Astute newsletter readers may have noticed we are now in the longest hiatus in WGTB history. It’s not because the union stopped doing stuff (they didn’t) but in fact because I started doing too much other stuff. A combination of personal life factors and big historical events have led me to put our beloved weekly dispatch on hold. If you’re one of the very generous people who chip in a few bucks monthly, you’ll notice those payments are also on hold.
This is a bummer and I’m sorry to see you go. Any sub stacks or mastodon folks you can recommend? Or other media that we might not know? Thanks and good luck to you!
In case anyone wonders what rocket science is, let me fill you in.
Apart from all the obvious stuff which is mostly Newton's First, F = ma, there are two subtle and difficult points:
1.) Cool yer jets.
2.) The Earth is a sphere.
Making a high-thrust rocket is easy; keeping it from melting the whole joint is difficult. The German V2 used thecrude method: they made the stuff exposed to heat out of heat-proof material. The American space effort got a whole lot more subtle -- one of those little things that makes some of us think that engineering is sometimes beautiful -- they surrounded the hot parts with cold fuel pipes that needed to be heated up. Cooled jets, hot fuel. Neat!
That the Earth is a sphere is simply a reminder that the military mind is likely to think that since maps are flat the territory must be flat, too. As with jets, there are two sets of work-arounds: you can either calculate your routes using geometries that reflect the real world or you can make a whole lot of course corrections as you go along. Turns out that doing both is the best way of doing things.
This is a bummer and I’m sorry to see you go. Any sub stacks or mastodon folks you can recommend? Or other media that we might not know? Thanks and good luck to you!
In case anyone wonders what rocket science is, let me fill you in.
Apart from all the obvious stuff which is mostly Newton's First, F = ma, there are two subtle and difficult points:
1.) Cool yer jets.
2.) The Earth is a sphere.
Making a high-thrust rocket is easy; keeping it from melting the whole joint is difficult. The German V2 used thecrude method: they made the stuff exposed to heat out of heat-proof material. The American space effort got a whole lot more subtle -- one of those little things that makes some of us think that engineering is sometimes beautiful -- they surrounded the hot parts with cold fuel pipes that needed to be heated up. Cooled jets, hot fuel. Neat!
That the Earth is a sphere is simply a reminder that the military mind is likely to think that since maps are flat the territory must be flat, too. As with jets, there are two sets of work-arounds: you can either calculate your routes using geometries that reflect the real world or you can make a whole lot of course corrections as you go along. Turns out that doing both is the best way of doing things.
There. Yer welcome.
Sorry to hear as I really enjoyed it.
Thanks so much for all the work you've done on this project. Take care.
Sorry to hear it but thanks for all your hard work on it, man. Best of luck with your other projects/life stuff!
Bummer