MachinePix Weekly

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MachinePix Weekly #49

www.machinepix.com

MachinePix Weekly #49

This week's most popular post was a terrifying piece of aerospace technology. Next week, a new special issue format 📚🤓

MachinePix
Jun 25, 2021
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MachinePix Weekly #49

www.machinepix.com

Next week I’ll be experimenting with a new special issue format, stay tuned 😬

The most popular post this week was a nail-biting video of a helicopter ejecting its crew through the space its main rotor blades occupied just seconds (milliseconds?) before.

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A helicopter explosively jettisons its main rotor blades before ejecting the crew.
Image
7:12 PM ∙ Jun 17, 2021
861Likes135Retweets

I struggled to identify the helicopter in the video: the only operational helicopter with ejection seats is the Russian Ka-50 “Black Shark”, which sports a distinctive coaxial rotor system that is glaringly absent from the video. Luckily, some clever followers pointed out it was likely a Sikorsky S-72 Rotor Systems Research Aircraft, a strange mutt which could fly like a fixed wing without rotors or like a helicopter with rotors—and had ejection seats—along with a distinctive five-blade main rotor and high engine mounts—visible in the video. Thank you followers!

I’m always looking for interesting people to interview, have anyone in mind?

—Kane


The Week in Review

Heavy transport systems have been featured in previous issues, and they never fail to boggle the mind. From a friend and SpaceX engineer: Starships are so large that their manufacturing and transport pose unique constraints for manufacturing and transport locations. Also, Starship is both the name of the second stage or the first and second stage together—the first stage alone is called the Super Heavy. Internally, the first stage was also called the BFR (Big Fucking Rocket) and the second stage was also called the BFS (Big Fucking Ship).

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SpaceX Starship transported on a Fagioli heavy lift transport vehicle, via @austinbarnard45.
Image
11:31 PM ∙ Jun 19, 2021
762Likes115Retweets

This video is even cooler with LoFi beats overlaid, which reminds me of my favorite trance DJ and industrial automation channel: INDUSTRIAL JP

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Destructively testing a satellite Solar Array Drive Mechanism by Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace in a plasma wind tunnel.
Image
11:56 PM ∙ Jun 18, 2021
473Likes98Retweets

This is great when trees are relatively young. Otherwise, transporting a tree is much harder.

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KRB220 tree binder by MDE Machinebouw.
Image
9:42 PM ∙ Jun 16, 2021
378Likes78Retweets

You can actually buy tiny screened shirts—and other tiny things—from the creator’s fantastically whimsical Etsy store.

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Miniature t-shirt silkscreen printing press by @awesome__thanks
Image
10:34 PM ∙ Jun 15, 2021
627Likes145Retweets

I had to check and double check this wasn’t CGI. The sculptor’s DJ equipment is even more unsettling. Yikes.

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Surreal sculpture by @44doooo.
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9:13 PM ∙ Jun 14, 2021
301Likes60Retweets

Postscript

My friend Maryanna invited me to her office, which also happens to be an amazing collection of space paraphernalia. I catalogued some of my favorite parts in a Twitter thread:

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Kane @kane
The future.ventures office is also an amazing space museum, thread of some of my favorite bits:
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Image
10:32 PM ∙ Jun 22, 2021
133Likes14Retweets

If you enjoyed this newsletter, forward it to friends (and interesting enemies). I am always looking to connect with interesting people and learn about interesting machines—reach out.

—Kane

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MachinePix Weekly #49

www.machinepix.com
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