Random Thought Thread

Pàdruig said:
But, uh.... anyway, I got a new tequila in and installed some new sights on my Colt. Huge improvement.

Where is yoko yoko at? I need my feel-good Friday post.
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........ I got you homie , you know what day it is.......


HAPPY FRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDAAAAAAAAAAAAAY MOTHER CLUCKERS!!!!!!!!!++++!!!!!!!XXX!!!!¡!¡
(Nathan enjoying adult beverages and getting funky to this
)


We made it another week!!!!!

I hope all of you had a fantastic week, and to those with struggles ..... hang in there I hope things get better quickly , we got your back

Remember to text your friends to wish them happy Friday..... and always remember to enjoy the little things in life (preferably with a CPK 😉 )

Sit back relax and enjoy an adult beverage you deserve it!

GEONBAE
 
yoko said:
........ I got you homie , you know what day it is.......


HAPPY FRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDAAAAAAAAAAAAAY MOTHER CLUCKERS!!!!!!!!!++++!!!!!!!XXX!!!!¡!¡
(Nathan enjoying adult beverages and getting funky to this
)


We made it another week!!!!!

I hope all of you had a fantastic week, and to those with struggles ..... hang in there I hope things get better quickly , we got your back

Remember to text your friends to wish them happy Friday..... and always remember to enjoy the little things in life (preferably with a CPK 😉 )

Sit back relax and enjoy an adult beverage you deserve it!

GEONBAE
Click to expand...


https://twitter.com/x/status/2042335922159562843

https://twitter.com/x/status/2042567396490101178
 
yoko said:
We made it another week!!!!!
Click to expand...

Whew - just barely. I don't know why this week felt so damn busy, but I'm freakin' exhausted. And next week is setting up to be even more busier.

But phawk it - I don't need to think about that for the next two days. Cheers, CoCKs!! 🍻

2pFzhf.gif
 
SpyderPhreak said:
So happy!!! 🎉 🥳 🎉

A bit emotional over here if I'm being honest. ~6 years of my life into this program. To finally see some successful manned results is a great feeling! 🥰
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That's pretty cool. What systems did you work on? What kind of stuff did you do?
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
That's pretty cool. What systems did you work on? What kind of stuff did you do?
Click to expand...
Apologies for the delayed reply, I was out celebrating/drinking with some former Orion co-workers.

This is going to be a bit long, sorry. But worth the read!

I am an aerospace engineer. I was in the Aerodynamics group at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company (the prime contractor on Orion) here in Colorado. I primarily spent my time working on the LAS (Launch Abort System), something we hope never needs to be used. The LAS is the big tower that sits at the top of the rocket at launch, and pulls the Orion capsule to safety if something goes horribly wrong. I mostly did wind tunnel testing during my time on the program.

Inside the LAS there are 3 solid rocket motors (solid rocket means you light the candle and hold on until it burns out, you cannot turn it off). The largest, the Abort Motor (AM), which pulls everything to safety and is not used unless there’s’s an emergency. You can see its 4 nozzles externally on the tower, about midway up. If used, the astronauts will NOT remember the ride, because they’ll all pass out!!! It pulls the capsule away from the rocket at something like 12-13g’s acceleration (it might be even more; going off memory, I recall 0 to around 500mph in ~2 seconds). It’s insane!!! 🤯

Next, the Attitude Control Motor (ACM) in the nose, with its 8 pintle-controllable nozzles around the perimeter, which is responsible for controlling the the trajectory of the LAS during abort, and then pitching the tower over 180º before jettison. And finally, the Jettison Motor (JM) which pulls the tower away from the Orion capsule (the only one that get used every time). The JM nozzles are integral into the LAS tower, and are faired over flush with the LAS tower, so you cannot see them at launch.

Anyway, the aerodynamics of the extremely complicated motor exhaust plume interactions with both the other rocket motor plumes and the freestream air around the vehicle, over the entire flight envelope from 0mph (pad abort) up through about Mach 1.5, had to be carefully characterized. It took a LOT of testing… I was away from home upwards of 8 weeks at a time a couple times, and 2-4 week trips too many times to count, from 2007-2013. It was grueling, but thoroughly enjoyable work.

We also did some re-entry aerodynamics and aero heating wind tunnel tests, where it was just the Orion capsule, in the heatshield-forward configuration.

