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 503: DOWNLINK -- Joseph Marlin Apr 02, 2025

Show notes

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

Episode 502: Still Sticking Mar 26, 2025

Show notes

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

Episode 501: MSR China Mar 19, 2025

Show notes

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 disaster (plesetzk.ru) (russianspaceweb.com) (bbc.co.uk) (en.wikipedia.org)

— Tangent on GRAU indices (en.wikipedia.org)

— Next week (3/25 - 3/31) in 1972: Much closer, much easier, but 53 years late

Episode 500: Quincentennial Mar 12, 2025

Show notes

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) (skyrocket.de) (wikipedia.org) (ll.mit.edu)

— Next week (3/18 - 3/24) in 1980: Wait nine years until “openness”

Episode 499: Wicked Shimmy Mar 05, 2025

Show notes

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 Week in Spaceflight History

— Feb 26, 1960: Failed launch of MiDAS 1 (en.wikipedia.org) (PDF: nro.gov) (PDF: nro.gov)

— Next week (3/11 - 3/17) in 1976: Two score and nine years ago

Episode 498: Decimation Feb 19, 2025

Show notes

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

Episode 497: Frustrating Frustum Feb 12, 2025

Show notes

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 Spaceflight History

— 11 Feb, 2000: Shuttle Radar Topography Mission launched on STS-99 (en.wikipedia.org) (airandspace.si.edu VIA web.archive.org) (PDF: agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com)

— Next week (2/18 - 2/24) in 1996: Goes where it says on the tin.

Episode 496: Next-Gen Corner Cube Feb 05, 2025

Show notes

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) (thespaceabove.us)

— Next week (2/11 - 2/17) in 2000: Tail-first and burning fast

Episode 495: NICER than orange slices Jan 29, 2025

Show notes

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 History

— 3 Feb, 1994: The launch of STS-60 (americaspace.com) (americaspace.com) (PDF: nasa.gov) (nss.org)

Next week (2/4 - 2/10) in 1995: Hey, it’s me again. I’m outside.

Episode 494: Debris Cross-Range Jan 22, 2025

Show notes

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)

— DarthMooMoo: Varda launched on F9, not Electron (discord.com)

This Week in Spaceflight History

— 22 Jan 1997: Space debris hits a person for the first and only time on record. (HT SciKyle: en.wikipedia.org) (PDF: deepblue.lib.umich.edu) (PDF: apps.dtic.mil) (foxnews.com)

— Next week (1/28 - 2/3) in 1994: Call before you come over

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