The Orbital Mechanics Podcast

Spaceflight News-- Starship Test Flight 4 (spacenews.com) (nasaspaceflight.com) (youtube.com) (spacey.space/@spmttracker)Short & Sweet-- Vast plans for ESA (spacenews)-- Chang’e-6 has its moon rocks (spacenews) (spacenews.com)-- Hubble Hobble (spacenews.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections-- RIP Bill Anders (apnews.com)-- Traches: Relativity and Novas (discord.com)This Week in Spaceflight History-- 11 June, 2008. Launch of the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope (en.wikipedia.org) (nasa.gov)-- Next week (6/18 - 6/24) in 1982: First wolf in space?

Spaceflight News-- ThinkSubOrbital (spacenews.com) (PDF: nasa.gov) (spacenews.com) (youtube.com) (sbir.gov) (sbir.gov)Short & Sweet-- Starliner scrub (americaspace.com) (spacenews.com) (spacenews.com)-- Indian startup Agnikul Notches launches first flight (payloadspace.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections-- From the intro:-- Chang’e 6 landing (spacenews.com) (spacenews.com)-- Dear Moon canceled (spacenews.com)-- Deathkin via discord.com: Centaur’s not a workhorse-- Heads up for a recurrent nova! (planetary.org)This Week in Spaceflight History-- 8 June in 1959: Regulus Missile Mail (HT SciKyle: postalmuseum.si.edu)-- Next week (6/11 - 6/17) in 2008: A salty Italian

Spaceflight News-- More Starliner Delays (spacenews.com) (HT deltaV: twitter.com/jeff_foust) (spacenews.com) (HT deltaV: https://arstechnica.com)Short & Sweet-- U.S. accuses Russia of launching countersat weapon (spacenews.com) (payloadspace.com) -- Redwire wins award for European lunar lander’s robot arm (europeanspaceflight.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections-- From the intro: Bepi-Colombo power failure (esa.int)-- Ryan R: Technology Connections talked about heterodyne radios (youtube.com VIA discord.com)Interview --  Justin Fiaschetti, CEO and Co-Founder of Inversion-- twitter.com/InversionSpace-- inversionspace.com-- linkedin.com-- linkedin.com This Week in Spaceflight History--  2 Jun, 2003. Launch of Mars Express (en.wikipedia.org) (russianspaceweb.com) (universetoday.com)-- Next week (6/4 - 6/10) in 1959: A short-term version of the above

Spaceflight News-- NASA Joins Rosalind Franklin Team (spacenews.com)-- Unknown Russian sat launched (sattrackcam.blogspot.com) (russianspaceweb.com)Short & Sweet-- Georgia scraps Spaceport Camden (actionnewsjax.com)-- Starliner leaks Helium (spacenews)This Week in Spaceflight History-- 27 May, 1999: The launch of STS-96 (nasa.gov) (nss.org) (eoportal.org) (nasa.gov) (youtu.be)-- Next week (5/28 - 6/3) in 2003: The last opportunity that was this good was 60,000 years ago

Spaceflight News— Chang’e-6 mission underway (spacenews.com) (spacenews.com) (nature.com) (spacenews.com)Short & Sweet— Starliner delayed (spacenews.com) (nasaspaceflight.com) (spacenews.com) (americaspace.com) (spacenews.com)— Long March 6C makes first flight (cgtn.com) (spacenews.com)— Neutron debut slips into 2025 (payloadspace.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: Zubrin opinion piece on MSR (spacenews.com)Interview -- Adam Higginbotham— Preorder Challenger: A True Story of Heroism & Disaster on the Edge of Space (simonandschuster.com)— adamhigginbotham.com— twitter.com/HigginbothamAThis Week in Spaceflight History— 14 May, 2009: Launch of Herschel Space Observatory (en.wikipedia.org) (cosmos.esa.int) (planetary.org) — Next week (5/21 - 5/27) in 1999: Putting schoolchildren to work

Spaceflight News— Artemis I Lessons (spacenews.com) (PDF: oig.nasa.gov VIA oig.nasa.gov)Short & Sweet— Thunder from down under (abc.net.au) (abc.net.au) (southernlaunch.space)— JAXA’s SLIM survives third lunar night (japantimes.co.jp)This Week in Spaceflight History— May 9, 1963: Launch of West Ford 2 (PDF: orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov VIA orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov) (en.wikipedia.org) (PDF: sci-hub.se) (stuffin.space)— Next week (5/14 - 5/20) in 2009: The first space telescope

