Article on SpaceX - illumination of DIY culture

[noogie]

There's an interesting article about SpaceX and its culture at The Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/with-a-spacecraft-in-trouble-and-the-white-house-watching-spacex-had-to-deliver/2018/03/15/553d89cc-2701-11e8-874b-d517e912f125_story.html?utm_term=.252c09357f2a

It's an except from an upcoming book called Space Barons by Christian Davenport ( The book has Jeff and Blue, Branson and Virgin, etc but interestingly Blue Origin wasn't mentioned in the excerpt -  maybe Jeff is keeping to the Sotto Voce modus operandi of Blue in his own paper  )

The excerpt concentrates on the period around a CRS launch in 2013.
I thought the anecdotes were a good illustration of the DIY and on the fly culture which makes SpaceX disputive and nimble by industry standards but would have other more compliance orientated segments of the space industry apoplectic.
Among the anecdotes were:
1. Rapid recoding to get stuck valves on dragon to open
2. A last minute cut out of a crack in the vacuum nozzle of a 2nd stage Merlin with a pair of shears.
3. Using commercial aircon with upgraded pumps for the HVAC in the fairing instead of the $3m version.

It was also interesting to see how vertical integration is hard baked into the company's DNA

“The SpaceX mind-set had always been about adapting quickly, and it really shined that day,” Suffredini said. “They had really an in-depth understanding of that system and the software, and that’s one of the secrets of their success. They probably had the kid in there who wrote the original code.”

Its like building your own house - you know every square inch of it and are probably the person with the most knowledge of what could go wrong and how to fix it (and you had the requisite knowledge of plumbing, electrics, etc). So therefore if anyone was to fix it on the fly, then they are the best person to do so.

The vertical integration must also eliminate (or at least substantially reduce) the integration issues (especially software) from the different subsystems of the rocket and GSE. Personally (in an unrelated field) the mergers, take-overs, reorgs, etc of various subcontractors the software systems play havoc with the ability to deal with issues. The people who wrote and understand the code have long gone and you are left with outsourced code jockeys.

It was also interesting how willing they are to scavenge for 2nd hand parts - storage tanks, etc.

You can also see why engineers would find it so empowering and why they would be willing to do so many hours.

I'm going to get the book - it and Ashlee Vance' s biography of Elon Musk look like some of the best accounts of SpaceX early days and corporate culture

[docmordrid]

The stuck valves (1) and "Marty, the blue tape guy" (2) are already part of the SpaceX lore. Great stories.

[jpo234]

The stuck valves (1) and "Marty, the blue tape guy" (2) are already part of the SpaceX lore. Great stories.

Is this inside of the interstage?

[envy887]

The stuck valves (1) and "Marty, the blue tape guy" (2) are already part of the SpaceX lore. Great stories.

Is this inside of the interstage?

Yes.

[jabe]

The stuck valves (1) and "Marty, the blue tape guy" (2) are already part of the SpaceX lore. Great stories.

IIRC he HATES flying so to get there i took quite a bit of convincing to fly down to do the work..
jb

[vaporcobra]

The stuck valves (1) and "Marty, the blue tape guy" (2) are already part of the SpaceX lore. Great stories.

Where is that photo from? That's hilarious

[Nomadd]

The stuck valves (1) and "Marty, the blue tape guy" (2) are already part of the SpaceX lore. Great stories.

That's a lot better than the photo in the article. I have to assume the author wasn't responsible for that one.

[James54]

I didn’t realize that president Obama visited SpaceX rather than ULA because ULA was about to launch the X37B and the National Security Council didn’t want a presidential visit to draw attention to the program.

Excerpts from the article-
Many were already upset with the White House for canceling the President George W. Bush-era Constellation program…
To assuage concerns, the White House decided Obama would visit the United Launch Alliance..

But there was a problem: The Alliance was about to launch a highly classified spaceplane known as the X-37B….
Instead, the president would visit SpaceX, a development that the company welcomed. A presidential visit would represent a public relations triumph over its arch¬rival, even if it was, as Musk said later, “a sheer accident.”

[Jdeshetler]

A presidential visit would represent a public relations triumph over its arch¬rival, even if it was, as Musk said later, “a sheer accident.”

I last recalled that the Secret Service that make the last minute call not to allow Obama to visit an active ULA's pad but the SpaceX's pad since their fuel storages is the one that is empty, a perfect timing....

[Kabloona]

Where is that photo from? That's hilarious

From the wayback machine, circa December 2010, with other photos of the nozzle before and after trimming, in this thread:

https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=23516.msg668933#msg668933