Failure To Launch

Latest Episodes:

French Cyborg Space Cats Sep 13, 2022

Show notes

Most people know about Laika the space dog or ham the astrochimp. What most people don't know about are the cyberpunk animals of the French Space Program. This episode, we explore CERMA, the Hammaguir launch site, and the various endangered animals France launched into space.
Show Notes:
Start of "Soviet September", where Quinn is banned from talking about the USSR or their space program for the next four (4) episodes, inclusive.
Sources:
Animals in Space: From Research Rockets to the Space Shuttle, Colin Burgess, 2007

The History of Space Guns Sep 07, 2022

Show notes

The Soviets came up with some truly innovative ways to protect their cosmonauts and space stations. This episode, we dig through a layer of Cold War secrecy and cover-ups to bring you the history of space guns. From cosmonaut Alexei Leonov taking on a wolfpack with a 1.5lb handgun to the Space Shuttle kicking off a wave of stupid Soviet space weapons.

Part 2: Cosmos 954 - Operation Morning Light (or How Not To Handle A Nuclear Disaster) Aug 29, 2022

Show notes

Part 2 of our 2 part series. In 1978, a Soviet spy satellite carrying weapons-grade uranium slammed into Canada's Northwest Territories. This episode, we talk about the scientists, soldiers, and psychics who signed on with Operation Morning Light to clean up the mess and why they failed.

Content Warning: As with most things involving the Canadian government's treatment of First Nations people, a fair amount of racism.
Sources:
Leo Heaps, Operation Morning Light: Terror in Our Skies : the True Story of Cosmos 954
http://www.svengrahn.pp.se/trackind/RORSAT/RORSAT.html#References
https://web.archive.org/web/20110929125210/http://gsc.nrcan.gc.ca/gamma/ml_e.php

Part 1: Cosmos 954 - Raining Radiation on Canada's Arctic Jul 31, 2022

Show notes

This series, we are doing a deep dive on Cosmos 954, the Soviet spy satellite carrying a nuclear reactor that deorbited and crashed into Canada's Northwest Territories. In Part 1, we focus on the satellite itself, how it failed, and how a little-known American government agency stepped up to tackle a nuclear disaster. Topics covered include:
- Why the Soviets loaded a spy satellite with weapons-grade uranium
- The horrible "failsafes" they designed into their satellites
- How a nuclear prank in Boston scared the US into taking accidents seriously
- How all of this is (tangentially) Korolev and Khrushchev's fault

Sputnik 2, Laika, and the Soviet Space Dog Program Jul 19, 2022

Show notes

This episode, we take a look at the history of Sputnik 2 as well as the the Soviet answer to Project Albert: the Canine Cosmonaut program.
Topics covered include:
- How Korolev designed, built, and launched a satellite in less than a month.
- Why the Soviets only picked stray female mutts to fly on their rockets.
- Why there was no reason for Laika to die except Khrushchev's ego.
Show Notes:
Red Moon Rising by Matthew Brzezinski
Animals in Space by Colin Burgess and Chris Dubbs

Part Three: The First (and Worst) Satellite - Sputnik Panic Jul 08, 2022

Show notes

This episode, we finish our three-part series on Sputnik 1 and the people, politics, and egos that launched the Space Race. Topics covered include:
- The decisions that made Sputnik 1 the perfect propaganda tool and worthless as a scientific instrument
- Khrushchev chopping up the Red Army and purging its top general
- How media and politicians in the West fanned the flames of Sputnik Panic
- How a beeping ball made the Soviet Union into a true superpower

Part 2: The First (And Worst) Satellite Jun 17, 2022

Show notes

In this episode, we continue our investigation into Sputnik 1, its troubled development, and the politics that went into world's first satellite. Topics covered include:
- Khrushchev being so sold on rockets he slashes the Red Army by a third
- Rival engineers who got each other sent to the gulag
- Building a rocket site in the most inhospitable place on Earth
- Two revolutions, one coup d'état, and the least-bloody purge in Soviet history

Propaganda & The Cult of Yuri Gagarin Jun 03, 2022

Show notes

Back from an extended hiatus, we take a look at the cult that developed around Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space. Topics covered include:
- Gagarin's folk tale-worthy landing and the subsequent cover-up
- Gagarin's father being demoted to his uncle by state propaganda
- Yuri's unlikely role as the first Soviet sex symbol
- How the Kremlin exploited (and continues to exploit) Gagarin's legacy
Show Notes
Suggestion & Question Email: LaunchFailurePodcast@gmail.com
Podcast Twitter: https://twitter.com/launch_failure
Episode Notes
Source for Gagarin Cult History: The Cosmonaut Who Couldn't Stop Smiling: The Life and Legend of Yuri Gagarin by Andrew L. Jenks, 2012
Source for Propaganda Posters: https://russiatrek.org/blog/art/propaganda-posters-of-soviet-space-program-1958-1963/
Source for Putin Quotes: http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/68180

Part One: The First (And Worst) Satellite Nov 16, 2021

Show notes

Between super-heavy lifters, centrifuges throwing shells into space, or hypersonic warheads, this is a time of Sputnik Moments - moments in history that represent a great leap in science. But what about the first Sputnik Moment? What about the satellite that was so influential that it set the bar for every scientific breakthrough since and kicked off the greatest (peaceful) competition in human history? In this set of episodes, Quinn, Chris, and Other-Chris will take a deep dive into the horrible reasons that made Sputnik happen, the development of objectively the worst satellite ever made, and the way a small chrome ball turned the geopolitical world on its head.
In part one, we talk about the US general, competing scientists, and brutal rebellion that made Sputnik happen.

Failure To Launch Pilot: Heaps Of Dead Monkeys Sep 13, 2021

Show notes

No better way to start off than to dive into the wonderful world of animal experimentation. In Episode Zero, Quinn and Chris go over America's Project Albert, Nazi rockets cobbled together from spare parts, so many dead monkeys, and much more.

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