Shows
podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast359 – Modern Fission ReactorsIn this episode we take a look at newer generations of fission reactors, those that are currently being developed or researched. Our guest is Jacopo Buongiorno of MIT. We discuss some of the high-level goals of these new reactors, such as increased safety and efficiency, and then look at a few of the interesting new designs and how they realize these goals. We also briefly cover some of the policy arguments around keeping fission in the mix for combatting climate change.
2021-01-041h 54podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast355 – Supercomputing for COVID-19In this episode we look at how supercomputers are used to help with managing the pandemic. It's a double-header with two guests. We start with Cineca's Andrew Emerson. As part of the EXSCALATE 4 COV EU-funded research project, he works of virtual screening of existing drugs regarding their potential efficacy against SARS-CoV-2. In part two we talk with Dan Jacobson of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He and his team used a big data analysis to understand how the virus "works", and they figured out very interesting mechanisms and pathways.
2020-10-292h 28podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast350 – Existential RiskHumanity has always been exposed to potentially catastrophic risks that might endanger the continued existence of humanity. Asteroid impacts or supervolcano eruptions come to mind. But since about the invention of the atomic bomb, humanity has been able to wipe itself out, adding self-made existential risks to the natural ones. Oxford philosopher Toby Ord argues in his book The Precipice that those risks are much more likely than the natural ones. In this episode we explore this idea with him, and also discuss what we should do about this realization.
2020-08-222h 40podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast348 – ATLAS ComputingTo conclude our detailed look at the ATLAS experiment, this episode looks at the computing infrastructure. We start out with the trigger systems that decide, very quickly, whether the data from a particular collision is worth keeping. We then discuss the reconstruction of the event, the simulation needed to understand the background as well as the LHC Grid used distribute data and computation over the whole planet. Our guest is CERN'n Frank Berghaus.
2020-07-272h 46podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast345 – ATLAS ScienceAfter understanding the history and development of ATLAS (and covering the LHC and particle physics in general) in previous episodes, we are now at the point where we can try to understand how a scientist uses the data produced by one of these large detectors and make sense of it. This is what we'll do in this episode with physicist (and listener) Philipp Windischhofer. If you want to learn even more, you can check out these links provided by Philipp or read the last chapter of the book :-)
2020-06-163h 02podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast344 – History and Development of ATLASATLAS is one of the two general-purpose experiments at the LHC. It has been conceived, designed, and built over decades by hundreds of scientists and engineers from dozens of countries and hundreds of organizations. My guest, Peter Jenni, has been the head of the ATLAS collaboration for most of this time. In this episode we talk about science and engineering, but mostly about organizational aspects and the "community management" necessary to get such a magnificent machine off the ground.
2020-06-022h 39podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast343 – Flying and Testing the F-35The Lockheed F-35 Lightning II is going to be more or less what the F-16 and F-18 are today: the backbone of the US and NATO land and sea-based air forces. It is a multi-role fighter, and one of its versions has the capability to take off with a very short roll and land vertically. Tucker "Cinco" Hamilton is a test pilot who has flown all three versions of the jet. In this episode we talk about flying this fifth-gen fighter and about some aspects of the testing program.
2020-05-201h 14podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast341 – Emergency and Intensive Care, VentilationIn light of the current situation, we have decided to record a couple of episodes that cover some of the relevant background in terms of biology, medicine and healthcare. In this first episode we discuss emergency care and intensive care with a special focus on ventilation. We discuss these topics in general, and also specifically to COVID-19. Our guest, Kimon and Junad, are both practicing doctors and have practical experience with these topics.
2020-04-291h 47podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast340 – Plasma Wakefield Acceleration with AWAKEA major component of particle accelerators like the LHC are the actual accelerators; the current approach relies on radio frequency cavities. However, their acceleration gradient, measured in Volts per meter, is limited. This means that future accelerators, especially linear ones, will become longer and longer to reach the desired energies. A new approach to particle acceleration relies on plasma wakefields, this technology can deliver orders of magnitude more acceleration per distance. AWAKE is a proof of concept experiment at CERN that uses proton beams to produce the wake field. In this episode we chat with Edda Gschwendtner, the leader of...
2020-04-221h 07podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcastSpecial – Once You Start AskingOver the last two years, Markus wrote a book about some of the repeated topic covered on omega tau: SOFIA, Enterprise, Aerospace, Gravitational Waves, Telescopes, Models and Particle Physics. The book, called Once You Start Asking is now available as an ebook, with the softcover edition forthcoming. In this episode, Nora and Markus discuss the book and its history.
2020-04-1141 minpodcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast150.5 – Controlling the ELTSix years ago, in episode 150, Jochen Liske of ESO told us about the Extremely Large Telescope that is currently being built in Chile. This episode is a continuation (which is why this is a kind of bonus episode labelled as 150.5) in which Thomas Pfrommer tells us about how to control the optical path of this monster telescope: the 39 meter, 798-segment main mirror, plus the four additional mirrors involved in bringing the light to a stable and sharp focus. I recorded this episode mainly to fill in some "gaps" I needed for the book chapter on telescopes.
2020-02-141h 07podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast333 – (Flying and Simulating) The F-14 TomcatThe F-14 Tomcat is one of the most iconic fighters, certainly among its generation. In this episode we talk with Nick Pirnia about the aircraft's development and history as well as about flying it with former pilot Okie Nance. The aircraft is also available in the DCS flight simulator and the third part of this episode is a conversation with the development team from Heatblur about how to implement the F-14 in DCS; if you haven't yet, check out some of their videos, this thing looks unbelievably realistic!
