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Moving along smoothly...
May. 11th, 2010 10:47 pmOne thing I try to take advantage of here in Baikonur is the ability to ask questions of subject-matter experts so as to gain insight into terminology useful for translation. This is an outgrowth of my experience as a so-called "knowledge engineer" back during the second Great Artificial Intelligence Infatuation of the late 1980s, when guys like me would sit down with technical experts and questions them, with the idea of then embedding their hard-won knowledge in software systems capable of dealing with problems at the same level as a human expert.
Most expert systems ended up going nowhere, for various reasons. The ones that were successful were generally kept under wraps. I moved on from knowledge engineering, to software marketing, and eventually found my "center" as a multilingual wordsmith.
Getting answers is not as straightforward as you might think. Some experts figure you're not really capable of understanding the technical end of the business, and thus, they don't really try to explain the difference between X and Y. A variation on this theme is the expert who says "it's the same thing."
Then there are experts who are perfectly capable of performing in their area of expertise, but cannot explain their way out of a wet paper bag. Their explanations tend to be overly detailed and incomplete.
There are experts who are highly competent, but whose knowledge of terminology is embarrassingly thin. I once had a Russian safety expert - a highly regarded veteran with many years of experience - insist that the official designation of the Progress cargo vehicle was different from what one could find on any number of design documents, specifications, flight rules, etc.
Today's exercise in asking questions taught me a valuable lesson that can be summarized as follows: not all activities are tests. Therefore, while one might indeed perform a leak check while bringing a pressurization system to a certain pressure, the purpose of the exercise is to establish the pressure, not perform the test.
In other news, I had picked up a camel-hair cap at the market this past Sunday specifically intended to cover one's head in a sauna, and I put it to use today. I feel a little ridiculous wearing it, but Pavel - one of the other regulars at the twice-a-week torture session - says it helps keeps your head cool. Frankly, I didn't really notice a difference, but at least nobody laughed.
Dinner was accompanied by a nice white "Chateaux de St. Jean" from Sonoma, which was favorably commented on by one of our French colleagues. In related news, I am happy to note that while I have not lost any weight while at Baikonur, neither have I gained any, which is very good news, considering the availability of high-calorie goodies in the dining room.
Spacecraft propellant loading commences Saturday. In anticipation of a stressful several days of 120% concentration, the prop team has a visit scheduled tomorrow to the Gagarin Museum. I am the designated interpreter.
So I better get some sleep.
Cheers...
Most expert systems ended up going nowhere, for various reasons. The ones that were successful were generally kept under wraps. I moved on from knowledge engineering, to software marketing, and eventually found my "center" as a multilingual wordsmith.
Getting answers is not as straightforward as you might think. Some experts figure you're not really capable of understanding the technical end of the business, and thus, they don't really try to explain the difference between X and Y. A variation on this theme is the expert who says "it's the same thing."
Then there are experts who are perfectly capable of performing in their area of expertise, but cannot explain their way out of a wet paper bag. Their explanations tend to be overly detailed and incomplete.
There are experts who are highly competent, but whose knowledge of terminology is embarrassingly thin. I once had a Russian safety expert - a highly regarded veteran with many years of experience - insist that the official designation of the Progress cargo vehicle was different from what one could find on any number of design documents, specifications, flight rules, etc.
Today's exercise in asking questions taught me a valuable lesson that can be summarized as follows: not all activities are tests. Therefore, while one might indeed perform a leak check while bringing a pressurization system to a certain pressure, the purpose of the exercise is to establish the pressure, not perform the test.
In other news, I had picked up a camel-hair cap at the market this past Sunday specifically intended to cover one's head in a sauna, and I put it to use today. I feel a little ridiculous wearing it, but Pavel - one of the other regulars at the twice-a-week torture session - says it helps keeps your head cool. Frankly, I didn't really notice a difference, but at least nobody laughed.
Dinner was accompanied by a nice white "Chateaux de St. Jean" from Sonoma, which was favorably commented on by one of our French colleagues. In related news, I am happy to note that while I have not lost any weight while at Baikonur, neither have I gained any, which is very good news, considering the availability of high-calorie goodies in the dining room.
Spacecraft propellant loading commences Saturday. In anticipation of a stressful several days of 120% concentration, the prop team has a visit scheduled tomorrow to the Gagarin Museum. I am the designated interpreter.
So I better get some sleep.
Cheers...
