Gwynne Shotwell

[Grendal]

Just occurred to me that this will be an important development step for SpaceX to do. By developing and getting expertise in their own satellite system around Earth, SpaceX will have the experience to launch and establish a comparable satellite network above Mars. IMHO, this will be an important first step in establishing sustainable colonies/manned exploration of Mars.

Your comment got me thinking about satellites for Mars. You could do something like we do on Earth and park a satellite in areostationary position in an areosynchronous orbit (ASO). It seems to be 11,000 miles out from the planet. That is less than half of what it is for Earth at 22,236 miles because of the lesser gravity of Mars.

Areosynchronous orbit - Wikipedia

I expect an entire constellation won't be needed for quite a while. Park one satellite to start with above your landing region and a few others for transfer data to Earth when the landing site is facing away from Earth. I'm sure someone has already figured out what would work best.

 

[Grendal]

Gwynne Shotwell at a Texas conference talking about SpaceX:

 

[Kipernicus]

A nice little article on Gwynne Shotwell for Marie Caire. It's not much about SpaceX but more about her life and career.

Meet Gwynne Shotwell, the Woman Who Could Take Us to Mars

What's the "vanity plate that's a play on an Elton John song"?

 

[BluestarE3]

What's the "vanity plate that's a play on an Elton John song"?

If I were to guess, I'd say a feminine variant of "Rocket Man"?

 

[ecarfan]

What's the "vanity plate that's a play on an Elton John song"?

Maybe “RKT WMN”?

 

[ecarfan]

Thanks for posting that. I always enjoy listening to her speak. But she is so circumspect in what she says publicly that I usually don’t learn anything new! Did you pick up anything new and interesting from that particular presentation?

Gwynne Shotwell at a Texas conference talking about SpaceX:

 

[Grendal]

Thanks for posting that. I always enjoy listening to her speak. But she is so circumspect in what she says publicly that I usually don’t learn anything new! Did you pick up anything new and interesting from that particular presentation?

There wasn't time for a Q&A. This was as basic as it gets with no new information really. At least nothing we don't already know. I think the one question she had was "what happened to Zuma?" She said she couldn't talk about it. Usually she gives out lots of useful information. This time? Not so much.

 

[Electroman]

One the two footage they showed of landings, I thought one of them was new. This is the one that had the "GoPro" view of the landing of a classified mission. That one was really cool.

 

[ecarfan]

One the two footage they showed of landings, I thought one of them was new. This is the one that had the "GoPro" view of the landing of a classified mission. That one was really cool.

Yes, I saw that and then forgot to mention it! It was a sped up video showing the 1st stage descent and landing for the Zuma mission. I don’t think we saw it that way during the webcast. Now I have to watch it again...

 

[Grendal]

Yes, I saw that and then forgot to mention it! It was a sped up video showing the 1st stage descent and landing for the Zuma mission. I don’t think we saw it that way during the webcast. Now I have to watch it again...

I thought the first landing video was the sped up one we've already seen many times before, just reversed. On watching it this time, maybe it is a new landing video. The second landing video was the NROL 76 mission whose booster is the one going up today (hopefully) with the SES-16 launch.

 

[dampfred]

Long time lurker here in the SpaceX forum, thanks for all useful info. Really helps building up my excitement.

Watching the Shotwell video, specifically her videos on reusability, I notice something weird around the 14 minute mark as the booster makes its way back to Earth. The booster is still very high up, but in the background you can see something white that looks like it's flapping. I'm pretty confident it can't be a bird, you guys have any clue of what it might be?

 

[Cosmacelf]

Long time lurker here in the SpaceX forum, thanks for all useful info. Really helps building up my excitement.

Watching the Shotwell video, specifically her videos on reusability, I notice something weird around the 14 minute mark as the booster makes its way back to Earth. The booster is still very high up, but in the background you can see something white that looks like it's flapping. I'm pretty confident it can't be a bird, you guys have any clue of what it might be?

There is always lots of ice and other particulates flaking off the boosters. Probably a tumbling piece of ice.

 

[Electroman]

Thank God. I was worried it might be aliens.

 

[BluestarE3]

Thank God. I was worried it might be aliens.

 

[Grendal]

Gwynne named "Satellite Executive of the Year."

2017 Satellite Executive of the Year: Gwynne Shotwell, President and COO, SpaceX

 

[ecarfan]

Great interview with Gwynne, thanks for posting the link. She is inspirational! I think 2018 is going to be a tremendous year for SpaceX.

 

[jbcarioca]

In my house Gwynne Shotwell is considered definitively heroic.
She went to the same high school that my wife graduated from about the same time Ms. Shotwell was born. Then my wife, an exchange student, was asked "Can you see the moon in Brazil?". Not only did Ms. Shotwell attend that high school, she actually encountered women engineers who inspired her to move beyond baton twirling and beauty competitions.

One of the most outstanding things about Elon Musk is his ability to find and inspire talents like Gwynne Shotwell and J B Straubel. Every day, in my house, we are thankful we can have been a part of these things as investors and owners and for my spouse as delighted graduate of Libertyville High School. Until Gwynne came around all graduates could discuss was Marlon Brando.

Sorry for the digression. I could not resist.

 

[croman]

I went to Libertyville. Wow. Cool to know.

Tom Morello went too and a bunch of others including the actress that originated Eliza Schuyler-Hamilton in Hamilton.

 

[Grendal]

I think Gwynne is just as impressive as Elon. I can't give a bigger compliment than that.

I believe half of our flights in 2018 will be on flight-proven vehicles, which is a testament to the engineering and production teams of SpaceX, and our ability to prepare these vehicles for a second flight.

I think this is one of the reasons why this industry finds it difficult to support innovation, because everyone is afraid to support changes once they have the right recipe. I think it is dangerous for any industry to say that we shouldn’t change. I think that is when your company starts to die. When you say “I can’t make things better, I can’t make things faster, I can’t make things less expensive,” then you are on your death path.

 

[Grendal]

Gwynne interview. Not much on SpaceX since it is more about her history.