OT - Moon Machines
I suspect the traffic at MGOBLOG has a fairly high percentage of engineers given some recent talk and i just wanted to take a minute to recommend the show on Discovery Science channel called "Moon Machines." It has to be the closest thing to "engineer porn" i can imagine.
It is about the engineers who designed all of the equipment for the lunar program. i have seen about three or four episodes and each covers a different piece like the capsule or the engines or whatever. It is truly awe inspiring that this was accomplished and we owe it all to engineers. They are socially awkward and pasty uninteresting people, in general, but this show puts them in a whole new light.
Hopefully, some of you will get to work on something nearly as amazing. if anyone is working on anything totally sweet, let the world know about it right here.
January 19th, 2010 at 11:13 PM ^
Hmm, might have to try to download this. Now that I've finished all four seasons of Dexter I need something to fill my time. Thanks for the tip, hopefully we MGoEngineers can come up with something someday that will make the board proud.
January 19th, 2010 at 11:18 PM ^
I was going to say don't google engineer porn... but then I did... anticlimactic.
And I'm not working on anything brilliant at the moment besides homework, but I have an internship with Northrop Grumman this summer and I'm trying to decide which aero student team to join... advice?
January 20th, 2010 at 12:11 AM ^
They have aero student teams? When I was there you had to choose between HPH (which seemed like a giant waste of time) or end up with a minor role doing aero work for solar car or formula 1.
January 20th, 2010 at 12:36 AM ^
We still have HPH... and it still seems like a waste of time :] I have a friend on the team and even he can admit it. But now we have S3FL, Solar Bubbles, MJet (sponsored by Rolls-Royce) and assorted others.
January 20th, 2010 at 7:30 AM ^
I was in s3fl my freshman and junior years. It can be pretty hectic at times, but its also pretty rewarding when NASA recognizes your work. I've heard good things about Solar Bubbles too, though it only started up my senior year so I'm not as familiar with it.
January 20th, 2010 at 7:52 AM ^
Do S3FL. I'm a recruiter for a gov't lab that does space work, and the students from UM that come out with a MEng Space Systems and S3FL experience are my #1 targets. Plus, if you time it rightr and get in on a system that's getting ready to launch, you get to go to Florida / Vandy to watch the launch.
January 20th, 2010 at 7:58 AM ^
I'm actually more into aircraft, but I'll let my space buddies know, thanks :]
January 20th, 2010 at 8:05 AM ^
Don't you read any Ben Bova? Aircraft go out of style the day high payload suborbitals become economically feasible.
Which is like... never.
January 20th, 2010 at 9:48 AM ^
Seconded on the MEng Space Systems degree being extremely valuable in the industry. I had to wait 3 years before being able to go to VAFB, and it's amazing! Spent 2 weeks there in the fall for the IBEX launch. Really, really loved it out there.
January 20th, 2010 at 12:14 AM ^
This entire topic assumes we actually landed on the moon instead of a hollywood set....
/sarcasm (I'm new here)
January 20th, 2010 at 7:50 AM ^
oh, carl everett, you kill me.
January 20th, 2010 at 7:57 AM ^
This thread makes me incredibly depressed that I suck at math and got my degree in PR instead.
January 20th, 2010 at 8:23 AM ^
They are socially awkward and pasty uninteresting people, in general, but this show puts them in a whole new light.I think you mean that engineers are stereotyped as socially awkward and uninteresting. Pasty is hard to dispute since so many of us spend time working in front of a computer or in a lab. I will concur with tripp though, I've seen "Moon Machines" and it is awesome if you're into science and technology. I'm currently working on new armor technologies for military ground vehicles and a big part of that research and development involves quantitative testing with high explosives. In short, I get to blow shit up, which is pretty cool. ...and I owe it all to my degree in ME from the University of Michigan. Go Blue!
January 20th, 2010 at 8:32 AM ^
Stop it stop it stop it!
I hate you all! SHUT UP!
January 20th, 2010 at 9:26 AM ^
but this comment demonstrates that you also suck at PR.