Spaceflight News— Voyager is communicative! (blogs.nasa.gov)— ESA debris removal mission finds a new target (satellitetoday.com)Short & Sweet— China releases a lunar landing update (spacenews)— TESS enters safe mode… again (nasa.gov)Questions, Comments, Corrections— Dennis O: SOFIA clarifications (discord.com) (youtube.com)— VAXheadroom shot SOFIA some footage in 2012 (youtube.com) (youtube.com)Interview -- Jeff Williams, CEO/CTO Exum Instruments— Jeff co-authored a paper that is a good primer on spectroscopy and Massbox (spectroscopyonline.com)— exuminstruments.com — linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-williams-372118128  This Week in Spaceflight History— 9 Apr, 1999: Titan IVB (402) takes DSP-19 (USA 142) to GEO (astronautix.com) (klabs.org)— 30 Apr, 1999. Titan IVB (401) takes Milstar-3 (USA 143) to GEO (washingtonpost.com) (PDF: direct.mit.edu VIA direct.mit.edu)— Next week (5/7 - 5/13) in 1963: Not a good day for trypanophobics

Spaceflight News— Lunar buggy selection (spacenews.com) (PDF: sam.gov VIA sam.gov) (twitter.com/DubnHG1) (nikkei.com)Short & Sweet— Dragonfly mission officially confirmed (nasa.gov)— Mars Sample Revamp (spacenews.com) (spacenews.com) (spaceflightnow.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— Unc Willy: Cape launch complexes (discord.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 26 Apr, 2007. First flight of SOFIA (en.wikipedia.org) (747sp.com) (HT Colin: youtube.com)— Next week (4/30 - 5/6) in 1999: Taped too tightly

Spaceflight News— Last Delta IV heavy (spacenews.com) (americaspace.com) (nasaspaceflight.com) (PDF: ulalaunch.com) (arstechnica.com)Short & Sweet— Relativity Space wins contract (spacenews)— Japan secures a moon landing (spacenews)— Max Space Modules (spacenews)Questions, Comments, Corrections— Csaba via Discord: SOIR means "evening" in French, pretty clever pun (discord.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 19 Apr, 1975. Launch of Aryabhata satellite (lowyinstitute.org) (ursc.gov.in) (en.wikipedia.org)— Next week (4/23 - 4/29) in 2007: Looking at stars through a wall

Spaceflight News— Broken records and Starship’s near future (nasaspaceflight.com) (spacenews.com) (nasaspaceflight.com)Short & Sweet— New Shepard Plans Crewed Flight (spacenews.com)— Lunar Rover Mk 2 (spacenews.com)This Week in Spaceflight History—  April 11, 2006: Arrival of Venus Express at Venus (en.wikipedia.org) (PDF: sci.esa.int VIA sci.esa.int)— Next week (4/16 - 4/22) in 1975: Add four to 100, multiply by eight, and then add 62,000

Spaceflight News— Orbital Reef Rundown (nature.com) (PDF: star.spaceops.org VIA star.spaceops.org) (genesisesi.com)— Artemis 3 now has 3 experiments (nasa.gov) (hou.usra.edu)Short & Sweet— A Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine flies for first time (HT Andrew Z: autoevolution.com)— A Nascent Solution For Voyager 1 (spacenews.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 6 Apr, 1965: Launch of Intelsat I, the first commercial satellite in GEO (en.wikipedia.org) (boeing.com) (space.skyrocket.de) (astronautix.com VIA web.archive.org)— Next week (4/9 - 4/15) in 2006: The mission that went to hell in 5 months

Spaceflight News— Starship IFT-3 (spacenews.com) (twitter.com) (youtu.be)Short & Sweet— Euclid spacecraft addresses ice-buildup on optics (asdnews.com)— Ariane 6 coming together (esa.int)— Soyuz aborts at the pad (spacenews.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: launch escape slide (youtube.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 17 Mar, 2002. Launch of GRACE spacecraft (en.wikipedia.org) (PDF: nasa.gov) (esa.int) (skyrocket.de) (nasa.gov)— Next week (4/2 - 4/8) in 1965: Catching GEO worms

