Launching From Cape Canaveral, Kennedy Space Station
Out of the past comes the Thundering of another outer space launch! (Those of us older will remember also the radio announcing: Out of the past come the thundering hooves of the Great Horse Silver! The Lone Ranger rides again!) Man walking, man riding beasts of burden (horses being the favorite), man riding mechanical automobiles, airplanes, rocket ships! Man is blessed and burdened with a deep desire to rise higher, faster, enjoying greater and greater experiences and failures–I think failures are an important part of life and experience, from them we learn to improve and avoid repeating mistakes–Progress! Even Progress as a word and mission has deteriorated and has even been cast as counter to human satisfaction and contentment. The fine folks here at AlphaOmegaChoices.com endeavor to bring you life reality anecdotes and stories that tickle the mind, challenge thoughts, and generally educate without prejudice; mostly for entertainment and thought.
The launch picture reminds me of many of my participations in the excitement and failures of the space missions. My earliest exposure was in my college years and included a field trip to a Corps of Engineers project near Denver, CO; Minutemen missile silos meant to protect us from being live targets of Missile Warfare. An intriguing engineering endeavor challenged by extreme thrust forces being absorbed by structure and ground upon launch which requires a very stable support to minimize failure. And then the vibrations that have to be absorbed. This mental load to rationalize and ponder but onward to visit Martin Marietta who is building the rocket shells for the Minuteman!
The Minute Man Missile Shell is made of aluminum, lightweight but still stiff enough to withstand the force of launch and flying. Still the weight was a problem and the solution was to create a shell with ‘ribs’ for stiffness and a lighter body wall thickness–how to do it? Martin Marietta solution was to use a thick sheet of aluminum but then remove material between the ribs in a manner that retains enough ‘rib’ sections to support the stiffness of the (maybe 60 foot length) and leave enough material thickness between the ribs to sustain the internal pressure during launch and flying! The method was exciting to me. The removal of material was on a flat sheet before forming into a cylinder, the machinery was what in the machine shop we call a shaper. The shaper is like a ‘cold’ (meaning for metal) chisel driven by a long arm on a drive mechanism–the plate is anchored, the chisel moves forward and cuts out a strip of metal for the full stroke, at reversal the chisel mount allows the chisel to tilt and harmlessly retreat to the starting point for another pass or index to a new start–Wow!
Now 2023 Martin Marietta (now Lockheed Martin “LM”) is again at the forefront of technical and technology solutions to man-machine interfacing. A new theme–{The Future of Autonomy isn’t Human-Less. It’s Human More.} This taken from their webpage. Again from Lockheed Martin “Technology is transforming how humans and machines work together. That’s why Lockheed Martin is investing in development of optionally manned and unmanned systems that serve as a capability multiplier. Because we recognize that the question isn’t just about “who’s the best person for the job–it’s about what’s the best team for the mission”. I see this as a quantum change and progress for greater productivity with stable quality. I am proud of the LM mission and their striving to improve the capabilities and performance of systems which are primarily important to their Military business but also the propagation of such systems to other manufacturing applications in the private sector too. These are the advantages that can bring manufacturing back to the United States of America!
Enter the naysayers! My son is of the generation that relates all progress and improvements to loss of jobs. I am on the other set of rails that profound use of improvements creates new jobs and that humankind creates new products and methods and results that lift people from poverty and provide better living conditions. There is no utopia and no free lunch. We all have to have a purpose and provide services to mankind to continue a world with better conditions for the human lives. Take a moment and compare the world chaos that was real at the time of the USA Declaration of Independence and the creation of a new nation, under God providing a government allowing freedom for humanity. The global powers of the time were France and England and they were nations of Have and Have Not. The poor lived in squalor with little hope for anything better, suppose that the normal attitude had not improved with better methodology and responsibility and accountability of the nations at whole, there would have been ‘no change’ and human life would still be sad, much sadder than the problems still with us relating to poverty.
Jobs ‘lost’ to new technology are opportunities for improvement in living conditions for all. Continual Improvement is a part of life that some resist and others revel in, the world will not tolerate ‘no change’ (an old rhyme–I came to a river and I couldn’t get across, so I paid $5 for an old blind horse, he wouldn’t go ahead, and he couldn’t stand still, so he went up and down like an old saw mill!), nature seems to require moving forward or falling backward, standing still seems not an option. Most will be fine with changing and improving technology and improving working conditions, how to resolve the happiness and hope for those workers in their late 50’s and 60’s whose present jobs are removed is the burden of business, society, and government to sort and provide continual improvement in skills and capabilities of individuals and groups. I wondered why somebody didn’t do something? Then I remembered that I am somebody. We all need to have compassion and engage in solving problems. If I can help somebody, my life will not have been in vain?