# Inspirations and Aspirations - Recanting Rocket Rationale

- Show: [The Amp Hour](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour)
- Published: 2015-06-26
- Length: 1h 00m
- Episode: 255
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-06-26-inspirations-and-aspirations-recanting-rocket-rationale
- Listen: https://theamphour.com/255-inspirations-and-aspirations-recanting-rocket-rationale/

## Summary

Chris Gammell of Contextual Electronics and FindChips shares insights from tours of SpaceX and Northrop Grumman, reflecting on the high-pressure, mission-critical engineering culture in aerospace compared to consumer electronics. Dave Jones of EEVblog discusses his challenges in getting a side project manufactured by a large name-brand manufacturer, highlighting the difficulty of cost control and the necessity of setting artificial constraints to avoid scope creep. The hosts also debate the role of reality TV and YouTube in inspiring the next generation of engineers and the strategic decision to vertically integrate manufacturing versus outsourcing.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-06-26-inspirations-and-aspirations-recanting-rocket-rationale#t=0) Introduction and Space Tours
- [1:14](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-06-26-inspirations-and-aspirations-recanting-rocket-rationale#t=74) Lessons from SpaceX and Northrop Grumman
- [5:15](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-06-26-inspirations-and-aspirations-recanting-rocket-rationale#t=315) Engineering Culture and Apollo Era
- [7:51](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-06-26-inspirations-and-aspirations-recanting-rocket-rationale#t=471) The Martian and New Horizons Probe
- [18:53](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-06-26-inspirations-and-aspirations-recanting-rocket-rationale#t=1133) Inspiring Future Engineers via Media
- [33:08](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-06-26-inspirations-and-aspirations-recanting-rocket-rationale#t=1988) Manufacturing Challenges and Cost Control
- [51:19](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-06-26-inspirations-and-aspirations-recanting-rocket-rationale#t=3079) Vertical Integration vs. Outsourcing
- [58:22](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-06-26-inspirations-and-aspirations-recanting-rocket-rationale#t=3502) Conclusion and Upcoming Events

## Topics

- [Manufacturing partners & offshoring](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/manufacturing-partners)
- [Scaling production](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/scaling-production)
- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)
- [Creator business](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/creator-business)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies, companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- SpaceX (company)
- Northrop Grumman (company)
- Contextual Electronics (company)
- FindChips (company)
- Parts.io (company)
- EEVblog (company)
- The Martian (product)
- New Horizons (product)
- James Webb Space Telescope (product)
- Hubble Space Telescope (product)
- Pleo (product)
- Furby (product)
- Caleb Chung (other)
- Seeed Studio (company)
- MacroFab (company)
- CircuitHub (company)
- Altium (tool)
- Keithley (company)
- Tesla (company)
- Flextronics (company)

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- [402: I Let The Dog Pee On The TV](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/making-it/2023-06-23-402-i-let-the-dog-pee-on-the-tv) (Making It)
- [Episode 065: A mallard is a tool you use when you do chisel work](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/making-it/2016-04-01-episode-065-a-mallard-is-a-tool-you-use-when-you-do-chisel-work) (Making It)
- [#032 - Why manufacturing in USA vs China is becoming interesting, with Scott N. Miller of Dragon Innovation, USA](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur/2017-07-05-032-why-manufacturing-in-usa-vs-china-is-becoming-interesting-with-scott-n-mille) (The Hardware Entrepreneur)
- [140: Physics Is the Same Everywhere](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-02-25-140-physics-is-the-same-everywhere) (Embedded.fm)
- [57: Mashed in the Gears](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/thoroughly-considered/2020-02-19-57-mashed-in-the-gears) (Thoroughly Considered)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-06-26-inspirations-and-aspirations-recanting-rocket-rationale. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to The Amp Hour.