Interview — Professor Dante Lauretta— The Asteroid Hunter: A Scientist’s Journey to the Dawn of our Solar System (hachettebookgroup.com)— facebook.com/AZAstrobiology— threads.net/@azastrobiology— instagram.com/azastrobiology— Thanks to Grand Central Publishing (twitter.com/GrandCentralPub) (instagram.com/grandcentralpub)

Spaceflight News— Stoke Space focusing on first stage (nasaspaceflight.com) (youtu.be)Short & Sweet— Tianhe’s solar arrays patched (space.com)— Stratolaunch tests Talon (spacenews.com) (spacenews.com)— Starship Flight 3 on its way (spacenews.com) (space.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 16 Mar, 1966. Recovery of Veterok and Ugolyok, who to this day hold the record for longest canine spaceflight (Kosmos 110) (en.wikipedia.org) (ru.wikipedia.org) (veterok-ugolyok.gmik.ru) (astronaut.ru)— Next week (3/19 - 3/25) in 2017: Dry, wet, and lumpy

Spaceflight News— Last big IM-1 update (arstechnica.com) (twitter.com/jeff_foust)Short & Sweet— Orion has hatch problems (spacenews.com)— ISRO plans for Mars helicopter (indiatoday.in)Questions, Comments, Corrections— Varda landing footage (youtube.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 8 Mar, 2001. Launch of STS-102 (nss.org) (aiaa.org)— Next week (3/12 - 3/18) in 1966: A 154 day mission, but only for the passengers

Spaceflight News— IM-1 landing follow-up (spacenews.com) (youtube.com) (youtube.com)Short & Sweet— ISRO completes human-rating of engine (isro.gov.in)— Software error responsible for Firefly’s off-nominal payload delivery (fireflyspace.com) (space.com)— Varda’s capsule returns (spacenews.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— Espen via email: IM-1’s fuel loading This Week in Spaceflight History— 2 March 1965: Atlas Centaur AC-5 explosion (en.wikipedia.org) (science.nasa.gov) (ntrs.nasa.gov) (youtube.com)— Next week (3/5 - 3/11) in 2001: The first ten-person spaceflight

Spaceflight News— IM-1 launch (americaspace.com) (americaspace.com) (spacenews.com) (spacenews.com) (nasaspaceflight.com) (PDF: intuitivemachines.com)Short & Sweet— H3 completes first successful launch (spacenews.com)— Voyager 1 still struggles to communicate (space.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— February 21 2008, Interception and destruction of USA-193 (thespacereview.com) (PDF: unoosa.org) (en.wikipedia.org)— Next week (2/27 - 3/4) in 1965: Technically, that was highly elliptical

Spaceflight News— Dream Chaser readies for first flight (nasaspaceflight.com) (nasaspaceflight.com)Short & Sweet— Viasat-3 pushes forward (spacenews.com)— Lessons from Artemis 1 (spacenews.com)— X-37B’s orbit speculation (arstechnica.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— 2002 VE68 was officially named Zoozve! (alex-foster.com) (radiolab.org) (radiolab.org)This Week in Spaceflight History— 15 February, 1996: Failed launch of Intelsat 708 (en.wikipedia.org) (youtube.com) (thespacereview.com) (thespacereview.com) (smithsonianmag.com) (HT Dennis O: web.archive.org)— Next week (2/20 - 2/26) in 2008: And it’s picked off at the 380,000 yard line!

Spaceflight News— CLPS’ second try (spacenews.com)— Collins completes Crew Capability Assessment (prnewswire.com) (spaceflightnow.com) (youtube.com)Short & Sweet— Queqiao-2 readies for launch (cgtn.com)— First metal 3D printer in space reaches ISS (europeanspaceflight.com)— Orbit raising raising questions (spacenews.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 9 Feb, 2000. First launch of a Fregat upper stage (russianspaceweb.com) (en.wikipedia.org)— Next week (2/13 - 2/19) in 1996: First failure

Spaceflight News— Ingenuity Down (HT deltaV: twitter.com/AndySaunders_1) (spacenews.com) (mars.nasa.gov)— Slim Upside-Down (spacenews.com) (spacenews.com)(global.jaxa.jp)Short & Sweet— Redwire to provide elements of Blue Origin’s space tug (spacenews.com)— Two companies test reusable booster prototypes (space.com) (HT: Sam twitter.com/CNSpaceflight)— ESA astronaut operates Earth-bound robots while on orbit (europeanspaceflight.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: Shuttle’s hatch lock (HT: deltaV, arstechnica.com) (spaceref.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— Feb 3, 1994: First launch of the H-II rocket (en.wikipedia.org)— Next week (2/6 - 2/12) in 2000: First kleptoparasite in space