2020-01-034h 15podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast332 – Attribution of Extreme Weather EventsAn important consequence of the warming of the planet due to climate change is that the frequency and/or severity of extreme weather events will increase. But how can we tell whether a particular event can be attributed to the changing climate? Would it have happened in "normal" climate as well, and if so, how would the event have been different? This aspect of climate science is called attribution science, and the guest of this episode,
2019-12-221h 22podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast330 – Parabolic Flights at AirZeroGWhen I was in Bordeaux with the DLR to report about their science campaign in September, I also talked to the team from AirZeroG/Novespace about the technical and aviation aspects of parabolic flights. These interviews are in this episode. I chat with Jean-François Clervoy about the history of the company, with Eric Delesalle about piloting the parabolas, with Hervé Normand about the reasons for the potential sickness, and with Nicolas Barbotin about cabin safety. At the end of the episode I also provide some details about the technical problem that prevented parabolas during my own flight with the A...
2019-11-291h 33podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast328 – Flying the P-3 Orion (and some other aircraft)Marija Jovanovich is a pilot for the Royal Australian Air Force where she has been flying the P-3 Orion. We discuss the aircraft, the missions, and some anecdotes. Marija then also attended the USAF Experimental Test Pilot School, and we talk a bit about the experience of flying a wide range of different aircraft.
2019-11-122h 15podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast326 – Weather Forecasting at the ECMWFEarlier this year I visited the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, a European organization that produces global weather forecasts and performs research on how to improve those. The episode has three parts. First, Hilda Carr gives us an overview of the organization, its purpose and its history. Then I talk with Peter Bauer about weather and climate modeling and about encoding these models efficiently in software programs that run on supercomputers. Part three is a conversation with Tony McNally about where the ECMWF gets its data and how it is continuously fed into the "running" model.
2019-10-193h 05podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast324 – Air Traffic Control at Heathrow and RIATIn July I visited the NATS tower at Heathrow Airport to interview my guest Adam Spink. We chatted about some of the mechanics of air traffic control at Heathrow and the unique ways of optimizing throughput. A few days later we met again on the tower of Fairford during RIAT 2019 and chatted about the specifics of ATC'ing during an airshow.
2019-09-272h 34podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast321 – Societal Change and the ClimateI am interested in societal change: how can a complex society with lots of emergent (perhaps unintended) behaviors make a conscious change, such as transitioning to a more sustainable economy? We discussed this from an engineering perspective in the episode on Modeling Socio-Technical Systems, and we've looked at it historically in the episode on Societal Complexity and Collapse. In this episode we look at the topic more from the perspective of civil society and politics. Our guest ist Maja Göpel; she heads the German government's Advisory Council on Global Change and has also written a book called The Great M...
2019-08-2958 minpodcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast320 – The Event Horizon TelescopeA few months ago, a collaboration called the Event Horizon Telescope presented the first direct image of a black hole; or more specifically, of the radiation created by accelerated particles at its event horizon. The EHT is a Very Large Baseline Interferometer, in which radio telescopes all over the world are computationally connected to obtain resolutions that are not possible with one telescope. In the episode I chat with Heino Falcke, the chair of the EHT science committee, about the science, the telescope, what it took to get it going, and image reconstruction.
2019-08-161h 30podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast318 – (My Flight with) The USAF ThunderbirdsIn June 2019 I had the pleasure and honor to fly in an F-16D with the USAF Thunderbirds. The episode covers the medical briefing about how to prevent motion sickness and how to deal with Gs, suiting up with flight suit, g-suit, harness, helmet and mask, the briefing with my pilot Maj. Jason Markzon, the flight itself with commentary, an interview about the Thunderbirds with Jason, as well as a reflection on what the flight meant to me, recorded together with Nora.
2019-07-193h 33podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast317 – The ALICE DetectorIn May I visited ALICE, one of the four large experiments at the LHC and talked with Despina Hatzifotiadou. We briefly discussed the science that ALICE is interested in, and then spent the majority of the time dissecting the detector to understand its components and how they detect the various products of particle collisions.
2019-07-092h 02podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast315 – Modeling Socio-Technical SystemsSocio-technical systems are systems where (groups of) humans interact with (non-trivial) technical systems; an example is the power grid. The people, the technical system and the combination might easily lead to complex behavior that is hard to predict and control over the long term. However, as illustrated by, for example, the need to transition our energy infrastructure to a more sustainable structure, it is necessary for society to "control" such systems. Igor Nikolic is a professor at the TU Delft where he uses agent-based modeling approach to try to understand, and thus help control and evolve such systems. We discuss...
2019-06-142h 42podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast314 – London Air AmbulanceEarlier this year I visited the London Air Ambulance, a charity organization that flies two MD-902 helicopters over the UK's capital. I chatted with their chief pilot Neil Jeffers about the flying and some of the medical aspects. My recorder then joined Neil on a short flight to their hangar at RAF Northolt. There, we met Adam Spink, a NATS air traffic controller at Heathrow, and the three of us chatted about the ATC perspective of flying helicopters (sometimes) in Heathrows's approach.
2019-06-012h 13podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast312 – The Wendelstein 7-X Fusion ExperimentIn our never-ending quest to understand fusion and its potential use in energy production, I visited the Wendelstein 7-X fusion experiment in Greifswald run by the Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik. We started out with a visit to the experiment hall, while experimentalist Matthias Hirsch gave us an overview over the machine. Next we discussed theory and modeling with Ralf Kleiber. Finally, I returned to Matthias Hirsch, and we chatted about more experimental aspects of Wendelstein. It is probably best to listen to our previous fusion episodes (22, 157 and 304) before listening to this one.
2019-05-113h 27podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast309 – Forensic EngineeringIn this episode I chat with Sean Brady about structural failures in civil engineering. We first discuss the technical and organzational causes for such failures. We then look at Sean's specialty, forensic engineering, which is about analyzing failures to determine the root cause. Sean also has his own podcast in which he delves into much more detail about engineering failures, not just in construction.
