PLAY PODCASTS
The Orbital Mechanics Podcast

The Orbital Mechanics Podcast

200 episodes — Page 1 of 4

Episode 511: LOS

— We won’t be restocking T-shirts, but feel free to find a print company you like and use our logos to make your own! Please do not use our logos for any other purpose without permission. (drive.google.com)— Posters have been added to the store (theorbitalmechanics.com/store)— There’s still a great space community on our Discord (theorbitalmechanics.com/discord)

Jul 9, 202520 min

Episode 510.2: Abort Abort Abort

Well, after last week's short episode, I suspect that a lot of you anticipated this short episode would be coming out.I'm going to use some language that David, Dennis, and I have agreed represents our intentions. Please don't, like, take this too far, but we have decided to sunset the main show.Here's what we're going to do. Next week, on Sunday, July 6th, we're going to get together and we're going to record an episode. We would like to invite anybody who's interested in listening into one of our live recordings to come join us.We're not sure what we're going to do. We thought about calling this our last episode, but that doesn't feel quite right. I think the three of us have some ideas about what we want the future of this show to look like, even if it's not recording an episode every week. We'll also be able to tell you a bit more about what happened last week.We would love if you have thought about joining a recording session and haven't, or if you used to and you still kind of want to but you haven't had a good motivation, here's your motivation. Come party with us. (Hopefully it'll be a party.)But yeah, so that's the news for this week. Next week we expect to put out, you know, a full like hour-long episode like usual, and then we'll... it's not going to look like our normal episodes. It'll be pretty talky. I mean, our episodes are always talky. Even this short episode is pretty talky. But we're, you know, we'll probably talk about the news a little bit, but it's mainly going to be, I don't know, almost like a brainstorming session, maybe. We'll find out.You're invited and I would love to see, like me personally, I would love to see you. There are a bunch of names scrolling through my head right now. I would love to see everybody on that list. And I'm sure there are plenty of names that I don't know yet. And you know, that's one of the things that I'm most afraid of losing if we're not doing weekly episodes is all the new people I'm not going to get to meet.Come on by next week, July, Sunday, the 6th. We record at 9 a.m. Pacific, 12 p.m. Eastern. If you aren't already in our discord, you can go to theorbitalmechanics.com/discord, and that'll just redirect you to an invite. Yeah, you got to have a discord account. I'm sorry. But come come join us and say hi.All right, talk to you guys next week. Bye.

Jun 30, 2025

Episode 510.1: Hold hold hold

Weird, short episode here, but it still feels weird to not start the show by saying “and I’m Ben.”So, we’ve had a personal emergency here on the crew. All three of us are fine, and we will let you know more about what’s happened, but for right now, this week’s episode is delayed. Hopefully it’ll be coming out later this week, but I don’t know. It may take a little while for things to get back to normal, but hopefully not too long. We just need a little bit of time to cope, and then we can figure out what our plans are.Thank you guys for listening, and you know, I miss y’all.

Jun 10, 2025

Episode 510: Leakspin

Spaceflight News— Starship Block 2: 0 for 3 (spacenews.com) (youtube.com)— Block 3 Update (nasaspaceflight.com)Short & Sweet— Xodiac flies final time (arstechnica.com)— China successfully tests vertical-takeoff vertical-landing rocket (cgtn.com)This Week in Spaceflight Historyii May 24, 1962: Fourth flight of Project Mercury (en.wikipedia.org) (nasa.gov)— Next week (6/10 - 6/16) in 1973: Dos equis

Jun 4, 202549 min

Episode 509: Hungry Hopping Hippos

Spaceflight News— Neutron update (spacenews.com)Short & Sweet— China announces mission to Venus (ieee.org)Tianhe to be expanded (spacenews.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 14 May, 1973. Launch of Skylab (historicspacecraft.com) (PDF: nasa.gov)— Next week (5/20 - 5/26) in 1962: Kickin’ up fireflies.

May 14, 202558 min

Episode 508: North of Antarctica

Spaceflight News— Firefly Nozzle Anomaly (spacenews.com) (youtube.com)Short & Sweet— Efforts continue to rescue Lunar Trailblazer (spacenews.com)— ISS avoids space debris (space.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: Kosmos 482’s parachutes dangling out? (space.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— May 10, 1994: Last contact with the Clementine Spacecraft (en.wikipedia.org) (researchgate.net) (nap.nationalacademies.org) (klabs.org)— Next week (5/13 - 5/19) in 1973: It’s the final countdown