Spaceflight News— SLIM landing attempt (spacenews.com) (spacenews.com) (nasaspaceflight.com) (en.wikipedia.org) (youtube.com) (PDF: global.jaxa.jp)Short & Sweet— EUS heads to qualification (nasaspaceflight.com)— Ingenuity contact lost during flight 72, regained (mars.nasa.gov) (npr.org)Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: Peregrine Reentry (spacenews.com) (spacenews.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 24 Jan, 1986. Voyager 2’s closest approach to Uranus (nasa.gov) (nasa.gov) (PDF: sci-hub.se)— Next week (1/30 - 2/5) in 1994: What comes between 1 and A?

Spaceflight News— Peregrine Failure (spacenews.com) (nasaspaceflight.com) (spacenews.com) (americaspace.com) (spacenews.com) (twitter.com/astrobotic)Short & Sweet— Lay-offs at JPL (spacenews)— Starship’s second flight failure explained (spacenews.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: Early demo of a starship game, complete with engineering section (starshipsimulator.co.uk)— Espen via email: F9 landing legs in episode 440This Week in Spaceflight History— 19 Jan, 1965. Launch of Gemini-Titan 2 (en.wikipedia.org) (nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov)— Next week (1/23 - 1/29) in 1986: Cheaper by the almost dozen

Spaceflight News— NIAC 2024 Phase One (nasa.gov) (nasa.gov)Short & Sweet— India launches X-ray space observatory (spaceflightnow.com)— Space station stories (spacenews.com) (spacenews.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 12 January, 1997: Launch of Atlantis on STS-81 (en.wikipedia.org) (americaspace.com) (youtube.com) (freshairarchive.org)— Next week (1/16 - 1/22) in 1965: The there of “there and back again”

Spaceflight News— B1058 lost at sea (spaceflightnow.com) (twitter.com/johnkrausphotos) (youtube.com) (ventusky.com) (twitter.com/edwards345) (spaceexplored.com)— Firefly malfunction (spacenews.com)Short & Sweet— China completes launch pad at first commercial spaceport (cgtn.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 3 Jan, 1999: The launch of Deep Space 2 (gsfc.nasa.gov) (wiley.com) (jpl.nasa.gov)— Next week (1/9 - 1/15) in 1997: Merry belated Christmas. I got you a fan.

Spaceflight News— China launches spaceplane for third time (spacenews.com) (arstechnica.com) (youtube.com) (nasaspaceflight.com)Short & Sweet— Refractory Starship (nasaspaceflight.com)— iSpace hops again (spacenews.com)— Voyager 1 suffers communication anomaly (space.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 19 Dec, 1976. The launch of the first KH-11 Kennen/Keyhole satellite (en.wikipedia.org) (space.skyrocket.de) (npr.org)— Two weeks from now (1/2 - 1/8) in 1999: Secondary failures

Spaceflight News— Vega propellant tank mishap  (arstechnica.com) (europeanspaceflight.com) (eoportal.org) (PDF: arianespace.com) — AVUM 4th stage (“upper stage”) (Pic: eoportal.org)— Transporter-9 satellite deployment malfunction (spacenews.com)Short & Sweet— Iran successfully launches bio-capsule (payloadspace.com)— Chinese methalox rocket progress continues (cgtn.com)— Stratolaunch tests hypersonic vehicle (thedrive.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 12 Dec, 2012: NIAC releases Space Debris Elimination (SpaDE) Phase 1 report (nasa.gov)— Next week (12/19 - 12/25) in 1976. Achievement unlocked

Spaceflight News— Starship Shtuff (payloadspace.com) (americaspace.com) (twitter.com/ThePrimalDino)Short & Sweet— JAXA cyber attacked (payloadspace.com)— U.S. watchdog agency finds Artemis III in 2025 unlikely (gao.gov) (spacenews.com)— Gyroscope glitch halts Hubble operations (nasa.gov) (spacenews.com)This Week in Spaceflight History—  Dec 7, 1966: Launch of ATS-1, the first experimental geostationary satellite (en.wikipedia.org) (youtu.be) (science.nasa.gov VIA web.archive.org)— Next week (12/12 - 12/18) in 2012: Digging up debris

