The Orbital Mechanics Podcast

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.orgThis 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

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

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/consultingThis 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.

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

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/othnielcreatorThis 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.

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.

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

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/nickschmidl

Spaceflight news— Rocket3.3 Exits Stage Right (astra.com) (space.com) (youtube.com) (youtube.com) — Follows an abort on Friday called by the guidance system near T-0 (space.com) — Jonathan McDowell guessed a “fatal problem” in the air (twitter.com/planet4589)Short & Sweet— 7GB of paperwork for HLS (twitter.com/joroulette) (spacenews.com) (businessinsider.com) (spacenews.com)— Starlinks get lasers (spacenews.com)— First test of Astroscale satellite capture technology (​​spacenews.com) (astroscale.com)Questions, comments, corrections— From the intro: A Shortfall of Gravitas struts its stuff (spacenews.com) (twitter.com/elonmusk)This week in SF history— 4 Sep 1968: Von Braun tests a suit in the NBS (facebook.com/SpaceWalkOfFame) (twitter.com/nasahistory) (books.google.com) — Further reading: a collection of Von Braun’s daily notes (collectspace.com)— Next week (9/7 - 9/13) in 2004: The end of the beginning and the beginning of the salvaging.

Spaceflight news— Blue Origin lawsuit, and exodus — Lawsuit filed against NASA on Aug 19 (theverge.com) (spacenews.com) — > 11 key employees left Blue (twitter.com/thesheetztweetz) (twitter.com/thesheetztweetz) (twitter.com/thesheetztweetz) — Lauren Lyons went to Firefly (https://spacenews.com) — 10k bonus handed out at end of July (twitter.com/thesheetztweetz)Short & Sweet— Japan tests new engine type (futurism.com) (PDF: nagoya-u.ac.jp)— JAXA announces Phobos sample-return mission (apnews.com)— Starlink satellites responsible for most close encounters in LEO (space.com)Questions, comments, corrections— Watch party! The High Frontier: The Untold Story of Gerard K. O’Neill. Friday Aug 27 3pm PT / 6pm ET (thehighfrontiermovie.com) (calendar.google.com)— VAXHeadroom via Discord: Cygnus spacecraft is a Northrop Grumman vehicle.Interview -- John E Ward, Senior Systems Engineer, Réaltra Space Systems Engineering— VIKI (Independent VIdeo KIt) datasheet (PDF: realtra.space) — twitter.com/astr

Spaceflight news— 2018 Soyuz leak turns into a whodunnit (arstechnica.com) (HT DeltaV: arstechnica.com) (twitter.com/KathyLueders)— Starliner Destacked (twitter.com/BoeingSpace) (twitter.com/EmreKelly) (twitter.com/BoeingSpace) (spacenews.com)Short & Sweet— Shuttle payload readied for restoration (space.com)— xEVA falls behind schedule (spacenews.com)— GSLV fails to reach orbit (https://spacenews.com/indian-gslv-launch-fails/)Questions, comments, corrections— Andrew Z. via email: Super Heavy landing nubs.— Ireland’s Place in Space (podcasts.apple.com)— From the intro: Tethers Unlimited (spacenews.com)— Watch party! The High Frontier: The Untold Story of Gerard K. O’Neill. Friday Aug 27 3pm PT / 6pm ET (calendar.google.com)This week in SF history— 18 Aug, 1993: first flight of the DC-X delta clipper (nasa.gov) (youtube.com)— Next week (8/24 - 8/30) in 1962: Hello, I live next door. Sorry I didn’t come and say hello sooner.

Spaceflight news— Astra readies for next orbital launch (spacenews.com) (twitter.com/Astra) (spacenews.com)— Super Heavy Starship stacked! (twitter.com/StarshipGazer) (twitter.com/ErcXspace) (twitter.com/elonmusk) (twitter.com/RGVaerialphotos) (youtube.com)— Perseverance’s first sampling attempt (spacenews.com) (​​nasa.gov) (twitter.com/PaulHammond51)Short & Sweet— China hops (spacenews.com)— OFT-2 slipping from August? (HT DeltaV: twitter.com/SciGuySpace) (HT DeltaV: twitter.com/SciGuySpace) (spacenews.com) (spacenews.com) (spacenews.com)— Blue Origin developing reusable second stage (arstechnica.com)Questions, comments, corrections— Another Eric Berger interview on MECO (HT AZ: podcastaddict.com)Dragonfly interview (HT AZ: forbes.com)— Watch party! The High Frontier: The Untold Story of Gerard K. O’Neill. Friday Aug 27 6pm ET (calendar.google.com)Interview -- Danny Gleeson, Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer of Réaltra Space Systems Engineering— realtra.space— twitter.com/realtraspace— linkedin.com

