Why Does Blue Origin's Rocket Look Like.... You Know... ummm

Blue Origin's New Shepard has launched dozens of humans to space for short trips above the Karman line, but, while the occupants will tell the world about the life changing views, the rest of the world can't help but note the rocket's similarity to the male anatomy.

There are of course many good engineering reasons behind this, and I'd like to dig into some of these while discussing the general technology behind the design.

In order to keep the script PG I borrowed some colourful metaphors from "Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure" which is very much not PG.

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[escomag]

Most passengers talk fondly of the climax of the experience.

[jpeterd]

Only lasts for a few minutes too, and then it needs a bit longer to recover before it's ready to go again

[jonbeno]

Former engineer on the project. First of all I'm dying with laughter. You nailed this one. It's funny how none of the engineers working on the project noticed this during the development either..

Your technical understanding of the system is very sound. You are spot on with the pressure buildup under the capsule during touchdown is accurate. It's a very cool system that dialed in produces an absolutely gentle touchdown very repeatably, even under some fault conditions.

[Bongoslam]

The perfect person to speak on this Manley topic.

[peraltarockets]

Kudos to the marketing person at Estes who originally priced the scale model of this "unmerciful machine" at 69 dollars.

[VolcanicSpacePizza]

Scott’s really addressing the big questions now.

[ryanreedgibson]

"More than a stiff insinuation" or "control veins"? LOL! You're a wordsmith Mr. Manley.

[bad.D]

its a pleasure to see that scott has a firm grasp on the kind of content his audience finds exciting!

[laurachapple]

I will pay money for the blooper reel of all the times you cracked up narrating this.

[nelsondisalvatore]

"WILLY! come take a look at this thing flying. It looks like a-"

[lerkzor]

Good lord, I still have the sense of humor of a 12 year old.
Scott, I have to give you proper respect for being able to include so many innuendos in this video. Well done, sir.

[nuclearmedicineman]

Austin Powers predicted this; bald villain, phallic rocket.. it's all coming true. I bet Bezos has sharks with lasers too.

[skjordan]

Oh my gosh, Scott. The subdued and tasteful way you approached this topic somehow made it vastly more hysterically funny than it would have been with more obvious jokes. I was listening to it as a podcast and imagining innuendos in nearly every line. Even your classical "fly safe"
Oh my gosh, thank you for providing us with this gemstone. Knowing the real engineering behind it but also being honest about how it looks and having a sense of humor about it strikes me as a healthy balance that I wish more people on the internet could have.

[Bizthewizz]

Thank you Scott Manhood, this is the hard throbbing journalism we all need.

[gbcb]

14:53 "spray on thermal protection coating... for multiple entries into the atmosphere." Genius, pure genius.

[leonkernan]

Thanks for pulling back the cover and revealing the sensitive details.

[Cgsailor]

It is said that the shelf display models of the New Glenn rocket come in a non-descript plain brown package.

[EShirako]

Mr. Shatner...wow, the look on his face, that AWE as he looked out the window was amazing to simply see.

And the concern that the rocket is 'naughty' is a phallacy! Total confusion based on a cock-up! It's nuts! Well, okay, maybe not THAT, but close. Anyway! :D

[prusak]

How Scott managed to keep this family friendly is beyond me. Almost blew it with veins going up the shaft.

[Sendu]

Thanks Scott for being willing to ask the question no one else dares to ask.