Spaceflight News— Starliner Crewed Flight Test stays on schedule (spacenews.com) (nasaspaceflight.com) (blogs.nasa.gov)Short & Sweet— Looking Towards the End of ISS (planetary.org) (spacenews.com)— Orion still on track (spacenews.com)— Ariane 6 hot firing test (europeanspaceflight.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— Danielle Rose has some neat space art (drose.studio) (spacey.space)— Jared Owen covers ISS construction (HT Lee youtu.be VIA discord.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 3 Dec, 2015. Launch of LISA Pathfinder (esa.int) (youtu.be) (nasa.gov) (spaceflight101.com) (PDF: esmats.eu)— Next week (12/5 - 12/11) in 1966: It helped make Our World possible

Spaceflight News— Starship Flight 2 (spacenews.com) (nasaspaceflight.com) (americaspace.com) (youtube.com) (twitter.com/thejackbeyer) (twitter.com/planet4589) — Posted after recording: a quick analysis of Starships acceleration curves (twitter.com/Space_Josiah)Short & Sweet— SaxaVord struggles to pay contractors (europeanspaceflight.com)— Sierra Space layoffs (cnbc.com)— Mars Helicopter completes back-to-back flights (twitter.com/nasajpl)This Week in Spaceflight History— 27 Nov, 1963: Launch of the first hydrolox rocket to orbit (en.wikipedia.org) (spacelaunchreport.com VIA web.archive.org)— Next week (11/28 - 12/4) in 2015: Every journey of millions of kilometers starts with a couple meters.

Spaceflight News— Rocket Lab Failure Analysis (spacenews.com) (space.com) (rocketlabusa.com) (PDF: q4cdn.com VIA en.wikipedia.org)Short & Sweet— Astra’s financial future (spacenews.com) (spacenews.com)— X-37B readies for first launch on Falcon Heavy (spaceflightnow.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: Dinkinesh adds a moon (planetary.org)Interview -- Jake Teufert CTO and Chris Carella CCO, Benchmark Space Systems— We last talked to Chris Carella in episode 373 (theorbitalmechanics.com)— benchmarkspacesystems.com— linkedin.com/company/benchmark-space-systems — linkedin.com/in/jake-teufert-86b375133/ — linkedin.com/in/christopher-carella-innovate/This Week in Spaceflight History— Nov 15, 1988: The first and only launch of Buran (en.wikipedia.org) (buran.ru) (buran.ru) (buran-energia.com)— Next week (11/21 - 11/27) in 1962: Clouds before Aurora

Spaceflight News— Lucy flies past Dinkinesh and also Dinkinesh (nasa.gov) (lucy.swri.edu) (PDF: ntrs.nasa.gov VIA ntrs.nasa.gov) — Aerojet Rocketdyne supplied Lucy’s thrusters (l3harris.com) (PDF: amazonaws.com)Short & Sweet— Starship aims for mid-November launch (nasaspaceflight.com)— i-Space hops (spacenews.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 12 Nov, 1995. Launch of STS-74, second Shuttle-Mir docking (en.wikipedia.org) (PDF: nasa.gov) (PDF: spacepresskit.files.wordpress.com) (youtu.be) (nss.org) (wikiarchives.space)— Next week (11/14 - 11/20) in 1988: The cold wind blew but once.

Spaceflight News— ABL Dusts Itself Off (spacenews.com) (harryohanley.substack.com)Short & Sweet— NASA struggles to open asteroid sample container (space.com)— Rocket Lab to return (spacenews.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: Blue Origin’s latest Blue Moon mockup (spacenews.com)— Canopée to ferry Ariane 6 (fosstodon.org/@AkaSci)— You can register to send your name with Europa Clipper (europa.nasa.gov)— Mike Stewart’s core rope memory reader (finally) debuted on CuriousMarc’s channel (youtube.com)— Aaron Sawdey: Crew Dragon engine inventory  (discord.com):Interview -- Daniel Faber, CEO and Adam Harris, CCO of Orbit Fab— Further reading — Furphy on ISS (issnationallab.org) — Analysis of a potential Orbit Fab shuttle/depot architecture (researchgate.net)— orbitfab.com— linkedin.com/in/adam-harris-363414a6— linkedin.com/in/danielfaber— linkedin.com/company/orbitfabThis Week in Spaceflight History— 4 Nov, 2011: The end of Mars-500 (space.com) (wikipedia.org) (bbc.com)— Next week (11/7 - 11/13) in 1995: Mission extension… of 4.7 m

