The Orbital Mechanics Podcast

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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 333: #1 Concern Nov 10, 2021

Show notes

Spaceflight news

— Blue lawsuit (spacenews.com)

Short & Sweet

— Dragons Passing in the Night (americaspace.com) (spacenews.com) (blogs.nasa.gov)

— Shijian-21 has a companion (spacenews.com)

— A Chinese Mars Sample Return Mission (spacenews.com)

Questions, comments, corrections

— Ben Hallert: Speaking of expandable space stations... (twitter.com/chairboy)

This week in SF history

— 9 Nov, 1970: Launch of the Orbiting Frog Otolith (wiki) (skyrocket.de) (scribd.com)

— Next week (11/16 - 11/22) in 1973: I refuse to work under these conditions, at least my stomach does.

Episode 332: Boo Origin and Spider Webbs Nov 03, 2021

Show notes

Spaceflight news

— Orbital Reef announced (blueorigin.com) (orbitalreef.com) (nasaspaceflight.com) (youtube.com)

— Other Commercial LEO Destination (CLD) proposals so far:

— Axiom Station (axiomspace.com)

— Nanoracks/Lockheed/Voyager’s Starlab (cnet.com)

— Sierra Space Station (sierraspace.com)

Short & Sweet

— James Webb Space Telescope prepares for launch (spacenews.com) (planetary.org) (spacenews.com)

— Russia gives Crew Dragon the green light (spacenews.com)

— Hubble Space Telescope returns to safe mode (cnet.com)

This week in SF history

— 8 November, 2011: Failed launch of Fobos-Grunt/Yinghuo-1 (en.wikipedia.org) (en.wikipedia.org)

— Next week (11/9 - 11-15) in 1970: Parietal eye in the sky

Episode 331: DOWNLINK--The High Frontier: The Untold Story of Gerard K. O'Neill Oct 27, 2021

Show notes

Spaceflight news

— Starliner investigation continuation continues (spacenews.com) (arstechnica.com)

Short & Sweet

— Lucy solar array issue (spacenews.com) (blogs.nasa.gov) (space.com)

— Space Adventures ends plans for Crew Dragon tourist flight (spacenews.com)

— Nanoracks announces plans for commercial space station (cnet.com) (nanoracks.com)

— Rocket Lab prepares for first recovery involving a helicopter (businesswire.com)

Questions, comments, corrections

— Lucy launch vehicle changes (twitter.com/sawdey)

Interview -- Will Henry (Writer/Producer) and Dylan Taylor (Executive Producer) of The High Frontier: The Untold Story of Gerard K. O’Neill

— Space Studies Institute (ssi.org)

— highfrontiermerch.com

— thehighfrontiermovie.com

— willhenryfilm.com

— dylantaylor.org

This week in SF history

— First launch of the Saturn 1 (en.wikipedia.org) (youtube.com) (astronautix.com) (youtube.com) (youtube.com)

— Next week (11/2-11/8) in 2011: Tune into the show for an audio clue

Episode 330: We Got Some Lucy Splainin' To Do Oct 20, 2021

Show notes

Spaceflight news

— Rocket 3.3 follow-up (spacenews.com) (astra.com)

— Lucy’s in the sky (americaspace.com) (spacenews.com) (planetary.org) (americaspace.com) (planetary.org) (blog.ulalaunch.com)

Short & Sweet

— Brazil Space Agency successfully tests new rocket motor (avibras.com.br)

— Virgin Galactic gets postponed (spacenews.com)

— China launches nation’s first solar observatory (spacenews.com)

Questions, comments, corrections

— Roton Revision

— Andy Z via email: Check out the WWI Le Rhone engine (youtu.be)

— Ben Hallert via Twitter: Autorotation is complicated and interesting enough to be more specific about. (twitter.com/chairboy) (twitter.com/chairboy) (youtube.com)