May 7, 202536 min

Episode 507: Prolate Marshmallow

Spaceflight News— Sierra Space impact test (asdnews.com)— Atmos reentry test of PHOENIX-1 (spacenews.com) (europeanspaceflight.com)Short & Sweet— Kosmos 482’s deorbit update (sattrackcam.blogspot.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— Blue Origin tank failure? (HT ArcadeEngineer: fixupx.com/kerballistic07)This Week in Spaceflight History— 1 May, 1979: Enterprise rolled out to 39A (nasa.gov)— Next week (5/6 - 5/12) in 1994: Lost and gone forever, in orbit

Apr 30, 202544 min

Episode 506: ISS at Risk

Spaceflight News— The Riskiest Period of ISS’ Existence (spacenews.com)— Enginefest — Latitude (europeanspaceflight.com) — Pangea Aerospace (europeanspaceflight.com) — Venus Aerospace (prnewswire.com)Short & Sweet— Building destroyed in explosion at Northrop Grumman test site (space.com)— Seat barter agreement extended through 2027 (spacenews.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— Unc’ Willy: “First flight” is a better term (discord.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— April 24, 1970: Launch of Dong Fang Hong (astronautix.com) (en.wikipedia.org)— Next week (4/29 - 5/5) in 1979: Heading out for a three-month stay

Apr 23, 202544 min

Episode 505: Confirming Isaacman

Spaceflight News— Confirming Isaacman (spacenews.com) (law.cornell.edu) (aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org)— One of the Lunar Terrain Vehicles unveiled (lunaroutpost.com)Short & Sweet— New addition to DSN (space.com)— DOD hires Astroscale (satellitetoday.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: Jonathan McDowell retiring (archive.ph)This Week in Spaceflight History— 18 Apr, 2001. Maiden flight of GSLV Mk. I (a.k.a GSLV-D1) (isro.gov.in) (astronautix.com) (PDF: sci-hub.se)  (planet4589.org)— Next week (4/22 - 4/28) in 1970: Is the national anthem really 20 days long?

Apr 16, 202548 min

Episode 504: Mark Soyuzworth

Spaceflight News— Two more PAMs (spacenews.com) (sam.gov)Short & Sweet— Fram2 launches and lands (arstechnica.com) (space.com)— SpinLaunch turns to broadband (spacenews.com) Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: Starliner shakeup (spaceflightnow.com)— From Espen Urkedal: FTS vs VTSThis Week in Spaceflight History— April 10, 1979: Launch (and early return) of Soyuz 33 (en.wikipedia.org) (blazingbulgaria.wordpress)— Next week (4/15 - 4/21) in 2001: Stumbling 58 minutes short of the finish orbit

Apr 9, 202538 min

Episode 503: DOWNLINK -- Joseph Marlin

Spaceflight News— Security Space (arstechnica.com) (spacenews.com)Interview -- Joseph Marlin, Deputy Chief Engineer, Blue Ghost Lunar Program— linkedin.com/in/josephmarlin— fireflyspace.comThis Week in Spaceflight History— Apr 4, 1983. Launch of STS-6 (americaspace.com)— Next week (4/8 - 4/14) in 1979: Stumbling a mile before the finish line

Apr 2, 20251h 21m

Episode 502: Still Sticking

Spaceflight News— Still sticking with Starliner (spacenews.com) (aviationweek.com) (spacenews.com)Short & Sweet— Starlab starts new phase (space.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— Blaise via email: SRTM gravity gradientsThis Week in Spaceflight History— March 31, 1972: Launch of Kosmos 482 (en.wikipedia.org) (spacereview.com) (leonarddavid.com)— Next week (4/1 - 4/7) in 1983: Orbital structural test article

Mar 26, 202548 min

Episode 501: MSR China

Spaceflight News— China’s Mars Sample Return open to International Cooperation (cgtn.com) (spacenews.com)Short & Sweet— Several Russian sats on the move (sattrackcam.blogspot.com) (defence-blog.com)— X-37B lands after record-breaking mission (arstechnica.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: leaked starship photos: (HT The Orbital Index: reddit.com) (HT The Orbital Index: reddit.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 18 Mar, 1980. Plesetsk launch pad disaster (plesetzk.ru) (russianspaceweb.com) (bbc.co.uk) (en.wikipedia.org) — Tangent on GRAU indices (en.wikipedia.org)— Next week (3/25 - 3/31) in 1972: Much closer, much easier, but 53 years late

Mar 19, 202543 min

Episode 500: Quincentennial

Spaceflight News— IM-2 lunar landing (intuitivemachines.com) (spacenews.com) (spacenews.com) (nasaspaceflight.com) (intuitivemachines.com) (youtube.com)Short & Sweet— Voyager turns off further instruments (space.com)— A Falcon 9 loses a leg (spacenews.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: ISS too clean (newsbreak.com) (cell.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 15 Mar, 1976. Launch of Lincoln Experimental Satellite 8 and 9 (LES-8 and -9) (skyrocket.de) (wikipedia.org) (ll.mit.edu)— Next week (3/18 - 3/24) in 1980: Wait nine years until “openness”