Spaceflight News— Gaganyaan in-flight abort test (youtube.com) (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) (HT: Jatan’s Space PDF: gov.in) (HT DeltaV: twitter.com/DJSnM) — Pad abort test (https://www.youtube.com) — Future human Indian Space ambitions (gov.in) (spacenews.com)Short & Sweet— PLD Test Launch (spacenews.com)— Two Vega payloads fail to deploy (europeanspaceflight.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: Shuttle astronaut mass allotments (forum.nasaspaceflight.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— October 28, 2009: Launch of the Ares I-X (en.wikipedia.org) (PDF: ntrs.nasa.gov) (blogs.nasa.gov) (youtube.com) (nasaspaceflight.com)— Next week (10/31 - 11/6) in 2011: Warning: removing this sticker will void your experiment.

Spaceflight News— Psyche launch and mission preview (americaspace.com) (spacenews.com) (nasaspaceflight.com) (scitechdaily.com) (en.wikipedia.org) (microdevices.jpl.nasa.gov)Short & Sweet— Spacewalk canceled due to Nauka leak (space.com)— QueSST to fly in 2024 (nasa.gov)This Week in Spaceflight History— 21 Oct, 2007. Soyuz TMA-10’s ballistic reentry (ruspace.blogspot.com) (en.wikipedia.org) (youtube.com) (PDF: sma.nasa.gov)— Next week (10/24 - 10/30) in 2009: Nominal tumble

Spaceflight News— Tiangong’s expansion (hindustantimes.com) (cnn.com)— Northrop Grumman joins Starlab team (nasa.gov)— Orbital Reef may be abandoned (cnbc.com)Short & Sweet— Luna-25 failure “analysis” (spacenews.com)— Stoke Space gets more funding (spacenews)Interview -- Ben Reed, CTO Quantum Space— quantumspace.us — linkedin.com/company/quantumspace-us/ — linkedin.com/in/ben-b-reed/ This Week in Spaceflight History— 11 Oct, 2000: STS-92, the100th shuttle mission (en.wikipedia.org) (nasa.gov) (ntrs.nasa.gov) (nasa.gov VIA web.archive.org)— Next week (10/17 - 10/23) in 2007: Face forward

Spaceflight News— Electron suffers upper stage failure (spacenews.com) (spaceflightnow.com) (youtu.be)Short & Sweet— Stoke Space hops (spacenews.com)— Sierra Space does a burst test (spacenews)— China plans for lunar sample return (spacenews.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— A big thanks to Unc’willy, Fonji, Chris S in particular for helping Ben track down and fix an issue with our Discord botThis Week in Spaceflight History—  29 September, 2004: Flight 16P of SpaceShipOne (en.wikipedia.org) (sma.nasa.gov) (erikmadaus.medium.com) (airbum.com)— Next week (10/10 - 10/16) in 2000: Four forbidden cough drops

Spaceflight News— Dawn Aerospace discusses future plans (parabolicarc.com)Short & Sweet— Artemis-II gets its engines (nasaspaceflight.com)— Firefly launches Victus Nox (spacenews.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: Stoke Space test fires (twitter.com/stoke_space)This Week in Spaceflight History— 22 Sep, 1981. Colombia spills NTO before STS-2 (16streets.com) (PDF: ntrs.nasa.gov) (nasa.gov)— Next week (9/26 - 10/2) in 2004: Victory roll

Spaceflight News— Aditya-L1 studyin’ the Sun (space.com) (eoportal.org) (PDF: iiap.res.in)Short & Sweet— Starship stands corrected (spacenews.com)— MaiaSpace tests cryogenic second stage (europeanspaceflight.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: Apollo LOX tanks (twitter.com/DrPhiltill)This Week in Spaceflight History— 15 Sept, 2017: End of the Cassini mission (en.wikipedia.org) (en.wikipedia.org) (PDF: lpi.usra.edu) (PDF: engineering.purdue.edu)— Next week (9/19 - 9/25) in 1981: Big F*@&ing Red Spill