2019-04-092h 04podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast306 – Flying the RC-135S Cobra BallThroughout the cold war, and til today, the Cobra-codenamed ground, sea and air assets have been used by the US to monitor Soviet/Russian ICBM missile launches and warhead reentries. The air component consists of the RC-135 Cobra Ball/Eye aircraft. Flying from Shemya in the Aleutians they used cameras and other sensors. Our guest, Robert Hopkins has been flying the aircraft in the late 1980s. In this episode he tells us about the mission and the flying -- Shemya could be quite challenging.
2019-03-091h 33podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast304 – The Past, Present and Future of Fusion EnergyJustin and Jason wrote a nice book on fusion called The Future of Fusion Energy, and this episode is based on this book. We start out by revisiting the breakthroughs that drove progress in fusion over the decades, including understanding stars, the tokamak, superconducting magnets, supercomputers and a number of specific aspects of plasma physics. We then look at the current state of fusion research as well as where it might go.
2019-02-092h 15podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast300 – How Processors Got So FastHave you ever wondered how the processor in your phone or computer got so much more faster than what the increase in megahertz suggests? In this episode we talk with Lex Augusteijn about superscalar processors, pipelining, speculative execution, register renaming and the like. We also discuss concerns other than speed, in particular, energy efficiency.
2018-12-172h 25podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast299 – Gravity StorageWith power generation in the grid becoming more diverse and decentralized, energy storage is becoming more and more important. Eduard Heindl's gravity storage is an approach to storing electrical energy as potential energy by lifting huge masses cut out of the ground. While this sounds crazy, there are lots of reasons why this makes sense. In the episode we discuss then need, the general approach, the construction process and some of the engineering challenges. We also look at the innovation process, the path from the idea to something that is ready to be built.
2018-12-021h 40podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast297 – Flying the AH-64 ApacheIn mid-September I drove to Illesheim Army Airfield to meet with Caleb Marheine who flies the AH-64 Apache helicopter there. We talked about the helicopter's systems, the cockpit, aspects of flying it as well as some of the missions.
2018-11-182h 28podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast295 – BepiColomboOn October 20, the BepiColombo started its flight to Mercury on an Ariane 5 from Kourou. I was at the launch press event at ESOC in Darmstadt to follow the launch and to record a couple of interviews. The episode consists of three major parts. The first part is an interview with Pablo Munoz about mission analysis and flight dynamics. The second part looks at the science with Joe Zender, Roberto Peron, Ajako Matsuoka and Joana Oliveira. And part three are multiple short takes with Paolo Ferri, Andreas Rudolph and Fabian Luedicke recorded in the middle of the night at ESOC.
2018-10-262h 12podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast292 – Gene Editing with CRISPR/CasCRISPR is a family of DNA sequences in bacteria and archaea that are a part of these organisms' cellular defense system. A recent discovery showed how this mechanism can be used to edit genes much more easily than legacy methods. In this episode I chat with Sam Sternberg about the naturally occuring CRISPR systems, how they work, and how CRISPR together with its associated enzymes can be used to cut, and subsequently, edit, DNA. We conclude the episode with an outlook on the potential use in medicine.
2018-09-141h 31podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast291 – Flying in the Papuan BushI chat with Daniel Geaslen about bush flying. His (at this time, former) job is to fly Kodiak turbo props for Mission Aviation Fellowship in Papua Indonesia, supplying remote villages. We cover the airplane, the missions, as well as the flying itself, with a particular focus on weather and challenging airfields.
2018-08-311h 44podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast289 – Music Production at Sandlane StudiosA few years ago, I interviewed Arjen Lucassen about his wonderful music and how he makes it; obviously, I am a big fan! Recently, his Ayreon universe was performed live on stage and I was blown away. I decided I had to talk the the guy behind the live shows, Joost van den Broek. Luckily he agreed. So I visited him in his studios and we talked about music production and arrangement in general, and specifically for the Ayreon live shows.
2018-08-012h 06podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast288 – Flight Research at NASA Armstrong, Part 3: HistoricIn this episode I talk with NASA Armstrong's chief scientist Al Bowers about the research projects he has been involved in during his long career at NASA. We cover deep stall research with a Schweizer sailplane, high-alpha flight and thrust vectoring with the X-29, X-31 and F-18 HARV, aero-tow of fast jets with the F-106, supercritical wings with the F-8, as well as space related projects using the SR-71 and the X-30. This is one of my favourite episodes of all time, since it is a bit of trip down memory lane for me personally, and Al perfectly hits the...
2018-07-173h 00podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast286 – Software Analog EffectsEffects devices are essential for electric guitars and keyboards because they shape sound and make it interesting; many classic devices exist. However, those are rare and/or expensive, plus, even if they are not, carrying them around on a tour costs money. This is why these hardware devices are simulated in software, and distributed as plugins for audio software. Native Instruments is a manufacturer of such software analog effects packages. In this episode I chat with one of their engineers, Julian Parker, about how this software simulation of the electronic hardware is done.
2018-06-212h 04podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast285 – SuperconductivitySuperconductivity, the ability of a material to carry electrical current with zero resistance, is a surprising property of nature, which man has been able to exploit in many ways, in particular, for high-performance magnets. Those are used in magnetic resonance imagers, but also in colliders and fusion reactors. In this episode we discuss the basics of superconductivity and its uses with Pierre Bauer, a superconductor engineer at ITER.
