How To Catch A Rocket From Space With A Helicopter (Peter Beck Interview, April 2020)

[@NicholasMati]

Instead of Electron Heavy, should it have been Muon? After staging, it would decay into an Electron with the Neutrino booster coming off of the left hand side of the rocket and the Anti-Neutrino booster spinning off of the right hand side.

[@kevinzheng7373]

Big brain time.

[@exoplanets]

Interesting

[@Andrea-ms3jr]

Man I study physics and honestly you made my day

[@aidanhaig1961]

that was a serious nerd flex

[@jacklilegostudios4687]

-Rocket Lab- CERN’s Rocketry research lab

[@GuruMeditationError]

I don't know how I went this long without realizing how clever the name "Photon" is for something that is emitted by a booster named "Electron." Bravo!

[@gasdive]

Same

[@roderickfennell7385]

What’s next proton

[@MarcusHouse]

Thanks Tim. Super interesting interview.

[@LaughingOrange]

Tim is a great interviewer, knows a lot but lets the subject talk only asking them to clarifying where needed.

[@kindlin]

I agree, tho this one felt a little... pushed. Tim had some canned questions and Peter had the really interesting answers.

[@CopenhagenSuborbitals]

Rocket Lab is really taking space to another level. Thanks for putting this together Tim and Peter!

[@andeyking]

Thanks Tim and Peter. Always love your interviews with Peter, you skirt the line of a professional interview and a mate telling you what he's working on at work, it's really refreshing.

[@linecraftman3907]

Peter Beck is amazing that he found time to do the interview. Can you do your Everyday Astronaut magic and interview Tory Bruno?

[@tamie341]

Peter Beck makes Elon look like a joke. An actual inspiration in the space world.

[@DanielFenandes]

It is so cool that you can talk to him for so long so often

[@michaelgian2649]

Love the Electron Heavy shot. Wish I had seen it 10 days ago. Looks more like factory hands having fun moving toys already on the floor around than a Photoshop.

[@matzmatz4148]

So it was a April joke ?

[@redcoat4348]

It was an April Fool's joke but I don't think they used photoshop. I think they just pulled two boosters together and then put two fairings and part of the top on the center booster to make it look like a second stage. What was pretty funny was that a lot of users got in on the joke and started photoshopping the Electron Heavy on the pad and lifting off. Beck retweeted those in "real-time" as a second-level troll.

[@donjones4719]

You are the man, Tim. You are the man. Peter was so relaxed, having a fun conversation. Of course he's home in NZ, in his own office - so relaxed I hear his Kiwi accent stronger than ever. That was a ton of interesting stuff about Photon. Hey - have a 3 way conversation with you and Peter and Elon. Easy to set up, right? :)

[@dakota4766]

Love the fact this guy makes time for Tim and ultimately us.

[@georgebisson6142]

"Everyone loves launch, I love launch" - Peter Beck could be the new lamp

[@thomasthemarstrain2141]

Rocket Lab is my favorite space company. Peter seems like a cool dude

[@UncleManuel]

This guy simply can't give bad interviews. Always polite and patient. But the same goes for Tim - these two are just perfect for these type of interviews... :-)

[@vannilesoep]

This dude is so chill and compenent. Wonderful to listen to, keep it up, Peter!

[@rdy3820]

Another Kiwi on the world stage, making NZ proud.

[@quasarsavage]

GO NZ

[@MrJames_1]

I'm head of the Australian steal a Kiwi committee. Can you please submit Mr Beck's life history for examination. If he's been to Australia at least twice we'll be needing to claim him 🤣

[@exoplanets]

Oh

[@rdy3820]

@@MrJames_1 HaHa Nice one Bro.

[@lewtscott3346]

djt2412 Hey Australia - where the bloody hell are ya?

[@AfterHoursEngineering]

It is so cool when you interview Mr. Beck. He is such a personable kinda guy. ;_)

[@StephenHay]

The effort you put into the production for this really pays off, thanks! Lighting, separately filmed and then edited.... so much better than just a webcam zoom or meet recording. Cheers!

