The Tuesday was spent visiting Carlton Forge Works, which is one of our primary forging suppliers for parts in titanium and high temperature alloys. We met Stephen Schneider and his colleague Brian, who gave us a crash course in their on-site forging processes and a detailed tour of their workshop – so cool! Forging is one of the most dramatic manufacturing processes there is. Despite it being “winter” in California, the air in the forgery was hot and heavy from enormous furnaces and parts that had been heated red-hot in preparation for forming.

On the way home we drove by the SpaceX headquarters and took a quick peek at the Falcon 9 booster which is standing just outside the building – it was the first of its kind to manage a vertical landing after launch.