Sounds like I overestimated Burt Rutan's reliance on computers, by quite a bit. Still, I think Gary's point is valid, too: There are realms of performance you can't reach without passing through simulation first. It's likely that after many years, engineers can internalize the counterintuitive hypersonic realm, like Burt has internalized the lesser realms based on his experience; simulation and dynamics and CAD are prostheses to ease the learning curve.
Burt Rutan is a truly remarkable engineer, perhaps one-of-a-kind. And there's the rub: How do the legions of mere mortal designers achieve results at Rutan's level without the assistance of computers? Or to put it another way, if progress at the high end is too dependent on the unique gifts of one person, we're gonna be well screwed when Rutan leaves the stage. Special intuition and expertise can become bottlenecks to proress. To some degree, simulation and analysis tools try to embody the special knowledge of people like Rutan to distribute the expertise to others; in the best of all possible worlds, they contain the legacy of the Rutans of the world.
I've just about exhausted my possible contribution to this thread, but it's been one of those classics in which I feel like I've learned something from experts. Thanks, you guys!
Space/Science » in reply to Rutan's method
Interesting
The whole thread (41 posts)
- Probable delay in next shuttle launch
- Strike One...
- NASA maybe screwed
- THIS will be the Shuttle's last hurray!
- Be careful what you wish for
- Those guys have already lost the battle
- This stuff is hard to do
- Plus, people forget how long it took to develop Apollo
- Waste Anything but Time
- There was about a 5 year percolation period before Kennedy's speech
- Plus, people forget how long it took to develop Apollo
- This stuff is hard to do
- Those guys have already lost the battle
- Be careful what you wish for
- No shuttle flights until foam loss is understood
- re: Probable delay in next shuttle launch
- Strike One...