Mar 12, 202555 min

Episode 499: Wicked Shimmy

Spaceflight News— Starship TF7 bounced to pieces (Paywall: aviationweek.com) (spacenews.com)Short & Sweet— Two payloads on IM-2 launch suffering problems on-orbit (spacenews.com)— Space capsule lands in Australia while first rocket readies to launch (spacenews.com) (abc.net.au)— Xona received contract to develop GPS alternative (insidegnss.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: Blue Ghost lunar landing? (Spoiler: it did!) (space.com) (spacenews.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— Feb 26, 1960: Failed launch of MiDAS 1 (en.wikipedia.org) (PDF: nro.gov) (PDF: nro.gov)— Next week (3/11 - 3/17) in 1976: Two score and nine years ago

Mar 5, 202540 min

Episode 498: Decimation

Spaceflight News— Stoke Space reveals Andromeda 2 (stokespace.com)Short & Sweet— Long March 8A completes first flight (spacenews.com)— Germany provides funds for new launch facility (europeanspaceflight.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: Blue Origin Layoffs (spacenews.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 24 Feb, 1996. Launch of POLAR satellite (PDF: ntrs.nasa.gov) (eyes.nasa.gov) (nasaspaceflight.com)— Next week (2/25 - 3/3) in 1960: The copper touch

Feb 19, 202540 min

Episode 497: Frustrating Frustum

Spaceflight News— The most amazing little rocket that will have ever built (spacenews.com) (aas.org) (aas.org) (aas.org) (PDF: hou.usra.edu)Short & Sweet— Starbase Update (nasaspaceflight.com)— Thales Alenia to build an airlock (europeanspaceflight.com)Vast reschedules Haven-1 (spacenews.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: ThrustMe pushes into US market (spacenews.com) (thrustme.fr)— Unc’ Willy: Frustums, and NGLR (discord.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 11 Feb, 2000: Shuttle Radar Topography Mission launched on STS-99 (en.wikipedia.org) (airandspace.si.edu VIA web.archive.org) (PDF: agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com)— Next week (2/18 - 2/24) in 1996: Goes where it says on the tin.

Feb 12, 20251h 16m

Episode 496: Next-Gen Corner Cube

Spaceflight News— Blue Ghost M1 (americaspace.com) (nasaspaceflight.com) (fireflyspace.com) (gsfc.nasa.gov) (baas.aas.org) (hou.usra.edu) Short & Sweet— Starliner investigation nears completion (spacenews.com)— AstroForge announces first target (space.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: IRNSS-1K launch failure (thehindu.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— Feb. 6, 1995: STS-63 approaches within 11 meters of Mir (en.wikipedia.org) (PDF: nasa.gov) (thespaceabove.us)— Next week (2/11 - 2/17) in 2000: Tail-first and burning fast

Feb 5, 20251h 2m

Episode 495: NICER than orange slices

Spaceflight News— NICER repair on EVA 91 (nasaspaceflight.com) (svs.gsfc.nasa.gov) (science.nasa.gov) (svs.gsfc.nasa.gov) (heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov)Short & Sweet— ESA to vote on future of Space Rider spacecraft (europeanspaceflight.com)— China hops higher, maybe (spacenews.com) (bilibili.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: New Shepard’s lunar gravity mission (spacenews.com)— Hydraq via email: CH4 hydrodynamics in StarshipThis Week in Spaceflight History— 3 Feb, 1994: The launch of STS-60 (americaspace.com) (americaspace.com) (PDF: nasa.gov) (nss.org)Next week (2/4 - 2/10) in 1995: Hey, it’s me again. I’m outside.

Jan 29, 20251h 0m

Episode 494: Debris Cross-Range

Spaceflight News— Starship FT-7 (nasaspaceflight.com) (spacenews.com) (bsky.app/profile/derekdotspace.bsky.social) (space.com) (spacenews.com)Short & Sweet— ISRO successfully docks in space (spacenews.com)— RFA granted license for vertical launch from UK (europeanspaceflight.com) Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: New Glenn First Flight (nasaspaceflight.com) (americaspace.com) (americaspace.com) (spacenews.com) (spacenews.com) (spacenews.com)— DarthMooMoo: Varda launched on F9, not Electron (discord.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 22 Jan 1997: Space debris hits a person for the first and only time on record. (HT SciKyle: en.wikipedia.org) (PDF: deepblue.lib.umich.edu) (PDF: apps.dtic.mil) (foxnews.com)— Next week (1/28 - 2/3) in 1994: Call before you come over

Jan 22, 2025

Episode 493: Two Satellites Enter! Five Satellites Leave!

