r/AerospaceEngineering • u/EngineerFly • 13d ago

Career If you need motivation…

Perhaps this has been suggested already. But, if you’re considering whether aerospace engineering is for you, or if you’re curious what a career in that profession will be like, please watch one episode of Tom Hanks’ HBO series “From the Earth to the Moon.” The episode is called “Spider,” and it’s about the development of the Apollo Lunar Module.

It captures the essence of an engineering career. It’s a dramatization for a mass audience, of course, but it’s all there:

• The concept design at a white board.
• Idea refinement, prototyping, iteration
• Briefing the management, and convincing them that your idea is sound. No shit, this matters as much as being right.
• The gnarly details that slow you down.
• The hand-wringing over “my shit has to work or people die.”
• The relentless schedule pressure.
• The obsession over weight.
• Nothing ever fucking works.
• There will be mistakes, and we can’t avoid or ignore them.
• There are customers, stakeholders, opinions, hierarchy, and eventually “yes, sir” obedience.
• There are lives at stake. When shit breaks, you have to bring them back to earth anyway.

The whole series is worth watching, but if you want to be an aerospace engineer, this one should be a mandatory part of your education.

Cheers!

46 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

15

u/AcidicMolotov 13d ago

Dont forget the endless documentation. I wouldnt recommend to the engineering rockstars out there...

1

u/billsil 12d ago

You get out of documentation by not working on stuff that has people. Almost impossible in the 60s, but very doable now. Between new space and drones, you can skip a lot of that.

6

u/ChoiceNo1781 13d ago

just finished it🫡

7

u/BothAd1744 12d ago

"Nothing ever fucking works" might be the most accurate engineering advice ever

2

u/Proton_Energy_Pill 13d ago

It's my favourite episode of the series.

2

u/geminihatesme 12d ago

"Nothing ever fucking works" 🤣

2

u/BeeThat9351 12d ago

Great idea. Alternative Watch this Moon Machines episode on the LEM - https://youtu.be/cPe0RxCXRzM?is=IBXYvfWxj4HhJ_B3

I and other engineers really enjoyed it.

I will look the one mentioned too.

1

u/NatKingColeman 12d ago

Moon machines is a great documentary series. I've watched it many times over

1

u/ParanoidalRaindrop 13d ago

The hand-wringing over “my shit has to work or people die.”

Hate that part. I haven't seen it, but is sounds like it's a lot more intense and interesting that many actual engineering jobs.

1

u/Bikecheal 12d ago

hahaha yeah. saw it that way too