Spaceflight News— OSIRIS-REx prep (nasaspaceflight.com) (youtube.com) (spacenews.com)Short & Sweet— New Frontiers competition delayed (spacenews.com)— Ariane 6 hot-fire test delayed (europeanspaceflight.com)— Otter Pup detumbled! (payloadspace.com) (twitter.com/StarfishSpace)This Week in Spaceflight History— 9 Sept, 2006: The launch of STS-115 Atlantis (space.com) (en.wikipedia.org) (nasa.gov) (nasaspaceflight.com)— Next week (9/12 - 9/18) in 2017: Son devoured

Spaceflight News— Chandrayaan-3 landing (spacenews.com) (spacenews.com) (en.wikipedia.org) (isro.gov.in) (indianexpress.com VIA 12ft.io)Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: Starship Booster 9 static fire (with deluge) (twitter.com/SpaceX)Interview -- IEEE Senior Member David Witkowski— Further reading: Public Wifi Blueprint (PDF: pages.nist.gov)— twitter.com/w6dtw— okusolutions.com — linkedin.com/company/okusolutions This Week in Spaceflight History— 30 Aug, 1984. Launch of STS-41D (space.nss.org)— Next week (9/5 - 9/11) in 2006: Icicle and pebble

Spaceflight News— Luna-25 (HT ArcadeEngineer: twitter.com/katlinegrey) (spacenews.com) (spacenews.com) (Paywall: russianspaceweb.com)Short & Sweet— Starship booster coronation (nasaspaceflight.com) (twitter.com/SpaceX)— Intuitive Machines has a launch date (spacenews.com)— Russia explores reusable first-stage (aviationweek.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— Benjamin W. via email: Juno’s angular velocity— Luis Mamakos via email: Can you desaturate momentum wheels with the spacecraft?— From the intro: Shuttle hatch (HT Mike Stewart PDF: ibiblio.org)This Week in Spaceflight History— 25 Aug, 2003: Launch of Spitzer Space Telescope (en.wikipedia.org) (spitzer.caltech.edu) (PDF: irsa.ipac.caltech.edu) (PDF: irsa.ipac.caltech.edu) (spaceflightnow.com) — Dr. Lee Bennet’s talked to us about Spitzer (theorbitalmechanics.com)— Next week (8/29 - 9/4) in 1984: Icicle

Spaceflight News— Lunar Flashlight failure (spacenews.com) (PDF: mstl.atl.calpoly.edu VIA web.archive.org) (PDF: ssdl.gatech.edu) (PDF: digitalcommons.usu.edu)Short & Sweet— Boeing aiming for six Starliner flights to ISS (spacenews.com) (nasaspaceflight.com)— NASA test-fires Mars Ascent Vehicle’s motor (space.com)— To Artemis three or not to three (spacenews.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 16 August, 1960: Joseph Kittinger made the final Project Excelsior jump (en.wikipedia.org) (nationalmuseum.af.mil) (stratocat.com.ar)— Next week (8/22 - 8/28) in 2003: Telly McTelescopeface

Spaceflight News— Astra Layoffs (spacenews.com) (cnbc.com)Short & Sweet— Starship Activities (nasaspaceflight.com) (twitter.com/elonmusk)— Cygnus gets an upgrade (spacenews.com)— Airbus and Voyager announce commercial space station plans (spacenews.com) (europeanspaceflight.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 11 and 12 Aug, 1962: The launches of Vostok 3 and 4 (russianspaceweb.com) (russianspaceweb.com) (russianspaceweb.com)— Next week (8/15 - 8/21) in 1960: That last step is a doozy

Spaceflight News— 2023 Tipping Point selections (nasa.gov) (nasa.gov) (PDF: nasaprs.com) — Blue Origin’s Blue Alchemist separates regolith into several important base materials (blueorigin.com) — We talked to Kyla Edison about sintering regolith (theorbitalmechanics.com)Short & Sweet— HALO’s added cost (spacenews.com)— Sierra Space builds a better engine (spacenews.com)— Contact with Voyager 2 lost, thought to be temporary (arstechnica.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 5 Aug, 2011. Launch of Juno (en.wikipedia.org) (nasaspaceflight.com) (PDF: pds-atmospheres.nmsu.edu)— Next week (8/8 - 8/14) in 1962: The Gemini before Gemini