Thanks to Dennis O for naming this week’s episode!Spaceflight News— Mars Sample Return redesign (spaceflightnow.com) (spacenews.com)Short & Sweet— China tests mission extension tech on-orbit (spacenews.com)— X-37B’s latest mission passes one-year in space (space.com)— Pale Blue Propulsion (spacenews.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: Eaton/Pallisades fire relief for JPL workers (spacenews.com) (americaspace.com) (securelb.imodules.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— Jan. 17, 2005: US-China Orbital Debris Event (space.com) (PPT: celestrak.org) (spaceref.com) (PDF: orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov)— Next week (1/21 - 1/27) in 1997: A tap on the shoulder

Jan 15, 202539 min

Episode 492: Lotta Scoopin'

Spaceflight News— Starship TF-7 (spacenews.com) (ringwatchers.com) (spacex.com) (twitter.com)Short & Sweet— India launches space docking demo mission (nasaspaceflight.com) (space.com) (en.wikipedia.org) (isro.gov.in)— Launches gaining frequency (spacenews.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 10 Jan, 1968: Surveyor 7 lands on the moon (nasa.gov) (ntrs.nasa.gov) (ntrs.nasa.gov)— Next week (1/14 - 1/20) in 2005: Was that the Aurora Australis?

Jan 8, 202555 min

Episode 491: Everest Space

Spaceflight News— K2 Space wins contract (spaceinsider.tech) (spacenews.com) (addtheegg.com)Short & Sweet— Contracts awarded for NASA’s Near Space Network (spacenews.com)— Record breaking spacewalk set by Shenzhou-19 crew (spacenews.com)— Crew-10 delayed (spacenews.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 2 Jan, 1959. Launch of Luna 1, first spacecraft to reach the Moon (en.wikipedia.org) (smithsonianmag.com) (mentallandscape.com) (smithsonianmag.com)— Next week (1/7 - 1/13) in 1968: Highlander - there can be only one (of seven)

Jan 1, 202542 min

Episode 490: PhageX

Spaceflight News— Orion’s heat shield (americaspace.com) (nasa.gov)Short & Sweet— Tests of Russian Orbital Station core module announced (interfax.com)— Ingenuity’s Crash Investigation (spacenews.com) (youtube.com) (youtube.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— Joel Rogers via email: Young and Crippen didn’t fly on Enterprise.This Week in Spaceflight History— December 17, 2012: Grasshopper makes its first real hop (spacenews.com) (en.wikipedia.org)— Next week (1/1 - 1/6) in 1959: To the moon! Uh... to the Sun!

Dec 18, 202438 min

Episode 489: Swirl Domination

Spaceflight News— Swirl-dominated chambers (payloadspace.com) (https://www.sierraspace.com) (Pic, from researchgate.net) (PDF: nasa.gov)Short & Sweet— So long Sutherland Spaceport (satellitetoday.com)Further delays to Artemis program announced (spacenews.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 12 Dec, 1970. Launch of Uhuru (nasa.gov) (PDF: jhuapl.edu)— Next week (12/17 - 12/23) in 2012: Ride ‘em, cowboy

Dec 11, 202442 min

Episode 488: Chonky Copter

Spaceflight News— Epsilon can’t stop exploding (space.com) (youtu.be) (PDF: jaxa.jp)— A Dragonfly on a Falcon Heavy (satellitetoday.com)Short & Sweet— Old spaceport, newish rocket (europeanspaceflight.com)— New rocket, new spaceport (spacenews.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: New Glenn on the pad (space.com) (blueorigin.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 3 Dec, 2003: Shuttle Training Aircraft loses part of an engine (iasa.com.au VIA web.archive.org) (en.wikipedia.org) (simpleflying.com)— Next week (12/10 - 12/16) in 1970: Equatorial eyes

Dec 4, 202444 min

Episode 487: What's that smell?

Spaceflight News— Global grasshoppers — Russia’s hopper (arstechnica.com) — EU’s hopper (europeanspaceflight.com)Short & Sweet— Omani spaceport looks to launch next month (www.thenationalnews.com)— China tests inflatable spacecraft on orbit (news.cgtn.com) (space.com) (spacenews.com)— Starship Test Flight Six (nasaspaceflight.com) (spacenews.com) Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: Progress contamination (russianspaceweb.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— November 28, 1983: Launch of STS-9, Columbia (en.wikipedia.org) (PDF: nasa.gov) (nasa.gov)  (americaspace.com)— Next week (12/3 - 12/9) in 2003: You’ve heard of the space banana, but what about the Banana River dunk?

