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> And now they were accelerating to Mach 3, with a red light glowing in the cockpit. Fortunately for Branson and the three other crew members in the back, the p
by jonplackett 5y ago
> And now they were accelerating to Mach 3, with a red light glowing in the cockpit. Fortunately for Branson and the three other crew members in the back, the pilots got the ship into space and landed safely
It seems like we’re missing the crucial step of how it all turned out OK. 2 paragraphs earlier they’re saying how red lights ought to ‘scare the shit out of you’ and ‘it’s too late once it turns red’.
- gwern 5y agoYes, the red light is supposed to mean that they failed to boost enough to be able to glide back to their target runway. But... they did anyway? Apparently? Something is missing from this account.
- theelous3 5y agoTypically warning lights appear when the thing they warn about is impending, not that you've past the point. Otherwise they would be useless, except for existential mockery.
- iab 5y ago"Should have aborted lol"
- WalterBright 5y agoI always wanted a street navigator that would say: "you should have turned left back there" followed by a random insult in various languages. Much like every human navigator I've ever had who has been as unhelpful as possible.
- kevinventullo 5y agoOr maybe just a heavy sigh before “Rerouting…”.
- tragomaskhalos 5y agoSatnavs are actually too polite - explicitly telling the driver that they went wrong (sans insults of course!) is useful information that could avoid a lot of confusion. I imagine the reason that this is not done is the same reason as lots of sound engineering is compromised - marketing dweebs.
- WalterBright 5y agoI don't much care for a machine saying "please" and "thank you". If it's not going to insult you, it could at least say "yes, your worship" or "by your command".
- greedo 5y agoDepends on the UI/UX. An oil indicator light doesn't warn about impending low oil, it tells you your oil is too low. An RPM dial does the same. Other indicators warn of impending issues; stall warnings, wear indicators on tires etc. For an aircraft/spacecraft, red indicators should be used to inform the user to the most critical factors; stall warnings, fuel state warnings etc. And most importantly, the user should be able to act on these warnings, otherwise they're just too much noise and not enough signal.
- NikolaNovak 5y agoHmm somewhat of an interpretation Low oil doesn't tell you engine is dead, it tells you of an impending danger that engine may be damaged. There are any number of actions driver can take. Same for tachometer - red says you are outside design optimal parameters and you should take an action (slow down) rather than risk possible impending engine damage. Neither is "bad thing happened, it's done, there are no actions you can take any more" in my interpretation.
- jonplackett 5y agoI would have thought that too but in the article they don’t describe it like that. There’s a yellow warning light and a red ‘game over’ light they all seem terrified of.
- leshow 5y agoI think the red and yellow light are degrees of warning, there's a quote with the pilots debating which one scares them, to me that means neither of them are beyond the point of no return. I did have the same thought when I first read the article though.
- RegW 5y ago> It seems like we’re missing the crucial step of how it all turned out OK. Pulled over, hood up, wiggled a few leads. Light goes out, hood down, back on the road, job done.