— From the intro: ISS takes another tumble (HT Andy Z: twitter.com/liamkennedy)

This week in SF history

— 19 Oct, 2014. Comet Siding Spring has closest approach to Mars (nasa.gov) (nasa.gov) (nasa.gov) (arxiv.org) (skyandtelescope.org)

— Next week (10/26 - 11/1) in 1961: Cluster thruster

Episode 329: DOWNLINK--Kevin Rice Oct 12, 2021

Show notes

Spaceflight news

— Artemis funding (spacenews.com)

— Starliner stuff

— Valves (spacenews.com)

— Reassigned crew (spacenews.com) (spacepolicyonline.com)

Short & Sweet

— Taiwan launch company to attempt orbital launch again (spacenews.com)

— Planetary Protection might be revised (spacenews.com)

— UAE announces plans for next interplanetary mission (cnet.com)

Interview -- Kevin Rice, Director of Project Business Management JPL ret., Lockheed Martin ret.

— Kevin can be found on LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

— thebusiness.space

— thebusiness.space/consulting

This week in SF history

— 12 Oct, 1999: Final flight of Rotary Rocket’ Roton ATV (en.wikipedia.org) (web.archive.org) (youtube.com) (HT Mike Stewart: web.archive.org) (hobbyspace.com) (sfgate.com)

— Next week (10/19 - 10/25) in 2014: Duck and cover.

Episode 328: Employee-Rich Combustion Oct 06, 2021

Show notes

Spaceflight news

— Blue Origin’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week

— Blue experienced morale issues related to remote work (cnbc.com)

— An essay was published with sexism and safety allegations (lioness.co) (cnbc.com)

— Eric Berger reports his sources say allegations of sexism go too far (twitter.com/SciGuySpace) (wsj.com)

— FAA say they take the Lioness essay seriously (spacenews.com)

— Legal documents regarding Blue’s HLS bid were FOIA’d (theverge.com)

Brief & Bitter

— Shiyan 10 test satellite fails after launch (spaceflightnow.com)

— SLS likely to slip to 2022 (spacenews.com)

Questions, comments, corrections

— Kevin L via email: NASATV’s empty schedule is probably due to the potential government shutdown.

— Ben Hallert via twitter: Blue engines are built in Kent Washington, and a factory is being staffed in Huntsville.

This week in SF history

— 10 Oct, 1967: Outer Space Treaty is put into force (en.wikipedia.org) (unoosa.org) (wiki.org)

— Next week (10/12 - 10/18) in 1999: Strange shares half this with Down. All three accurately describe this event.

Episode 327: DOWNLINK--Othniel C. Mbamalu, Advanced Rockets Corp. Sep 29, 2021

Show notes

Short & Sweet

— Space Operations Mission Directorate and Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate split (spacenews.com) (arstechnica.com)

— Starliner likely to slip to 2020 (spacenews.com)

Questions, comments, corrections

— From the intro: New Glenn hardware! (HT Andy Z: floridatoday.com)

Interview -- Othniel C. Mbamalu, Founder and CEO of Advanced Rockets Corporation

— Airbreathing.space

— twitter.com/RocketsAdvanced

— othnielcreator.com

— twitter.com/othnielcreator

This week in SF history

— 30 Sept, 2001. First orbital launch from Pacific Spaceport Complex - Alaska (en.wikipedia.org) (PDF: nasa.gov) (astronautix.com)

— DeltaV: recommendation for VASTS, particularly Langley Experience (vsgc.odu.edu)

— Launched on an Athena I rocket (wikipedia.org)

— Starshine 3 was a hobby radio repeater/disco ball (en.wikipedia.org)

— DoD Space Test Program sats included PICOSat and Sapphire (en.wikipedia.org) (en.wikipedia.org) (en.wikipedia.org)

— PCSAT was an APRS repeater operated by midshipmen (aprs.fi)

— Next week (10/5 - 10/11) in 1967: This event in spaceflight history requires a total of 88 articles if you want the whole story.