Nov 27, 202440 min

Episode 486: 300mm of Mercury

Spaceflight News— Zvezda leak disagreement (spacenews.com) (spacenews.com) (arstechnica.com)Short & Sweet— NGR is in the building! (spacenews.com)— Bye bye ABL (from launch anyway) (arstechnica.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 24 Nov, 1970. Launch of Kosmos 379 (astronautix.com) (russianspaceweb.com) (russianspaceweb.com) — Next week (11/26 - 12/2) in 1983: And then there were six

Nov 20, 202454 min

Episode 485: Shuttle Sandwich

Spaceflight News— CRS-2 extended (spacenews.com) (sam.gov)Short & Sweet— Gilmour ups and Bowen downs (spacenews.com) (spacenews.com)— LignoSat to be deployed from ISS (popsci.com) (nanosats.eu)— Long March 9: Starship (arstechnica)Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: LEO safety study (PDF: ntrs.nasa.gov)This Week in Spaceflight History— 12 Nov, 1981: The launch of STS-2 (en.wikipedia.org) (nasa.gov) (historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov)— Next week (11/19 - 11/25) in 1970: LELO: Low-Earth “Lunar” Orbit

Nov 13, 202445 min

Episode 484: Runaway Ramp

Spaceflight News— Shenzhou-19 reaches Tiangong (spaceflightnow.com)— Mirror platform for Tiangong (news.cgtn.com) (youtube.com)— Low-cost Tiangong cargo S/C (spacenews.com)— “Kinetica-2 [selected] as top launcher choice” (twitter.com/cas_space)— Crewed moon rover (spacenews.com) (twitter.com/YuqiiQian)Short & Sweet— Artemis heat shield chunks (spacenews.com)— Liquid water on Mars (nature.com VIA nasaspaceflight.com) (news.berkeley.edu)— California startup develops ABEP system (spacenews.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— November 8, 2004: First launch of a Soyuz 2 carrier rocket (en.wikipedia.org) (v2rockethistory.com)— Next week (11/12 - 11/18) in 1981: 40% of the mission, 90% of the objectives.

Nov 6, 202437 min

Episode 483: 100 Abort Criteria

Spaceflight News— Starship Flight 5 Review “Leaked” (spacenews.com) (twitter.com/elonmusk) (spacenews.com) (HT DennisO: x.com/StarshipGazer)Short & Sweet— Crew-8 post-landing medical issue (spacenews.com) (spacenews.com) (blogs.nasa.gov)— Companies to bring commercial launch to Ireland (europeanspaceflight.com)— ACS-3’s a little crooked (space.com) (blogs.nasa.gov)— Mars Sample Revision (spacenews.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: Aerojet 260 solid rocket test (en.wikipedia.org)This Week in Spaceflight History— 3 Nov, 1994. Launch of STS-66 (en.wikipedia.org) (PDF: nasa.gov) (nss.org) (youtu.be)— Next week (11/5 - 11/11) in 2004: A blind bowling ball

Oct 30, 202445 min

Episode 482: Geostationary Explosive Orbit

Thanks to Dennis O for naming this week’s episode!Spaceflight News— Intelsat 33e loses power and blows up (spacenews.com) (x.com/S4S_SDA) (reddit.com)Short & Sweet— Sirius Space hot fire (europeanspaceflight.com)— A Firefly to launch a Jackal (satellitetoday.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— Ross Peterson: Super Heavy’s reentry heating— Taylor S Marks: ISS graveyard orbit (discord.com)This Week in Spaceflight History—  27 Oct, 1992. Launch of the Znamya 2 solar power antenna (en.wikipedia.org) (thespacereview.com) (qsl.net) (skypub.com VIA web.archive.org)— Next week (10/29 - 11/4) in 1994: holding the weight of LEO on your shoulders

Oct 23, 202454 min

Episode 481: Deorbit Strategies

Spaceflight News— Worries about ISS making a splash (spacenews.com) (PDF: nasa.gov) (spacenews.com) (space.com)Short & Sweet— X-37B to perform aerobraking maneuver (defenseone.com)— Rocket Lab wins Mars Sample Return concept award (spacenews.com)— Vast unveils details on Haven-1 (payloadspace.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: Starship Flight Test 5 (youtu.be) (nasaspaceflight.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— October 17, 1974: Founding of OTRAG (en.wikipedia.org) (youtube.com) (youtube.com) (bernd-leitenberger.de)— Next week (10/22 - 10/28) in 1992: To shreds, you say!