Finally, I also ran some forward bay cover (FBC) venting analyses. The FBC is the ring-shaped cover that sits at the top of the capsule and protects the parachutes. It is jettisoned at roughly 20,000’ altitude after re-entry (was easy to see happen in today’s landing), which then begins the process of parachute deployment. The transient dynamic pressure inside of those compartments when pulling that cover off is extremely important, to ensure the cover comes off in a linear fashion, without any tipping which could cause damage to the parachutes (I’m simplifying things here, but that’s the gist of it), which could obviously be catastrophic.

So, seeing the LAS not being needed and being pulled safely away from the rocket at launch, and the FBC jettison going flawlessly after re-entry, were both immensely satisfying for me, personally.

I’ll have to go do a bit of digging, as many of the tests I worked on now have pubically-released photos I can share here, if I can find them online. I’ll post some if I can find them, but might not be until tomorrow.

jlauffer said:
Toilet?




😁
Click to expand...
🖕 ;) :p 🤨

No. LMAO. 😑 🤣
 
Last edited:
SpyderPhreak said:
Apologies for the delayed reply, I was out celebrating/drinking with some former Orion co-workers.

This is going to be a bit long, sorry. But worth the read!

I am an aerospace engineer. I was in the Aerodynamics group at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company (the prime contractor on Orion) here in Colorado. I primarily spent my time working on the LAS (Launch Abort System), something we hope never needs to be used. The LAS is the big tower that sits at the top of the rocket at launch, and pulls the Orion capsule to safety if something goes horribly wrong. I mostly did wind tunnel testing during my time on the program.

Inside the LAS there are 3 solid rocket motors (solid rocket means you light the candle and hold on until it burns out, you cannot turn it off). The largest, the Abort Motor (AM), which pulls everything to safety and is not used unless there’s’s an emergency. You can see its 4 nozzles externally on the tower, about midway up. If used, the astronauts will NOT remember the ride, because they’ll all pass out!!! It pulls the capsule away from the rocket at something like 12-13g’s acceleration (it might be even more; going off memory, I recall 0 to around 500mph in ~2 seconds). It’s insane!!! 🤯

Next, the Attitude Control Motor (ACM) in the nose, with its 8 pintle-controllable nozzles around the perimeter, which is responsible for controlling the the trajectory of the LAS during abort, and then pitching the tower over 180º before jettison. And finally, the Jettison Motor (JM) which pulls the tower away from the Orion capsule (the only one that get used every time). The JM nozzles are integral into the LAS tower, and are faired over flush with the LAS tower, so you cannot see them at launch.

Anyway, the aerodynamics of the extremely complicated motor exhaust plume interactions with both the other rocket motor plumes and the freestream air around the vehicle, over the entire flight envelope from 0mph (pad abort) up through about Mach 1.5, had to be carefully characterized. It took a LOT of testing… I was away from home upwards of 8 weeks at a time a couple times, and 2-4 week trips too many times to count, from 2007-2013. It was grueling, but thoroughly enjoyable work.

We also did some re-entry aerodynamics and aero heating wind tunnel tests, where it was just the Orion capsule, in the heatshield-forward configuration.

Finally, I also ran some forward bay cover (FBC) venting analyses. The FBC is the ring-shaped cover that sits at the top of the capsule and protects the parachutes. It is jettisoned at roughly 20,000’ altitude after re-entry (was easy to see happen in today’s landing), which then begins the process of parachute deployment. The transient dynamic pressure inside of those compartments when pulling that cover off is extremely important, to ensure the cover comes off in a linear fashion, without any tipping which could cause damage to the parachutes (I’m simplifying things here, but that’s the gist of it), which could obviously be catastrophic.

So, seeing the LAS not being needed and being pulled safely away from the rocket at launch, and the FBC jettison going flawlessly after re-entry, were both immensely satisfying for me, personally.

I’ll have to go do a bit of digging, as many of the tests I worked on now have pubically-released photos I can share here, if I can find them online. I’ll post some if I can find them, but might not be until tomorrow.


🖕 ;) :p 🤨

No. LMAO. 😑 🤣
Click to expand...

My daughter has a classmate who is doubting the authenticity of the mission; almost, but not quite, calling it fake.

I told her to tell him that I have a buddy who got to work on that project, and it's pretty special. I'm glad you got to celebrate, man; you deserve it. Our household has very much enjoyed watching the mission progress.
 
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