[@dinoschachten]

Wow, these Peter Beck interviews are always so inspiring regarding philosophy, mindset and vision! Thanks for another great one, Tim! You two really seem to get along and it's wonderful to watch that! :)

[@jackkevillemedia]

I like that Peter kept bringing up Venus, mildly jabbing at ol' Elon.

[@petrapatia6395]

favorite part, 100%. He's completely correct too, Its such an underrated planet.

[@motokid6008]

I think a "cloud city" is ridiculous. That's hundreds of years away. A cloud research lab... Maybe.. But then how do you get back to orbit? You need a rocket the size of one that takes off from Earth.

[@eliparker4114]

Motokid600 to get to orbit from a cloud city on Venus would need a slightly less powerful rocket than on earth. Gravitational acceleration is 8.87 m/s^2 compared to 9.81 m/s^2 on earth and orbital velocity at 400 km altitude is 7095 m/s compared to 7672 m/s at the same altitude above earth. That doesn’t sound like a big difference but it is going to have a surprisingly large impact on the amount of payload the same rocket could get to orbit from Venus as compared to from Earth. SSTO will also be much more viable than here on earth from that relatively small decrease in requirements, which may be useful if you can’t yet manufacture boosters on Venus. I do agree it’s certainly not happening in the near future.

[@donjones4719]

7:00 I can see why Peter isn't worried about putting the Electron onto the ship. Many navies in the world fly cargo loads larger than that onto their ships fairly routinely. Includes some oddly shaped loads. (By routine I mean how frequently - I don't imagine it's ever easy.)

[@coast2coast00]

They use helo's in construction too, building radio towers for example, they lift up one 20m section, a guy on the tower bolts it on and they go grab the next piece.

[@donjones4719]

@@coast2coast00 Yup. They do some insane stuff in construction with helicopters. I think on oil platforms, too.

[@InitialDsTak]

I love how you’re getting to have so many Peter Beck interviews that you have to start specifying which one it is in the title. As always, a great interview from both sides! Thanks Tim and Peter!

[@ajaxxj6011]

Tim great interview withe Peter B.! No nonsense answers. Just the facts!

[@briancullencullen6166]

thanks tim you really do bring space down to earth seriously great content stay safe and keep making great content

[@alphaadhito]

They should named the first mission to retrieve the booster _"Catch Me If You Can"_

[@privateerburrows]

A better name for "Electron Heavy" would be "Muon".

[@hrissan]

Dan W 👍😎

[@lewismassie]

"The whole world is in a bit of a holding pattern right now" that's a very pilot way of phrasing it

[@Corndog4382]

I had the awesome opportunity to tour their Huntington Beach USA headquarters, of many aerospace companies I toured, RocketLab was the most engineering focused, nicest, had the most helpful employees, it was an incredible experience. Very cool to see their further success.

[@annego]

Didn't expect that! Was really suprised and excited to see that in my feed!

[@sladegreenaway3231]

So much respect for Peter Beck and Rocketlab. He is exactly what the space economy needs.

[@neillruecroft2160]

Thanks Tim great vid. would be great to see a used booster on display outside their factory at Mount Wellington NZ as i drive past there quite often. I dont think a lot of people realise what they do !

[@petrapatia6395]

Peter saying 'go to Venus' won me completely over, I'm totally behind and rooting for Rocket Lab.

[@kashyaphegde1106]

Tim is probably one of if not the most underrated KZbinr there is.

[@benjaminchia7743]

First time hearing of Photon. And what a great concept now that he’s explained it so clearly. It’s like if you want to ship a container somewhere, you have to design and build your own cargo ship just for it. We have ships already, just use those

[@AngelArm1110]

Dude I envy you so much, not only do you get to basically live and breathe all things rocketry and space exploration, but you actually know people like Peter Beck and Elon Musk!!! Rock on man, just keep doing your thing!!!

[@esbrasill]

Fantastic idea, use the kick-stage as part of the actual satellite, Providing power, coms and correct position to the clients business. Any thoughts on a refueling service for the kick-stage?

[@slithery9291]

That's exactly what they're doing with Photon.

[@Woodhead567]

My only concern would be power? Do you think they would attach solar pannels to the kick-stage?

[@esbrasill]

@@Woodhead567 i think so, as he mentioned, the client only had to deliver the sensor.

[@tgmaps]

I love these interviews you do with different Engineers.

[@turtletim2299]

He does seem like a genuinely nice guy, and Tim, you do an amazing job engaging with these brain boxes and let them know subtlety that you're not an idiot so kudos man keep up the good work!

[@CeladonHairExtraordinaire]

Tim, you're a fantastic interviewer! Also you and Peter have some good chemistry which makes these quite entertaining to watch!

[@scorpio6587]

You are the best interviewer! And Mr. Beck is incredibly gracious.

[@marc4708]

Great show Tim! I love the Kiwi vibe Peter has going on. Very knowledgeable guy. I look forward to seeing more from Rocket Lab.

[@SimplySpace]

32:55 Easily my favourite April fools troll yet.

[@mcspaddencw]

Thank you Tim for the update. Man we are really blessed in this time with the likes of Peter Beck, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, Mastin aerospace etc. So exciting

[@sids7735]

when’s the “should nasa use starship” vid coming out??!?

[@qwertzy2610]

When its ready? I would say in one week to two month

[@philb5593]

I think he posted that he filmed it

[@Jst4vgApostle]

yes.

[@exoplanets]

Nice

[@Miata822]

Would be more meaningful once Starship validates it self at least a little bit.

[@thomasduerksen458]

What would it cost to have the Everyday Astronaut sponsor an exploratory mission to Venus? I would be up for that.

[@nathanlewis42]

Thomas Duerksen it would cost far more than any KZbinr could afford.

[@yanlutolf5879]

6 million for the launch plus a relatively small amount for the satellite.

[@thomasduerksen458]

Nathan Lewis it was meant more as a crowd funded thing.

[@thomasduerksen458]

$15 per subscriber would do it. Which is possible. That would be 7.5 million. That would be cool to be part of a private exploratory mission to Venus

[@thomasduerksen458]

It could probably be set up as a nonprofit or charity so it would be tax deductible as well.

[@falcon5588]

Great interview! I know it would have been a bit off topic, but I would have loved to hear more about why Beck is so enamored with Venus.

[@nathanlewis42]

falcon5588 check out Geoffrey Landis, a NASA scientist who has written about the advantages of the upper atmosphere of Venus over Mars.

[@Heisenberg2A]

Great interview Tim, thanks much. Always very exciting to hear what rocket lab is up to.

[@gasdive]

Love these longer form videos.

[@thecashier930]

I'm about 10 min in, I really need to go to bed now though, so I'll finish it tomorrow morning. Stuff so far: This seems like a prepared Interview, as in Peter got the questions before the actual thing. I thought I didn't like that. I realize now, that I didn't like that because most guys who get to do that are the same people who don't ask the interesting questions. This proves the opposit. This is awesome. It's a deep-diving well prepared conversation that's just a joy to listen to. I love this. Please do more stuff like this. It's awesome.

[@EverydayAstronaut]

The funniest thing is neither of us prepped at all 😂 just dove in and talked. I never prep for interviews, just pop in and talk!

[@donjones4719]

@@EverydayAstronaut You do prep for interviews with Peter and Elon - you just do it over a span of years. It's because of this you can slide into a conversation where both of you are on the same wavelength.

[@Camdotcam]

I really enjoyed watching this interview, thank you!

[@JL-cn1qi]

Whats the rate of descent on that parachuting Proton? The helicopter pilot doesn't only need to line up the hook he has to do it while following it down. Ether that or its doing several passing runs. That really seems like a hard maneuver with a heli. I would think you have more controle while powering up and upwards. Doing it while powering down, loosing altitude seems a hell of a lot harder to keep pin point accuracy. Big kudos to the lads and lasses at Rocket Lab !

[@SimplySpace]

12:56 That art is called engineering.

[@chrisediger2061]

Great interview Tim. Always fun to watch.

[@scottmcgahey6820]

Mr beck is a great ambassador for spaceflight

[@spb1179]

Man quality never stops improving thanks!

[@ShaneScott69]

Good to see and hear a Kiwi in the space game 🇳🇿

[@baacco.3658]

My dream job talked about by my favorite KZbinr! Great stuff!

[@AMortalDefiant]

It makes a lot of sense what Peter said about setting up a system where the scientists can just bring what they are working to Rocket Lab, and let them focus on the satellites. Imagine if you had to build a 747 every time you wanted to take a flight. You'd never accomplish anything. It's so inefficient for all of these groups of scientists to each reinvent the wheel by making their own satellites.

[@MrTheHobb]

Loved the interview, fragile supply chains are something everyone is finding out about at the moment. FYI It's not spring in NZ for another 6 months... have you been time travelling again?

[@TraditionalAnglican]

MrTheHobb - Rocket Lab is now launching from the Northern Hemisphere too.

[@MrTheHobb]

@@TraditionalAnglican Which is an awesome thing - looking forward to it. As an ex Kiwi living in Australia the US habit of talking about things happening in spring or fall has annoyed me for a couple of decades at least :D

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

@@MrTheHobb >>> I was born and raised in Florida, where, we have TWO seasons: (1) HURRICANE SEASON. (2) _Waiting for_ HURRICANE SEASON. 😝😝😝😝

[@martinblenn6049]

Awesome interview, cheered me up a lot! Peter just talked and explained, especially the Photon stuff just struck me, genius! Thanks Peter, thanks Tim, keep it up!

[@dutchmcoven7292]

Best interview ever. Great job Tim.

[@graemeesmith]

Catching a rocket has got to be one of the coolest things ones can ever do in a helicopter.

[@jamesbarisitz4794]

My hopes are high that all the hard work pays off with the recovery system and the acceleration of the business model.

[@ZacKurtis]

Favorite Kiwi phrase: Beavering away at it

[@hygri]

Very cool interview. Yeah, that helicopter flying is spectacular. Imagine trying to thread a needle while standing on a yoga ball...

[@Michael-eg7fs]

Great video! Look forward to what the future of Rocketlab will entail, because I know it will be awesome!

[@animistchannel2983]

So if SpaceX wants to be the cross-country railroad in space, Rocket Lab will be your U-Haul :) There's plenty of room for both business models out there.

[@rinzzz7722]

No

[@animistchannel2983]

@@rinzzz7722 Yes, and get a sense of humor.

[@teddy.d174]

First try.....VERY impressive! Excellent job Tim, incredible interview...👍🏻👍🏻

[@slartybarfastb3648]

Great interview as always! We are truly on our way to a beyond-LEO economy.

[@Bosstastical]

Hey Tim, Perhaps when you interview someone from the Southern Hemishpere maybe think about not putting Northern Hemisphere seasons in the title. Great interview btw

[@osotanuki3359]

What if they flew the helicopter back to base and laid the booster back in its strongback? I mean I know that's unlikely because they'd have to fly a looong way, but it would be pretty cool!

[@DavidKutzler]

See if you can score an interview with the helicopter pilot!!!

[@nathanbain3348]

buddy rip-roaring with the 429... looked like fun.

[@blockin9556]

I love your channel you deserve way more subs. I liked and subbed with notifications on lol... I have learned soo much more about space stuff and rockets tysm for nice high quality vids !!!!

[@nugget0428]

Peter definitely plays Kerbal after hearing the last half of this... off the shelf parts, same flight computers etc.

[@pipersall6761]

Great interview Tim! Thanks Peter Beck!

[@xlynx9]

Love your Peter Beck interviews!

[@nucspartan321]

Best rocket journalist, Tim Dodd

[@Simple_But_Expensive]

I was always taught fast, cheap, good. Choose two. Looks like with a little engineering compromise you can get fastish, relatively cheap, and good enough to do the job.

[@starwolf3834]

Very good information. I love this interview. Thanks Tim.

[@robinhodgkinson]

Great to hear Beck’s views on a few other space related topics other than just launching. He’s a switched on dude. Guess that’s mandatory if want to build a rocket company!

