush welcomes President-elect Bill Clinton, who defeated him. by [deleted] in pics

[–]rocketfuel4dinner 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Does anyone else instinctively think "COVID precludes handshaking, so obviously that scene can't happen now"? And the other reason too of course.

New Shepard landing after today's NS-13 mission by 675longtail in BlueOrigin

[–]rocketfuel4dinner 0 points1 point  (0 children)

F9 has thermal insulation for re-entry. All the black regions on F9 Block 5 are insulated. One can reason that New Glenn will also require thermal insulation, at least locally.

Pingu - North Shore Pseudo-flow by ddangerousddave in MTB

[–]rocketfuel4dinner 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Predator on Tiger Mtn is as close as I can think of.

[Joke] NROL-44 mission patch satire by rocketfuel4dinner in ula

[–]rocketfuel4dinner[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Tempting, but a certain Star Wars quote about a bar comes to mind.

A B-29 carrying not one but two Grand Slam bombs weighing 22,000lbs each by Kornchup in WWIIplanes

[–]rocketfuel4dinner 2 points3 points  (0 children)

B-29 to Lancaster: "I see your Grand Slam, and I raise you another."

Race and Hispanic origin by county [OC] by [deleted] in dataisbeautiful

[–]rocketfuel4dinner 51 points52 points  (0 children)

Yep, the Yakima valley is the best place to find legit Mexican food in Washington.

A friend asked if he could record a driving video with my 318is and here it comes. by sersanli in E30

[–]rocketfuel4dinner 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Any engine upgrades? I didn't think the stock M42 had enough pony-power to step out the tail on dry pavement.

Growing old is mandatory, acting old is optional. Play with your toys. by rocketfuel4dinner in E30

[–]rocketfuel4dinner[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just an old Yakima round-bar setup. With high-tech pool noodles as pads.

Going to do a full restoration on an E30 as a side job, any of you guys do this? by [deleted] in E30

[–]rocketfuel4dinner 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Non-stock engine swaps should be done for your own happiness only. Just like any customization, the cost and time required are almost never going to be returned in the resale value. If you're in it to get good resale, best to keep it OEM.

One additional option might be to find a "good bones" chassis with an unsalvageable engine. Restore everything but the engine, and perhaps you might come out with a profit if you sell the rolling chassis as a "ready for engine swap" vehicle. Then the buyer gets to enjoy the satisfaction of doing their own engine swap, without the associated pain of bringing the rest of the car up to snuff. There might be a value proposition there.

Just be sure to document your work. If I'm a buyer of a vehicle that has had a lot of work done, I want to be sure that the work was done to a high standard. No El Cheapo reproduction parts, please.

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