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 ...
Jun 30, 2025
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 figur...
Jun 10, 2025
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 History ii May 24, 1962: Fourth flight of Project Mercury ( en.wikipedia.org ) ( nasa.gov ) — Next week (6/10 - 6/16) in 1973: Dos equis...
Jun 04, 2025•49 min
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, 2025•59 min
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 -...
May 07, 2025•37 min
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, 2025•44 min
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 —...
Apr 23, 2025•44 min
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:...
Apr 16, 2025•49 min
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 VTS This 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: Stumblin...
Apr 09, 2025•38 min
Spaceflight News — Security Space ( arstechnica.com ) ( spacenews.com ) Interview -- Joseph Marlin, Deputy Chief Engineer, Blue Ghost Lunar Program — linkedin.com/in/josephmarlin — fireflyspace.com This 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 02, 2025•1 hr 22 min
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 gradients This 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, 2025•48 min
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 disast...
Mar 19, 2025•43 min
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) ( skyrocke...
Mar 12, 2025•56 min
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 ...
Mar 05, 2025•41 min
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, 2025•41 min
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 Spac...
Feb 12, 2025•1 hr 17 min
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 )...
Feb 05, 2025•1 hr 2 min
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 Starship This Week in Spaceflight Histo...
Jan 29, 2025•1 hr 1 min
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 ) — D...
Jan 22, 2025
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 ...
Jan 15, 2025•40 min
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 08, 2025•55 min
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...
Jan 01, 2025•43 min
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 - ...
Dec 18, 2024•38 min
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, 2024•42 min
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.archiv...
Dec 04, 2024•44 min
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 His...
Nov 27, 2024•41 min
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, 2024•54 min
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 (11/1...
Nov 13, 2024•46 min
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 develop...
Nov 06, 2024•37 min
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 ...
Oct 30, 2024•45 min
