The Orbital Mechanics Podcast

View Top 200 Chart

Back to Rankings Page

Natural Sciences
**The Orbital Mechanics Podcast**

Every week we cover the latest spaceflight news, discuss past, current and future exploration efforts, and take a look at upcoming events. Tune in to hear about how humans get to space, how they stay in space and how unmanned craft reach farther and farther into the universe around us.

Latest Episodes:

Episode 423: Angular Velocity Aug 23, 2023

Show notes

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

Episode 422: Clogged Flashlight Aug 16, 2023

Show notes

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

Episode 421: Promethean Ejection Aug 09, 2023

Show notes

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

Episode 420: Tipping Point Aug 02, 2023

Show notes

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

Episode 419: Last Episode Was A Teapot Jul 26, 2023

Show notes

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

Episode 418: Denial Test Jul 19, 2023

Show notes

Spaceflight News

Vulcan 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.

Episode 417: Mind the Launch Gap Jul 11, 2023

Show notes

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.

Episode 416: Tenacious Dream Chaser Jul 05, 2023

Show notes

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?

Episode 415: Unsupported Separation Type Jun 28, 2023

Show notes

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

Episode 414: Fire Tornado Jun 21, 2023

Show notes

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]

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

The Orbital Mechanics Podcast

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected