The other day, Steven made a post comparing solid-fuel rockets to liquid-fueled. I can’t link it, because although it seemed fairly benign, it apparently angered someone he disagreed with, so Steven pulled it. However, the vanishing act prompted Fledge to comment here that it was probably because engineers are really, really picky about things. (They have to be. I don’t want to fly in an airplane designed by someone who said “I guess the wings will stay on.”)
That’s an interesting perspective and highlights something I noticed, but never really thought about — it’s the engineering posts that cause all the fuss on Steven’s site. (Well, since he rarely mentions politics nowadays, and always locks those posts.) However, I disagree with Fledge. I don’t think it’s engineers, per se that are arguing with Steven — it’s non-engineers (or engineers outside their expertise) whose beliefs could be described as “religious” rather than “scientific.” In short, people who believe things like “we can solve all of our energy problems with solar power!” regardless of what the science or engineering has to say on the matter.
However, it triggered an e-mail discussion regarding the difficulty in reaching space, and I did a bit of research that backed up Steven’s assertation that there is a big difference between reaching the edge of space, and staying there (in low earth orbit). The difference in energy required is something like thirty times as much, because you don’t just have to loft a payload straight up, you have to impart enough lateral motion that it will stay up. (Then there’s increased atmoshpheric drag…) Suprisingly, the extra energy to reach the moon? Only twice what’s necessary to reach orbit. Getting off this dirt-ball is the hard part.
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