I was walking under a beached whale, and inside it, and around, the dangling entrails smacking me in the face, an amateur mistake. I should have known how to move around flight hardware carefully. It was early 1999, and the X-33 was taking shape. With its internal rib-like frame, platforms, curved supports, cables holding all … Continue reading X-33 – the middle path?

The choice was made, so the outcome was determined if not known. In engineering as in life. Not everyone accepts this notion quite the same way or as gospel. Making a choice and living with a determined, if unknown, future sounds fine in theory. In practice, though, determined leads to deterministic. As in destined. Fate. … Continue reading Reusability – legs and fins or wings and things?

There is a temptation to check off “sustainable” as a project feature merely because it appears likely to persist. Rather than this semi-circular definition, grappling with what is truly sustainable can move sideways. For one, sustainable space exploration and development can move to a measurable engineering feature - reusability. How much of something is reusable? … Continue reading Reusability, priceless.