Failure To Launch

Latest Episodes:

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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