2018-06-082h 50podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast283 – The Perlan ProjectThe Perlan Project aims to fly gliders into the stratosphere by exploiting mountain waves in order to better understand those waves and to explore the edge of what gliders can do. In fact, last September, they broke the world altitude record for gliders. In this episode we chat about the project, the airplane and the flying with engineer Lars Bensch and pilot Jim Payne.
2018-05-101h 51podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast279 – Microgravity Research at ZARM Drop TowerDuring our tour NorthWest 2017 I visited the drop tower at Uni Bremen's ZARM and talked with Martin Castillo, the head of material science at the facility. We discussed the basics of microgravity research, the technical aspects of the tower, how to set up experiments, and also about his particular work in material science.
2018-03-101h 46podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast277 – Life and Work on HMS EnterpriseIn December 2017 I had the opportunity to spend a few days on board the Royal Navy's HMS Enterprise on her trip from Limassol, Cyprus to Valetta, Malta. HMS Enterprise is a survey ship, her primary task is to map the sea floor using sonar and feed the data into civilian and military maps. In this detailed episode, we chat about the ship, its mission, the survey equipment, the technical aspects of the propulsion and systems, plus about life on board a ship and nautical issues in general.
2018-02-078h 03podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast276 – Linguistics, Conlangers and Game Of Thrones’ DothrakiConlangers are people who design human languages, either just for fun or for use in works of fiction, often TV series or movies. My guest, David Peterson, has designed several languages, including the the Dothraki language featured prominently in Game Of Thrones. In this episode we use Dothraki (and English, and a bit of German) to introduce the basics of linguistics, i.e., the science behind natural (and in this case, designed) languages. We also discuss a few specific of Dothraki, and how it gets used in Game Of Thrones.
2018-01-172h 11podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast274 – The Shuttle’s Achievements for Space ExplorationThis episode is a continuation of the two previous episodes (132, 133) with Davide on the Space Shuttle. Based on his new, second book we talk about the contributions the Space Shuttle made to space exploration in general. These include advances in space suits, the construction of the ISS, satellite servicing, its use as a science platform as well as military operations.
2017-12-252h 19podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast270 – Nuclear WeaponsIn this episode we chat about the science and engineering involved in nuclear weapons. Our guest is Alex Wellerstein of the Stevens Institute of Technology. We talk about atomic bombs as well as hydrogen bombs, how to refine the necessary fuels as well as a little bit of history.
2017-11-262h 31podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast267 – The Quantum Tron UAVQuantum Systems designs, builds and sells unmanned air vehicles for professional use. Their particular specialty is VTOL designs, i.e., UAVs that take off and land vertically, but then switch to airplane mode for airplane-like speed and range. In this episode we chat with Quantum's CEO Florian Seibel about their primary drone, the Tron. We focus on the motivation for developing the aircraft, the use cases, as well as design decisions and technical aspects.
2017-10-221h 50podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast266 – Secondary Surveillance RadarSecondary surveillance radar (SSR) is the radar technology used in aviation to query transponders; it forms the backbone of today's air traffic control infrastructure. Our guest in this episode is Mike Sharples who has been part of the development of the technology and is intimately familiar with the details. We discuss the importance of SSR today, the details of the protocol, the difference between and evolution from Mode A/C to S as well as the relationship to ADS-B.
2017-10-132h 14podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast258 – The History and Technology of Spy SatellitesIn this episode we speak with David Baker, who wrote a fascinating book about spy satellites. We cover the political and military context that drove their development, their (known and suspected) capabilities, methods of recovering the images, as well as typical orbits and the sartellites' ability to change that orbit for quick repositioning.
2017-07-282h 05podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast257 – Flight Research at NASA Armstrong, Part 2: FullscaleAs part of my trip to the US earlier this year I visited NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base. I conducted six interviews over two days, those concerning full scale ("real") aircraft are in this episode. We start out with Kevin Weinert, with whom we talk about the Adaptive Compliant Trailing Edge project, essentially a flap made of flexible materials to save fuel and reduce noise. Next up is Jim Less, one of NASA's F-15 and F-18 pilots; we chat about his flying and various research projects where the jets are utilized (you can see this...
2017-07-212h 56podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast256 – Flight Research at NASA Armstrong, Part 1: SubscaleAs part of my trip to the US earlier this year I visited NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base. I conducted six interviews over two days, the ones concerning subscale research (i.e., on model airplanes) are in this episode. We start with a conversation about flying wings in general and Prandtl-D in particular with Armstrong's Chief Scientist Al Bowers. Next, we chat about flutter research and the X-56 with project lead Cheng Moua. Finally, we talk to Matt Moholt about his project, the Spanwise Adaptive Wing project.
2017-07-161h 59podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast255 – Aerial Refueling with the KDC-10In late March 2017 I was participating in the media day of the European Air Refuelling Training Exercise, organized by the European Air Transport Command headquartered in Eindhoven. While the planned flight on the Dutch KDC-10 did not work our for technical reasons, I recorded a follow-up interview with tanker captain Martin and boom operator Louis. We discussed a number of details around air-to-air refuelling in general and the KDC-10 in particular. The episode begins with an overview of aerial
refuelling that I recorded myself.
2017-07-081h 09podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast252 – Red FlagOn the second day of my visit to Nellis AFB we covered the Red Flag, an advanced aerial combat training exercise hosted at multiple times per year at Nellis. We started out with a general overview with Jan Stahl; we also covered the role of the aggressors. I then talked with John Traylor who works as a ground intercept controller for the aggressors. Next is a conversation with Graham Johnson about Red Flag from the perspective of a blue force participant; he flies an F-15C out of Lakenheath. We conclude the episode with a look at the historical context...