Oct 16, 202430 min

Episode 480: Phenolic Burnthrough

Spaceflight News-- Vulcan anomaly (spacenews.com) (youtube.com) (spaceflightnow.com) (spacenews.com) (twitter.com/dwisecinema) (spacenews.com)Short & Sweet-- Voyager 2 turns off science instrument (inverse.com)-- Super bright Qianfan satellites (spacenews.com)-- NASA reduces rate of ISS leak (spacenews.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections-- Unc’ Willy: Crossfield’s employer (discord.com)This Week in Spaceflight History-- 8 Oct, 2012: The launch of CRS-1 (en.wikipedia.org) (nasaspaceflight.com)-- Next week (10/15 - 10/21) in 1974: The original SpaceX

Oct 9, 202455 min

Episode 479: VIPER Sting

Spaceflight News-- VIPER opinions (spacenews.com) (sam.gov) Short & Sweet-- Chinese lunar spacesuit revealed (cgtn.com) (space.com)-- Upper stage anomaly grounds Falcon 9 (space.com) (spacenews.com)-- MaiaSpace moves in (spacenews)This Week in Spaceflight History-- 2 Oct, 1921. Birth of Scott Crossfield (en.wikipedia.org) (PDF: govinfo.gov) (magazine.washington.edu)-- Next week (10/8 - 10/14) in 2012: A boxy box delivery

Oct 1, 202443 min

Episode 478: ISRO Audit

Spaceflight News-- ISRO rising (spacenews.com)Short & Sweet-- Iran successfully launches research satellite (almayadeen.net)-- Ariane 6 software fix (spacenews.com)-- Yutu 2 turns six (space.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections-- From the intro: Sirius Space will launch from Australia (europeanspaceflight.com)This Week in Spaceflight History-- Launch of Shenzhou 7 (神舟七号) (en.wikipedia.org) (PDF: nescacademy.nasa.gov) (youtube.com) (youtube.com)-- Next week (10/1 - 10/7) in 1921: Flying with Michael Burnham

Sep 25, 202435 min

Episode 477: Land Ahoy

Spaceflight News-- Landspace lands (spacenews.com) (youtube.com)Short & Sweet-- New Glenn to attempt landing (HT Chris Radcliff: https://twitter.com/davill)-- Chang’e-6 extended mission (spacenews.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections-- From the intro: Polaris Dawn spacewalk (spacenews.com) (spacenews.com) (youtube.com)This Week in Spaceflight History-- 22 Sep, 2006. Launch of Hinode (日の出) (nasa.gov)  (eoportal.org) (esa.int) (en.wikipedia.org)-- Next week (9/24 - 9/30) in 2008: And then there were three

Sep 18, 202429 min

Episode 476: Qrbital MeQaniQs

Spaceflight News-- BepiColombo insertion delayed (europeanspaceflight.com) (spacenews.com) (youtube.com) (esa.int)Short & Sweet-- EscaPADE DelAYED (spacenews.com)-- Starliner Returned (arstechnica.com) (spacenews.com) (nasaspaceflight.com)-- Vega’s final launch (satellitetoday.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections-- From the intro: Blue Origin’s new drone ship (HT DennisO: https://x.com/_mgde_) (space.com)-- Haragopal: Europa Clipper’s flying on Falcon Heavy, not New Glenn (discord.com)This Week in Spaceflight History-- 10 Sept, 2009: The launch of HTV-1 (en.wikipedia.org) (humans-in-space.jaxa.jp) (PDF: nasa.gov)-- Next week (9/17 - 9/23) in 2006: Flying to where the Sun never rises

Sep 10, 202446 min

Episode 475: Falcon Crunch

Spaceflight News-- B1062 lost (spacenews.com) (spacenews.com) (nasaspaceflight.com) (nasaspaceflight.com) (youtube.com) (HT ArcadeEngineer: twitter.com)Short & Sweet-- Intuitive Machines selected for lunar South Pole mission (spacenews.com)-- Stoke Space wins contract to prototype cargo delivery (satellitetoday.com) (stokespace.com)-- Starliner wob wob (spacenews.com) (arstechnica.com) (spacenews.com) (blogs.nasa.gov)Questions, Comments, Corrections-- From the intro: Europa Clipper (planetary.org)This Week in Spaceflight History-- 6 Sept, 1988: The troublesome landing of Soyuz TM-5 (russianspaceweb.com) (en.wikipedia.org)-- Next week (9/10 - 9/16) in 2009: Stork with a smile

