Why do we still expect “successful failures” on rocket launches and not just scale up or scale down the same design on successful rocket ships and launch pads to make bigger or smaller ships with more stable structural material?
In: 1598
Largely because planning out very large rockets without testing smaller, scaled down ones, would be a waste of both planning and building time.
Let’s give an example: You are planning to make cupcakes for 1,000 people. In your mind, you plan out the flavors and recipes, plan out how you’re going to get 1,000 cupake tins, you plan how to bake the cupcakes. You plan out how you are going to stack the cupcakes into a box and deliver them. You plan everything out before making your first cupcake.
Then, you make 1,000 cupcakes and you taste them: They taste terrible. You now scrap 1,000 cupcakes and change your recipe.
Clearly, this is an enormous waste of time (baking and planning) and a tremendous waste of resources.
Instead, a better plan would be to make a small batch of cupcakes, then taste them. Do they taste good? Great. Now, with that small batch… see if the cupcakes will stack, even with small numbers. Are they too mushy or sticky to stack, even in small numbers? Ok, adjust your stacking plan.
Make small batches and test to see if they work in small numbers. Then, scale up and address the big scale problems. If it doesn’t work in small batches, it won’t work in large batches. Save time and resources by starting small.
Latest Answers