2017-06-173h 09podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast251 – Flying the F-16 ViperAs part of my US trip 2017 I visited Nellis AFB, where LtCol Jan Stahl flies the F-16 for the 64th Aggressor Squadron. We spent a day around, in and under the F-16. The episode contains five parts. A brief introduction to the F-16 and its development, a discussion about flying it, a walkaround, a look at all the knobs, switches and displays in the cockpit as well as a detailed discussion on the HOTAS system that forms the backbone of the pilot's interaction with the avionics.
2017-06-093h 31podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast249 – Plasma PhysicsDuring my trip to the US I also visited the Basic Plasma Science Facility at the UCLA in Los Angeles. I talked with the two professors who run the facility, Walter Gekelman and Troy Carter. We discuss the basics of plasma, the research questions of plasma physics and some of the experimental challenges. I also get (and report on) a tour through the facility, which was very impressive, mainly because the whole system was built by the team around Walter and Troy!
2017-05-202h 27podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast248 – Distant Early Warning, SAGE and the F-106 Delta DartIn this episode we look back at (aspects of) the North American Air Defense system in the cold war. In particular, we look at the distant early warning line(s), the F-106 interceptor and the SAGE computer system. For DEW, we talk with Mike Milinkovich and Brian Jeffrey who have both worked on the DEW line; Brian also maintains a great website on DEW. For the F-106, we talk with Richard Embry who has flown the interceptor. And for SAGE, we speak with Bernd Ulmann, who has written a very detailed book on SAGE's underlying AN/FSQ-7 computer system. Bernd...
2017-05-133h 52podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast247 – Bulk Metallic GlassDr. Douglas Hofmann works as a scientist in the Metallurgy Lab at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. I visited Doug during my US trip earlier this year, and we chatted about metallic glass. In particular, we discussed its properties, how to create it in bulk, how to test its properties, as well as how and why it is interesting for use in space.
2017-05-071h 46podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast245 – Glaciology Research at the Darwin GlacierDuring my visit to DLR's Earth Observation Center earlier this year I also talked to Dana Floricioiu about her work in glaciology. We discuss a couple of her recent publications, and then focus on her trip to the Darwin Glacier in Antarctica. Together with a team of fellow scientists, she camped on the glacier for three weeks to conduct various in-situ experiments. We discussed the work, but also life on the glacier.
2017-04-221h 21podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast243 – Formal Specification and ProofThe increasing complexity of software requires increasingly sophisticated means of ensuring its correctness -- "just" testing is not necessarily good enough, depending on the domain in which the software is used. Formal specification, verification and proof is a field with a long tradition in computer science that is gaining more (practical) relevance these days; and in this episode, we cover the basics. Our guest is Benjamin Pierce, professor of computer science at UPenn. We discuss the nature of (good) specifications, how verification and proof is different from testing, and where and how these techniques are successfully used today.
2017-04-102h 02podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast242 – Satellite Testing at ESTECThis is the last episode recorded during my visit to ESA's ESTEC last fall. I get a tour of the Test Centre with the head of the section, Mark Wagner. We discuss the various test stands and facilities, including the thermal vacuum facility, the large space simulator, the thermal vacuum chamber, the vibration facilities, electromagnetic testing and acoustic testing.
2017-03-311h 24podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast241 – Electric Propulsion of SpacecraftDuring my visit to ESA's ESTEC last fall, I talked to Jose Gonzalez del Amo, who is the head of the Electric Propulsion Lab. We discussed the basics of electric propulsion, the pros and cons compared to chemical engines, different engine styles and their use cases, as well as the work ESA performs in the lab.
2017-03-251h 38podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast239 – The Saturn V Launch VehicleDavid Woods has a new book out, so of course he has to talk about it on omega tau :-) His recent book is about the Saturn V launch vehicle, i.e., this time it is about the rocket, not about the spaceship. In this episode we dive into lots of details that we did not cover in the two Apollo episodes (episodes 83 and 97) -- make sure you have listened to those before you listen to this one.
2017-03-122h 27podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast238 – Societal Complexity, Part II: Today’s PerspectiveIn October 2015, Joseph Tainter was my guest in omega tau 184 to discuss his concept of increasing complexity and eventual collapse of societies. In this episode, our guest Paul Arbair discusses these concepts in the light of today's rising populism in several countries. The episode is based on two articles Paul wrote on his blog: one on Brexit and one on Trump.
2017-03-051h 11podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast237 – SynthesizersLate 2016, during a trip to the Netherlands, I visted Rutger Vlek of River Creative Technology in his home studio to record an episode about synthesizers. We talked about the basics of sound generation, various enveloping and filtering techniques, sound design, the different fundamental approaches of sound synthesis, as well as a couple of classic synths. Rutger illustrated lots of approaches with samples from some of his many synthesizers.
2017-02-253h 28podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast236 – Space Flight SoftwareLast fall I visited ESTEC, ESA's space research and technology center. In this first of three episodes, I talk with Maria Hernek, who heads the Flight Software Systems section. We talk about the challenges of space flight software, the development processes used by ESA and its vendors, as well as means of ensuring the required quality attributes. This episode can be seen as a continuation of the conversation with Andreas Wortmann in the OHB episode.
2017-02-181h 47podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast235 – A Walk in the Woods with Miami Rick and the Big BoeingsRick Ruiz is a pilot for Atlas Air where he flies various versions of the Boeing 747 freighter. Previously he flew the 767 and the 777 for LAN Chile, primarily cargo as well. Rick is also a crew member of the Airline Pilot Guy podcast, where he is known as Miami Rick. In this episode, we stroll through the woods around Landstuhl, Germany, where I visited Rick while he was on a layover. We geek out about flying the Big Boeings.