Sep 4, 202431 min

Episode 474: Another Six Months

Spaceflight News-- Starliner crew to return on Dragon (spacenews.com) (nasaspaceflight.com)Short & Sweet-- EscaPADE arrives in Florida (spacenews.com)-- SLS gets bumped up a block (spacenews)-- RFA first stage lost in test-firing anomaly (arstechnica.com) (spacenews.com) (europeanspaceflight.com) (youtu.be)This Week in Spaceflight History-- 27 Aug, 1985. Launch of STS-51-I (PDF: nasa.gov) (youtube.com) (forum.nasaspaceflight.com) (historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov) (PDF: ntrs.nasa.gov) (wikiarchives.space) (en.wikipedia.org)-- Next week (9/3 - 9/9) in 1988: Shouldn’t have had that last cup of coffee

Aug 28, 202452 min

Episode 473: DOWNLINK--Rocket Lab's EscaPADE Team

Spaceflight News-- First polar-orbiting crewed mission announced (spacenews.com) (arstechnica.com)Short & Sweet-- New solid rocket game in town (breakingdefense.com) (spacenews.com)-- Spaceport Rundown (flyingmag.com) (europeanspaceflight.com) (cnbc.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections-- From Espen Urkedal via email: Raptor 3 is not as incomplete as it looks (twitter.com/gwynne_shotwell)Interview -- Rocket Lab’s Cristophe Mandy and Sarah Blyde-- There’s also a brief appearance by Lane Cook, Senior Program Manager-- Thank you so much to the Rocket Lab team for making their time and facility available to us!-- rocketlabusa.comThis Week in Spaceflight History-- 24 Aug, 1958: The failed launch of Explorer 5 (en.wikipedia.org) (PDF: nasa.gov)-- Next week (8/27 - 9/2) in 1985: Big Astronaut, Little Astronaut

Aug 21, 20241h 14m

Episode 472: Megadebris

Spaceflight News-- Megadebris? (spacenews.com) (spacenews.com) (slingshot.space)Short & Sweet-- NEOWISE ends operations (space.com) (spaceflightnow.com)-- Starliner still stuck at Station (spaceflightnow)Questions, Comments, Corrections-- From Upcoming Spaceflight Events: -- JUICE Earth flyby #1 on Aug 19/20 (esa.int) -- Online FAA meeting RE: Starship launch cadence on Aug 20 (faa.gov)This Week in Spaceflight History-- August 15, 1969: Creation of ISRO (en.wikipedia.org) (britannica.com)-- Next week (8/20 - 8/26) in 1958: Catching a second wind

Aug 14, 202431 min

Episode 471: Rubber Baby Whipple Bumper

Spaceflight News-- ADRAS-J rendezvous (HT Zach: twitter.com/CRD2_JAXA) (astroscale.com) (PDF: astroscale.com VIA astroscale.com)Short & Sweet-- POLARIS spaceplane startup back on track (europeanspaceflight.com)-- Dawn does docking (spacenews.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections-- From the intro: JWST looks at Epsilon Indi A (nasaspaceflight.com)-- Ryan R: TEA-TEB is a pre-mixed fluid (discord.com)This Week in Spaceflight History-- 10 Aug, 1992. Launch of the first major oceanographic research satellite, TOPEX/Poseidon (en.wikipedia.org) (jpl.nasa.gov) (eoportal.org) (aviso.altimetry.fr) -- T/P data is used in this sea level rise dashboard (climate.nasa.gov)-- Next week (8/13 - 8/19) in 1969: This agency is ro-bust

Aug 7, 202438 min

Episode 470: DOWNLINK--Martin Frederick

Spaceflight News-- Falcon 9 Return to Flight (spacenews.com) (nasaspaceflight.com) (spacenews.com) (nasaspaceflight.com)Short & Sweet-- ABL Static fire failure (spacenews.com)-- Starliner Debugging (spacenews.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections-- The RAX bug was caused by differing clocks (youtube.com)Interview -- Martin Frederick, Northrop Grumman Corporate Director, Civil Space Programs-- linkedin.com-- Further reading: -- JWST (northropgrumman.com) -- TRMM (gpm.nasa.gov) (trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov)This Week in Spaceflight History-- July 31, 1992: Launch of Atlantis on STS-46 (en.wikipedia.org)  (americaspace.com) -- EURECA was also the subject of a TWSF about STS-57 (theorbitalmechanics.com) -- TSS-1 was also the subject of a TWSF about STS-75 (theorbitalmechanics.com)-- Next week (8/6 - 8/12) in 1992: The zeroth argonaut.