Spaceflight News— A Commercial Space Station Source Selection (spacenews.com) (nasa.gov) (PDF: sam.gov) (news.northropgrumman.com) (sierraspace.com) (specialaerospaceservices.com) (vastspace.com)Short & Sweet— Recently arrived GEO satellites in trouble (spacenews.com) (youtube.com) (arstechnica.com)— China develops plan to land humans on Moon before decade’s end (spacenews.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— Aaron Sawdey: Centaur tank fix (discord.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 29 July, 2014. Launch of ATV-5 George Lemaitre, the last ATV (danielmarin.naukas.com) (danielmarin.naukas.com) (esa.int) (blogs.esa.int) — LIRIS (Laser InfraRed Imaging Sensors) (esa.int) — Debris avoidance (blogs.esa.int) — The shallow reentry that wasn’t (issfd.org) (blogs.esa.int)— Next week (8/1 - 8/7) in 2011: Dim Sun

Spaceflight NewsVulcan Centaur delays (spacenews.com) (nasaspaceflight.com) (spaceflightnow.com)Short & Sweet           — China begins constructing VLEO constellation (spacewatch.global)— LandSpace wins the race (nasaspaceflight.com)— Janus canceled (spacenews.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— An NSF tour of Astra’s rocket factory (youtube.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 18 Jul, 2011. Launch of Spektr-R radio telescope (russianspaceweb.com) (wiki)— Zenit-3M/Fregat-SB (SB - “сбрасываемые баки” or “drop tanks”) (space.skyrocket.de)Next week (7/25 - 7/31) in 2014: He was born in Belgium, and then again in Italy.

Spaceflight News— Au revoir, Ariane 5 (spacenews.com) (nasaspaceflight.com) (Payload User’s Guide PDF: arianespace.com)— Two solids provide ~90% of Ariane 5’s thrust (esa.int)— ESA plans to lean on SpaceX launches (spacenews.com)— New test facility for Ariane 6 was built in 2019 (esa.int)Short & Sweet— Varda completes pharmaceutical manufacturing test on-orbit (arstechnica.com)— Lockheed Martin completes burst test of expandable habitat (spaceref.com)— Starlink interferes with radio astronomy (spacenews.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 20 Jul, 2017: Sale of Apollo 11 bag for $1.8m (collectspace.com) (collectspace.com) (kansascity.com) (sothebys.com)— Next week (7/18 - 7/24) in 2011. Radio parasol.

Spaceflight News— Mars oxygen and helicopter sighting (space.com) (HT Stygarfield: nasa.gov) — Vega C delayed after engine test failure (europeanspaceflight.com) (spacenews.com)Short & Sweet— Virgin Galactic completes first fully commercial flight (spacenews.com) (spacenews.com)— Euclid telescope prepares for launch (spacenews.com)— Dream Chaser prepares for launch (spacenews.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— Unc’ Willy: L2 is closer than the sun, and CMB was discovered in 1964 (discord.com)This Week in Spaceflight History—  July 7, 2003: The launch of MER-B (Opportunity) aboard the Delta II Heavy (en.wikipedia.org) (mars.nasa.gov) (theorbitalmechanics.com) — ULA has an excellent payload guide for Delta II (ula.bsshost.me)— Next week (7/18 - 7/24) in 2017: Do you ever feel like a sample bag/drifting through the wind, wanting to sue again?

Spaceflight News— Starship hot staging and engine firing  (spacenews.com)  (nasaspaceflight.com) (twitter.com/AshleyKillip) — Earlier description of separation flip (teslarati.com)Short & Sweet— Prometheus test fire (nasaspaceflight.com)— Anti-ASAT antipathy (spacenews)— Launcher’s second OTV fails on orbit (spacenews.com) (geekwire.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 30 Jun, 2001. Launch of Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) (en.wikipedia.org) (wmap.gsfc.nasa.gov) (wmap.gsfc.nasa.gov)— Next week (7/4 - 7/10) in 2003: The mass hasn’t changed, but now it’s too heavy

Spaceflight News— iROSA campaign complete, looking to next campaign (americaspace.com) (nasaspaceflight.com)Short & Sweet— ESA reserve astronaut to fly on Axiom flight (europeanspaceflight.com)— Impulse to supply propulsion for commercial space station (vastspace.com)— Rocket Lab goes suborbital (spacenews.com)This Week in Spaceflight History—  26 Jun, 1971: The third N1 test flight (en.wikipedia.org) (russianspaceweb.com)— Next week (6/27 - 7/3) in 2001: [audio clue]