2017-02-111h 53podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast233 – Bio-Inspired Systems at EPFLLast fall I visited EPFL for a programming languages workshop when I saw a poster on bio inspired systems. Darja's name was on the poster because she coordinates the programme; I sent her an email and asked if she wanted to talk a bit with me about this field while I am at EPFL. Her calendar had some free time, and so we met. In the episode we discuss why it makes sense for system designers to look at biology and nature as an inspiration and then explore lots of examples that are currently being researched at EPFL.
2017-01-281h 19podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast231 – The Future Circular ColliderParticle accelerators are the backbone of today's particle physics research and help us understand the smallest building blocks our world is made of. To understand this deeper, more powerful accelerators are needed, beyond what is possible with today's LHC. The world's physics community is continuously running studies to explore science questions and evaluate the required accelerators; one of those the studies is the Future Circular Collider study led by CERN. In this episode we discuss the science questions as well as the core engineering challenges with the two leaders of the FCC study, Michael Benedikt and Frank Zimmermann.
2017-01-151h 42podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast229 – (Ant-)Arctic Sea IceThe sea ice in the arctic and antarctic regions of the earth is an especially sensitive indicator of the earth's climate, and in particular, the current overall atmospheric temperature of the planet. It was recently reported to have reached a new low. Our guest, NASA's Walt Meier explains why this is the case and which processes govern the increase or decrease of the ice. We then discuss how the ice mass is measured based on satellite and how its thickness is estimated based mostly on in-situ measurements. We cover climate modeling and its connection to sea ice and conclude with...
2017-01-012h 12podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast226 – Tidal PowerTidal power refers to extracting electrical energies out of the tide streams in oceans. Various techniques exist. Tocardo is a provider of axial turbines, and our guest, Pieter de Haas, is their CTO. In this episode we talk about tidal power in general, siting, the design and engineering of Tocardo's turbines as well as the overall economic and technical trade-offs in making the turbines work over the long run.
2016-12-111h 35podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast224 – Flying the F-15 EagleWhen I was young, in the 80s, I was extremely interested in military airplanes, I more or less grew up with three iconic fighters: the F-15, F-16 and F-18. I want to thoroughly cover those airplanes on omega tau, and this episode on the F-15 is a great start. I talk with Jeff Fellmeth, a former F-15A/C/E pilot about the airplane, avionics, trainings, missions and the units he has been a part of. We also talk a little bit about related topics, such as the Bronco and gliders.
2016-11-272h 20podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast219 – Flying the V-22 OspreyThe V-22 Osprey is the first operational tilt rotor aircraft. After not always problem-free development and test period, it is now used successfully with the USAF and the USMC. In this episode we talk to a V-22 pilot, Maj. Seth Cannon of the 7th SOS in RAF Mildenhall about the aircraft, some of its systems, and, primarily, about how it is flown. I met Seth Cannon in Bayreuth, where one of the 7th SOS had to land because of problems with a gearbox. Read the story here. This is also where I took the pictures below.
2016-10-171h 05podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast218 – A Life in ApolloGeorge Knudsen started working in 1958 on the Redstone missile, and moved on to working on the Atlas ICBM. Later he worked on the Saturn 5 launch vehicle, where he was responsible for the fuel tanks. He was on the launch team at Cape Canaveral for various Apollo missions. In this episode with talk with George about his work in this fascinating period of science and engineering history.
2016-10-071h 17podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast216 – Airbus HistoryThis is the second episode recorded at my trip to Airbus in Toulouse and we take a trip down memory lane, covering some of Airbus' history. The first part of the episode is a recorded presentation (with some Q&A) with Alan Pardo, head of Marketing Communication at Airbus Toulouse. We cover the development of Airbus in general, and the Toulouse factory in particular. The second part is a walk through the Aeroscopia museum in Toulouse with David Bauser. Before his retirement he has worked for Airbus on the A-300 and the Concorde. We discuss those two airplanes, plus some...
2016-09-201h 40podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast212 – The Tornado ADVDuring his career in the Royal Air Force, Dave Gledhill has been flying as a navigator in the Tornado ADV. After his career he wrote a book about this airplane, and its (not always problem-free) introduction into service with the RAF. In this episode we talk about the airplane, about his flying, about some of the challenges during its development and introduction into service, and how they were overcome to make the F.3 a capable interceptor after all.
2016-08-011h 50podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast211 – Farnborough 2016This is my report from Farnborough International Airshow 2016. The episode contains 13 short interviews, as listed below. I had an absolute blast in Farnborough, especially because I met the APG crew and participated in the epic live recording of APG 229.
2016-07-202h 52podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast210 – A350 Flight TestingThis is the first of several episodes from my trip to Airbus Toulouse: we cover flight testing of the A350. We have two guests. First, we speak with Peter Chandler, a test pilot at Airbus, about envelope expansion, the relationship between simulation and the real airplane, and test flying in general. Our second guest is Pascal Verneau, a test flight engineer. We discuss his role in flight testing, as well as some special equipment installed in (some of) the testing aircraft.
2016-07-132h 04podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast209 – Satellite Development at OHBIn this episode we get a peek into how OHB System AG in Bremen develops satellites -- mostly based on the Galileo navigation satellites. We speak with Christian Pauly about systems engineering, with Mathias Tausche about manufacturing and integration, with Andreas Wortmann about the software on the satellites, and with Ingo Engeln about the company as a whole.
2016-07-042h 42podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast204 – Earth Observation at Planet LabsPlanet Labs is building small, inexpensive satellites, mostly from consumer-style components, for large-scale, continuous earth observation purposes. As a silicon valley startup, they pride themselves in doing things differently than then "big aerospace companies". In this episode, I am talking with Ignacio Zuleta and Creon Levit about small satellites, satellite constellations, phones, optics and earth observation.