January 20th, 2010 at 9:27 AM ^
The internet is not made up of "public". It is the mob.
January 20th, 2010 at 11:01 AM ^
Sorry, too nerdy?
January 20th, 2010 at 3:14 PM ^
No. I am a jealous, jealous man.
January 20th, 2010 at 8:35 AM ^
One of the coolest episodes of "Moon Machines" was the story of the development of the onboard navigation computer. The standard transistor technology of the time was too bulky and heavy to be packaged inside the spacecraft and semi-conductor chip technology was too new and unreliable. The solution was developed by a team at MIT, where they weaved the binary code for the computer programs using copper wire through an iron armature. The called it "cord memory". It was ungainly, difficult to manufacture, and lacking in capacity, but it worked. Amazing.
January 20th, 2010 at 9:54 AM ^
The show reminisces about the good old days of NASA, but many of us in the industry recognize that those days are no longer for the most part. NASA's main purpose/role nowadays seems to be to distribute money to companies to do all the design/integration/test/launch, and stand back and provide 'management oversight' of the process. Not that I have any problem with that, as an employee of a private space systems company. But at any rate, it's nice to be reminded of how we all got here, and NASA's crucial role in it all. I just think that the public has an out-of-date perception of NASA and what they're capable of anymore.
January 20th, 2010 at 9:55 AM ^
I must watch this show. It sounds pretty awesome. I did S3FL and it was a great experince. I would do Solar Car though and work in the aerodynamics division. I did both for a bit freshman year. It was a mistake on my part to quit solar car, but S3FL was my paid UROP job.
January 20th, 2010 at 9:57 AM ^
My UM Aerospace Engineering wife works for NASA and is one of the leads on the Orion spacecraft portion of the Constellation Program. She and her co-workers are all anxiously awaiting whether the Obama administration will continue the Program. Yesterday's USA Today's article regarding the space program was not very encouraging.
January 20th, 2010 at 10:03 AM ^
What's the article about? The Orion spacecraft is supposed to replace the Space Shuttle as the USA's primary manned orbital vehicle. Is Obama killing the entire project or just the part about resuming manned missions to the Moon?
January 20th, 2010 at 10:06 AM ^
I get really pissed when Space research grants get cut especially when the justification is that it is not as important as other things. People that think that usually have no clue as to the impact of scientific discovery beyond our planet.
January 20th, 2010 at 10:20 AM ^
Or scientific discovery of our own planet, which is what many (most) of today's space science missions focus on. Particularly those satellites involved with atmoshperic research as relates to global warming and such. Important stuff. But everyone thinks that what they do, or what they're interested in is more important - that's why they do it.
January 20th, 2010 at 11:00 AM ^
Particularly when it compromises such a small percentage of the Federal budget. We have 700 billion to throw at bailing out banks, but we don't have 20 billion to spend on a scientific R&D program that will inspire people and ultimately yield new commercial technologies.
January 20th, 2010 at 11:27 AM ^
and like turtles.
But I live in Wichita and it sucks. I'm just biding my time until I can move back to the Deuce. So if anyone is hiring aeronautical engineers in the AA area, let me know!
January 20th, 2010 at 2:18 PM ^
As a NASA history geek (though not mathematically inclined enough to make it a career), I can highly recommend "Rocket Men" by Craig Nelson (not "Coach" Craig T. Nelson) which uses a massive amount of NASA's own files (like over 200,000+) to tell the story of Apollo 11 specifically and the Space and Missile Race in general.
My favorite tidbit (which is on the dust jacket, so I don't feel bad spoiling it.): When Buzz Aldrin got out of the Eagle, he had to leave the door open because the engineers who had designed the LM had failed to include an exterior handle for the latch.
(I have been envisioning Buzz working a coat hanger to try and jimmy his way back into the LM in front of a global audience and it makes me chuckle.)
January 20th, 2010 at 3:19 PM ^
Wouldnt it have sucked if you are on the moon and you got locked out of the space craft? I don't think Pop-a-lock goes out there.