Episode 326: Martian Alps Sep 22, 2021

Show notes

Spaceflight news

— First Perseverance sample collection (spacenews.com) (nasa.gov) (nasa.gov)

— “Where Is The Rover” map, featuring Ingenuity (mars.nasa.gov)

Short & Sweet

— Shenzhou 12 crew returns to Earth (spaceflightnow.com)

— Vande Hei to remain on ISS (spacenews.com)

— NASA awards five companies for Lunar Lander studies (spacenews.com)

Questions, comments, corrections

— From the intro: Inspiration4 (spacenews.com)

— Are you free Sep 21-23? Sit in on a NIAC session! (nasa.gov)

This week in SF history

— 24 Sept, 2011: UARS burns up on re-entry (en.wikipedia.org) (directory.eoportal.org)

— Next week (9/28 - 10/4) in 2001: A first from the last frontier.

Episode 325: Wandering Fragment Sep 15, 2021

Show notes

Spaceflight news

— NASA and the Giant Budget Reconciliation (spacenews.com)

— Starlink antennas again (spacenews.com)

— Thanks to Ben Hallert for the TCM! (twitter.com/chairboy)

— Chang’e 5 returned to the Moon (spacenews.com)

— Trajectory animation (twitter.com/coastal8049)

— Possible TCM Sunday 9/12, or maybe not (https://twitter.com/coastal8049)

Short & Sweet

— DOD wants to go nuclear (spacenews.com) (diu.mil)

— James Webb Space Telescope launch pushed to December (space.com) (planetary.org) (spacenews.com)

— Smoke detected in Zvezda module (reuters.com)

Questions, comments, corrections

— Anonymous source: Different ranges have different fts requirements. Federal ranges have fts handled by the space wing. Commercial range - kodiak - uses white sands missile range on contract as flight safety

— Asif Sadiqi’s book “Beyond Earth: A Chronicle of Deep Space Exploration 1958-2016” is free for download! (twitter.com/historyasif)

This week in SF history

— 18 Sept, 2013. Cygnus Demo mission launches (nasa.gov) (en.wikipedia.org)

— Orbital Sciences (now NG) won their CRS contract in 2008. (spaceflight101.com) (en.wikipedia.org) (PDF: nasa.gov)

— Next week (9/21 - 9/27) in 2011: You ares on fire!

Episode 324: Fireflyn’t Sep 08, 2021

Show notes

Spaceflight news

— Firefly Alpha launch failure (spacenews.com) (spacenews.com) (firefly.com)

— Scott Manley’s first takes included some “old fashioned pixel counting” (twitter.com/DJSnM) (twitter.com/DJSnM)

— Third-party photo coverage was fantastic (twitter.com/lavie154) (twitter.com/thejackbeyer) (twitter.com/nextspaceflight) (HT Sam: twitter.com/StarshipFairing)

— Keavon posted 4k video, but the tracking is rough (youtube.com)

— OptoData has fantastic tracking and exposure (youtube.com)

— NSF had great tracking and color saturation, from a different angle (youtube.com)

— Firefly’s deleted first cut montage (youtube.com)

— Firefly’s later “final cut” montage (youtube.com)

Short & Sweet

— New cracks discovered in ISS (space.com)

— Rocket Lab increases satellite component production (spacenews.com)

— Perseverance sample collection update (mars.nasa.gov) (nasa.gov) (twitter.com/NASAPersevere)

Questions, comments, corrections

— From the intro: Virgin Galactic grounded (twitter.com/nickschmidle) (twitter.com/SciGuySpace) (spacenews.com)

This week in SF history

— 8 Sept, 2004. Sample return and crash of the Genesis capsule (nasa.gov) (nasa.gov) (PDF: nasa.gov) (esa.int) (springer.com)

— Next week (9/14 - 9/20) in 2013: Virginia is for lovers of space

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