2016-05-091h 22podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast202 – Aviation Incident Reporting at CHIRPAs we have mentioned before on omega tau, aviation prides itself on a pervasive safety-culture that leads to a low accident rate. An important building block of this culture are incident reporting systems, where members of the community can confidentially report issues, risks or incidents, which are then followed up on, with the goal to resolve them. CHIRP is the organisation that handles this task in the UK. In this episode we talk to Ian Dugmore, the Chief Executive of CHIRP about the general idea, and about a few (typical) incidents reported to CHIRP.
2016-04-221h 48podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast200 – Port Towage and TugsIn this 200th episode of omega tau we cover a topic that has been on our list for a long time: harbour tugs. We start out with a conversation with Lex van der Schaaf, the COO of Port Towage Amsterdam, who gives us a general introduction to port towage. Markus then joins Arno, Jan and Andrey on their tug Thetis for a day of towing in the port of Amsterdam. In the last conversation, Markus speaks with Baldo Dielen about the design of modern tugs, using the EDDY tug as a representative example.
2016-03-312h 27podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast199 – Mass SpectrometersMass spectrometers are devices for measuring the mass-to-charge ratio of molecules and ions. They use many different measurement principles and are used in various areas of science. Our guest Alexander Makarov works as a Director Global Research for Thermo Fisher's Life Sciences Division and has invented the Orbitrap principle used widely in modern mass spectrometers. We talk about mass spectrometry in general, the different measurement principles, engineering challenges, the invention of the Orbitrap, use cases for mass spectrometers and the different machines sold by Thermo Fisher.
2016-03-202h 21podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast198 – Ship SalvageWhen ships have an engine casualty, run aground or have a fire on board they need to be salvaged or their wreck removed. Specialised companies, like Ardent, focus on salvaging ships or removing wrecks. These tasks are sometimes challenging from an engineering perspective, and always interesting from the business side. In this episode we talk with Ardent's Bram Sperling, a senior salvage master, about both these aspects of salvage and wreck removal operations.
2016-03-091h 30podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast197 – The European XFELThe European XFEL is an x-ray free electron laser currently being built in Hamburg. In this episode we talk with Joachim Schulz about the project itself, the design and construction of the laser and the experiment hall, as well as about some of the science that is expected to be done with XFEL once it is finished.
2016-02-251h 57podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast196 – LasersIn this episode we cover the fundamentals of lasers with our guest, Fabian Reichert, who works at the Center for Free Electron Lasers at DESY in Hamburg. We cover various ways of how laser beams are produced and what distinguishes lasers from other light sources. We also cover a few application areas of lasers as well as techniques for pulsing lasers.
2016-02-131h 15podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast195 – Flying the Shuttle Carrier AircraftThe tail numbers NASA 911 and NASA 905 were used for the two Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, converted Boeing 747s that carried the shuttle between the landing sites and the launch complex at Kennedy Space Center. Our guest in this episode is Ace Beall who flew the SCAs for several years. We talk about operations, modifications on the airplane, the flight characteristics with and without the shuttle as well as some anecdotes from Ace's time on the SCA.
2016-02-051h 29podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcastDas Jahr The Year 2015This episode is German and English. Forward to the second chapter (or to 59:50) to get to the English part.
Dies ist kein Interview, sondern ein Rückblick auf 2015. Nora und Markus besprechen was gut lief und was nicht so gut lief, bedanken und bei ein paar Leuten, besprechen einige Ergebnisse der Hörerumfrage und blicken kurz auf das kommende Jahr.
This is not a regular interview show. Instead, it is a review of 2015. Nora and Markus look at what went well and what did not, thank a few people, discuss some results of the recent listener survey and br...
2015-12-291h 43podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast191 – String TheoryString Theory is currently one of the most important theories in fundamental physics, with applications to a variety of subfields including black holes and cosmology, nuclear physics others. This episode is an introduction to the core ideas of the field, as well as to some of its applications. Our guest is Alexander Westphal of Germany's particle physics lab DESY. He does a wonderful job of introducing the very abstract topic in a way that could be understood by non-physicists, at least to some degree.
2015-12-222h 43podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast190 – SOFIA Part 2, The FlightsSOFIA is an airborne observatory, a Boeing 747SP modified to carry a 2.7m infrared telescope in the back of the fuselage. In late October 2015, I had the opportunity to fly on SOFIA during science missions 248 and 249. This episode captures these two flights. The episode is a mix between interviews with scientists and aircrew, recordings from the intercom system and some narration by me. The list of guests can be seen on the episode page - it is too long for the abstract.
2015-12-086h 55podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast189 – SOFIA Part 1, BasicsSOFIA is an airborne observatory, a Boeing 747SP modified to carry a 2.7m infrared telescope in the back of the fuselage. In the context of the preparation for my SOFIA flights, I visited the DSI in Stuttgart several times during this summer to record interviews with various DSI people about SOFIA. This episode covers these interviews, plus a recording of the visit of the instrument labs in Palmdale. The guests and topics are Alfred Krabbe, Head of the DSI, on the history and some of the science; Thomas Keilig, CEO of DSI, on the airplane and the modifications; Christian Fischer...
2015-11-302h 48podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast185 – Nuclear Test Monitoring and the CTBTThe Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is an international treaty, still being ratified, that bans all nuclear tests. An important ingredient to the test is monitoring, whether nuclear tests will be performed nonetheless. To this end, the CTBT Preparatory Commission has established a world-spanning monitoring system that relies on seismic, hydroacoustic, infrasound and radionuclide monitoring. In this episode, our guest is Randy Bell who runs the international data center and is thus responsible for running the monitoring network and evaluating the collected data.
2015-10-201h 53podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast184 – Societal Complexity and CollapseJoseph Tainter, our guest in this episode, is an anthropologist and historian. In 1988 he wrote a book called The Collapse of Complex Societies in which he argues that societies inevitably increase their inherent complexity, and, if and when the complexity becomes too "expensive" (diminishing returns), a society will collapse. In this episode, Joe explains his rationale and provides historic examples for collapse. We then discuss his theory relative today's world, concluding with a not alltogether positive outlook.
2015-10-131h 14podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast183 – Aerobatics and Red Bull Air RacingMatt Hall is a pilot at the Red Bull Air Race and a professional aerobatics/air show pilot, and in this episode we talk about both. We start out with how Matt got into flying through gliders and ultralights. We then discuss competition aerobatics and air show flying, and the difference between the two. We continue with air racing and take a look at his MXS-R airplane, which, at the time of recording, was at the DG factory in Bruchsal, where we met for the recording. We conclude the episode with a brief discussion of his military flying, which included...
2015-10-051h 48podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast181 – Why Megaprojects Fail (and what to do about it)Megaprojects can be identified by their size -- in the Billions -- and also by the fact that most of them are considered a failure in terms of cost overrun, delay or the benefit delivered. Why do over 90% of such projects fail? Professor Bent Flyvbjerg of the Said Business School at Oxford University has spent his career finding out. Together with his teams he has collected lots of data about successful and unsuccessful megaprojects, and has also developed tools to help such projects increase the likelihood of success. In this episode, Bent gives us an insight into his important research.
2015-09-171h 07podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast176 – The Gemini ProgrammeThe Gemini programme of the mid-sixties is relatively unknown, even though it was an important stepping stone in the Apollo moon programme: Gemini is where NASA learned to fly in space. In this episode we cover Gemini with our two guests David Woods (who has been on the show talking about Apollo) and David Harland. Together they wrote a book on Gemini that serves as the rough outline of this conversation. We talk about the Gemini spacecraft itself, the launch vehicles, some of the achievements and learnings of the programme as well as some of the specifics of some of...
2015-07-182h 34podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast175 – Disordered SystemsIn this episode we talk with Peter Sollich of King's College, London about disordered systems, statistical mechanics and complexity. In particular, we discuss the difference between quenched and annealing disorder, the relation to entropy, complexity and chaos, the formalisms used to tackle such systems as well as a whole lot of examples from physics and other sciences.
2015-07-021h 48podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast174 – Stem CellsStem cells are an important part of today's medical practice, and their importance will grow in the future based on research conducted today. One of the researchers in Derrick Rossi of Harvard and the Boston Children's Hospital. In the episode we introduce the different kinds of stem cells and their role in the body and in medical treatments. We then discuss some clinical use cases as well as current research (in general and in Derrick's group).
2015-06-192h 05podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast172 – Chasing Bears with the PhantomIn this episode we talk to former RAF pilot Nick Anderson about his time flying the F-4 Phantom II in the cold war. We start out by describing the Phantom itself, the specific of the British Phantoms, and how it flew from a pilot's perspective. We then discuss flying in the cold war and walk through a typical intercept mission. We close with a Nick's personal perspective on the time and his flying, as well as with a quick view on the recent intercepts of Russian bombers in Europe. Nick has also kindly provided us with captioned images, which you...
2015-05-172h 20podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast170 – Race Car DesignIn this episode we talk about the design, engineering and testing of race cars. I have visited Toyota Motorsport earlier this year and talked with Alastair Moffitt and a few of his colleagues. We start out with an introduction to TMG (Alastair Moffitt), then talk about component and full-car testing (Marco Gehlen), and then discuss wind tunnels and aerodynamics (Antonio Pavesi and Rene Hilhorst). We also cover design trade-offs, team/driver integration, the role of the driver during development, the cockpit, the elements on the steering wheel as well as testing. We close with a look at additive manufacturing (3D...
2015-04-193h 00podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast167 – The Apollo Guidance ComputerThis episode is a mix between computer architecture, programming and (historic) space flight. We cover the ins and outs of the Apollo Guidance Computer. Our guest ist Frank O'Brien, who wrote an incredibly detailed book about this machine. In the episode we cover the hardware architecture, the instruction set, the various layers (native, executive and interpreter) as well as some mission programs.
2015-03-042h 24podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast166 – Flying the ConcordeHere is another episode in our ongoing (and hopefully never ending :-)) series on flying iconic airplanes. This time we talk with former Concorde pilot John Hutchinson about flying this Mach 2 airliner. We discuss the cornerstones of the design and construction of the aircraft, its operation (mostly with British Airways), flying characteristics as well as the infamous accident in Paris in 2000 (on which John has some very specific opinions).
2015-02-182h 06podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast164 – Satellite-based Earth ObservationThis episode is a conversation with Ruud Hoogeveen from the Netherlands Institute for Space Research about satellite-based Earth observation, and primarily about measuring the concentration of gases such as CO2 or Ozone from space. We talk about the effects of these gases on the atmosphere, how the sensors work in principle, and about the history and evolution of the sensors over the various missions. We conclude with a look on detecting and measuring aerosols and at the future challenges and current research for satellite-based earth observation.
2015-01-172h 09podcast (en) Archive 250 EN – omega tau science & engineering podcast162 – Shuttle Mission ControlIn this episode we talk about mission control for the Space Shuttle. Our guest is Dan Adamo, a former flight dynamics officer (FDO) in the Mission Control Center. We cover the organization of mission control, the various roles, qualification and training, the specific tasks of the FDO as well as a little bit of history. Dan also relates many interesting episodes from his time "in the trench".
This is the last episode in 2014. Nora and Markus wish you Merry Christmas, a few quiet days between the years and a good start into 2015. Stay tuned, there's a lot of good stuff...
2014-12-182h 41