[@andrewmclean4212]

love to see rocket lab partner up with a larger spacecraft builder for a mission that has a launch platform to carries a electron and proton to mars land and rendezvous pick up the samples from the new rover and return them to earth.

[@Gunstick]

Even becore Peter suggested to go to Venus, I was like "let's crowd fund a ballon to float in the venus atmosphere".

[@LouKayne]

Hey Tim, Do you plan on doing a video on Expander Cycles engines? Maybe on the RL10 and some info on the recent Expander Cycles engines such as BE7, BE3U, Vinci and LE5....

[@kenkalstein9424]

Incredible interview - thank you so much!

[@AdamTizzdall]

Hey Tim! Can't wait for the SLS/Starship deep dive video :D

[@BikeHelmetMk2]

That nose capsule looks pretty small... but if it has a life support system, then I think I know exactly what Peter was envisioning for Electron Heavy. SPACE HAMSTERS!!

[@mariueg]

Exceptional interview

[@Steph1]

Incredible interview 👍

[@MrJames_1]

Enjoyed that. With all the other things they do on top of launching rockets maybe they should be called 'Space Labs'? Go Venus 🚀

[@jmannUSMC]

Imagine having had this guy as a professor!?

[@dandavidson4717]

Bill Whittaker That’s nonsense. There’s great value in passing on your knowledge and experience by teaching, and many teachers teach because doing so can feel very personally rewarding. Not because they can’t “do” something else. The best teachers are those that are also among the best at the topics they teach. Unfortunately teachers generally are not paid nearly enough, and that’s a big disincentive for skilled potential teachers, when those skills could earn them more elsewhere.

[@janedoe9940]

Aaaaw, I love Peter Beck! He's just awesome! So I guess Photon aims to become the Amazon (as in cloud service) of small sats? So cool. Imagine the day, when you'll be able to build your spacecraft on a platform, like KSP and then click Send and it gets 3d printed, assembled, launched and handdled by someone like Rocket Lab. And that's it. Rocket science gets open for creativity. I so hope I'm alive to see this day, because it sounds sooo cool. Anyway, Peter, I agree with you, Venus is totally underrated. So let's go to Venus!

[@bvirgin123456]

An idea for the rocket payload that the channel should sponsor. A micro space based telescope that amateurs could access. Of course, crowed sourced, crowed funded and open source so that many could eventually be deployed.

[@AndreyK415]

To strike that perfect balance, you need resources. For big projects like SLS (analysis) and Starship (innovation), resource utilization in terms of construction is high, for Rocket Lab's smaller and cheaper rockets it's low because of material strength to size ratio is in favor of smaller rockets. So it's easier to strike a better balance when it's cheaper to innovate and not have to refly until later to fully verify. Rocket Lab nonetheless is making excellent progress, wish them luck and success!

[@Anno-ls5uu]

„Go to Venus,Tim. You need to go to Venus.“

[@linecraftman3907]

Can't wait for the SLS video to be released in September!

[@quasarsavage]

I thought this was that for a few seconds...

[@johiahdoesstuff1614]

So many interesting things that I've never considered about rocket economics before!

[@levin645]

NZ has some incredible pilots

[@friendlyone2706]

Shelter at home idea for space-loving families: Pretend like you are on a spaceship headed for Mars. Extravehicular Activities require protective clothing, and it is impossible otherwise to leave your ship. Have kids track how far they would travel if going at same speed as Apollo craft.

[@almurray292]

Thanks for the Vid, Makes me remember the Old SkyHook recovery system first used towards the end of the second world war, where an aircraft could grab onto a drogue balloon with Wire retrieving any payload from the ground without landing. Maybe they should talk to some of the pilots who did this on a daily basis.

[@A.Lifecraft]

With spacetravel going massproduction, supply chains will also stabilize, massproduce and lower prices. Rocketlabs idea of a modular satellite base consisting of propulsive and navigational systems and maybe energy supply, where any customer can add any specific experiment or workplatform easily, would also pave the way for standardized refueling systems. Or the basic platform could be space-dockable, so it can be replaced in orbit without any manpower involved.