Jul 31, 20241h 24m

Episode 469: Runk

Spaceflight News-- NASA nixes VIPER (spacenews.com) (newscientist.com)European Short & Sweet-- Ariane 6 may carry crew (europeanspaceflight.com)-- Europe announces RAMSES mission to Apophis (arstechnica.com) (esa.int)-- Themis gets delayed (europeanspaceflight.com)This Week in Spaceflight History-- 29 Jul, 1999. Deep Space 1, NASA’s first S/C with ion propulsion, flies by asteroid 9969 Braille (en.wikipedia.org) -- We interviewed DS-1’s chief mission engineer and deputy mission manager Marc Rayman in Episode 75 (theorbitalmechanics.com) -- Ron Garret discussed the RAX bug in his talk The Remote Agent Experiment (youtube.com)-- Next week (7/30 - 8/5) in 1992: We’ll hang on to this one, and come back for that one later

Jul 24, 202453 min

Episode 468: Upper Stage Downer

Spaceflight News-- Falcon 9 Failure (spacenews.com)  (spaceflightnow.com)-- Ariane 6 anomaly (europeanspaceflight.com) (spaceflightnow.com)-- Hyperbola-1 mishap (spacenews.com)Short & Sweet-- Europa Clipper faces last-minute obstacle (space.com)-- Dawn gets green light for spaceplane tests (spacenews.com)This Week in Spaceflight History-- 17 July, 1977. First launch of a complete TKS spacecraft (en.wikipedia.org) (russianspaceweb.com) (nasa.gov)-- Next week (7/23 - 7/29) in 1999: Is that a grid of dots on that asteroid?

Jul 17, 202433 min

Episode 467: DOWNLINK--MSI-DFAT

Spaceflight News-- Luch (Olymp) 2 “caught” snooping (sattrackcam.blogspot.com) (sattrackcam.blogspot.com) (russianspaceweb.com) (thespacereview.com)Short & Sweet-- The Poles make it to space! (europeanspaceflight.com)-- ISRO announces major size increase to Indian space station (x.com/ISROSpaceflight)Interview --  MSI-DFAT-- We talked to: -- Alex Carrella, VP Strategy & Growth -- Bradley Hope, Business Manager -- Max Myers, Systems Engineer/Lead Rigger-- Before DFAT (and RFAT), we had feet. (youtube.com)-- msidfat.com-- linktr.ee/msidfatThis Week in Spaceflight History-- July 12, 2001. Launch of Artemis GEO satellite (en.wikipedia.org) (esa.int) (PDF: esa.int)-- Next week (7/16 - 7/22) in 1977: One month now, 312 months later

Jul 10, 20241h 26m

Episode 466: All Aboard?

Spaceflight News-- The Vulcan train is leaving the station (spacenews.com)Short & Sweet-- Starliner’s extended-er ISS stay (spacenews.com)-- A not-so-static test fire (spacenews.com)-- Resurs P1 breaks up (spacenews.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections-- From the intro: (americaspace.com)This Week in Spaceflight History-- 8 July, 1994. Launch of STS-65 (en.wikipedia.org)-- Next week (7/9 - 7/15) in 2001: Spiraling into control

Jul 3, 202432 min

Episode 465: Reflown Don

Spaceflight News-- Long March 10 hot firing (spacenews.com) (weixin.qq.com) (youtube.com) (spacenews.com)-- Latest taikonaut class selected (space.com)Short & Sweet-- ESA gets involved in Vega C’s transfer (europeanspaceflight.com)-- Ariane 6 gets dressed (spacenews.com)-- Starliner’s extended ISS stay (spacenews.com) (spacenews.com)This Week in Spaceflight History-- Next week (7/1 - 7/8) in 1994: From rocket to lab

Jun 26, 202425 min

Episode 464: Starliner Seep

Spaceflight News-- Starliner OFT (americaspace.com) (spacenews.com) (americaspace.com) (spacenews.com) (nasaspaceflight.com) (spacenews.com) (spacenews.com) (HT deltaV: twitter.com/cbs_spacenews) (twitter.com/SciGuySpace) -- Suni Williams gave a tour on orbit (HT Dennis O: youtube.com)Short & Sweet-- Chinese space plane proximity ops (sattrackcam.blogspot.com)-- NASA selects companies to explore Mars Sample Return methods (nasa.gov) (spacenews.com)-- VOYAGER’S BACK!!! (spacenews.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections-- From the intro: ISS replicates War of the Worlds radio drama (space.com) (twitter.com/airplaneian)This Week in Spaceflight History-- 24 Jun, 1982. Soyuz T-6 carries Jean-Loup Chrétien, the first Frenchman, to Salyut 7 (en.wikipedia.org) (spacefacts.de)-- Next week (6/25 - 7/1) in 1983: Six seconds calls for vodka

Jun 19, 202442 min