Spaceflight news— Nauka Arrives (spaceflightnow.com) (space.com) — Investigation of the issue (twitter.com/RussianSpaceWeb) — Amazing footage of the issue (youtube.com) (HT Andy Z: twitter.com/liamkennedy) (HT Andy Z: twitter.com/fs_jeronimo)Short & Sweet— Rocket Lab successfully launches U.S. military payload (spaceflightnow.com)— Inmarsat announces plans to add multi-orbit satellite constellation (spacenews.com)This week in SF history— August 9 1976: The Launch of Luna 24 (lroc.sese.asu.edu) (theverge.com) (russianspaceweb.com)— Next week (8/10 - 8/16) in 1966: When I get hot, I get dizzy and lose my bearings.

Spaceflight news— Nauka Launched (spacenews.com) (forum.nasaspaceflight.com) — Three sets of engines on Nauka (twitter.com/RussianSpaceWeb) — Initial reports of issues (forum.nasaspaceflight.com) — A summary was written on Wikipedia quite early (en.wikipedia.org) — “Nothing irreparable” (twitter.com/katlinegrey) — An initial RCS burn was made to get to a safe orbit (twitter.com/katlinegrey) — First DKS firing reported by Anatoly Zak on July 23 (twitter.com/RussianSpaceWeb) — Kurs was declared operational on the 25th (twitter.com/RussianSpaceWeb) (twitter.com/katlinegrey) — We found this amateur imagery of the module delightful (twitter.com/ralfvandebergh)— Next Generation Arecibo Telescope (space.com) (arxiv.org)Short & Sweet— Falcon Heavy gets a new customer (spacenews.com)— China tests fairing recovery (nasaspaceflight.com)— Rocket Lab concluded its launch failure investigation (spacenews.com)This week in SF history— 29 July, 1985. Launch and abort of STS 51-F (wiki) (PDF: jsc.na

Spaceflight news— Hubble back online (PDF: asd.gsfc.nasa.gov) (PDF: ses.gsfc.nasa.gov) (youtube.com) (nasa.gov) (sciencemag.org)Short & Sweet— Astranis produces new batch of very small GEO satellites (spacenews.com)— Funding secured for Beresheet 2 mission (ap.org)— Raptor engine development ramping up (spaceflightinsider.com)— ESA announces new kick stage for Ariane 6 rocket (esa.int)Questions, comments, corrections— Andrew Z via email: China commercial space infographic (twitter.com/rhZhao)This week in SF history— 22 Jul, 1962. Failed launch of Mariner 1 due to software typo (wiki) (vice.com)— Next week (7/27 - 8/2) in 1985. Spain’s beautiful this time of year, but we ain’t going there today.

Spaceflight news— Northrop Grumman signs HALO contract (americaspace.com) (spacenews.com) (nasa.gov) — A docking adapter is planned for HLS (PDF: nasa.gov)Short & Sweet— SKA endangered by megaconstellations (spacenews.com)— Chinese Spacewalk (spacenews.com)— JWST One Step Closer (spacenews.com)Questions, comments, corrections— From the intro: Blue not-so-subtly sub-tweets VG (twitter.com/blueorigin)Interview -- Bill Britton, Director of the California Cybersecurity Institute at Cal Poly, SLO— cci.calpoly.edu— linkedin.com/in/wbrittonThis week in SF history— 15 Jul, 2009: The launch of Kibo (希望) exposed facility on STS-127 (space.skyrocket.de) (en.wikipedia.org) (Archive of kibo.jaxa.jp: web.archive.org) — Kibo used to feature the Inter-orbit Communication System (directory.eoportal.org) (iss.jaxa.jp)— Next week (7/20 - 7/26) in 1962: Where do pirates go to drink? An arr-bar.

Spaceflight news— Transporter-2 payloads (americaspace.com) (americaspace.com) (spacenews.com) (geekwire.com) (PDF: fcc.report)Short & Sweet— IROSAs installed (americaspace.com) (nasaspaceflight.com)— Starship Booster prototype nears completion (teslarati.com)— ULA has an engine nozzle issue (spacenews.com)This week in SF history— 3 July, 1998. Launch of the Nozomi mission. (springeropen.com) (nasa.gov) (PDF: sci-hub.se) (en.wikipedia.org)— Next time (7/13 - 7/19) in 2009: Hope floats

Spaceflight news— Rocket Lab wins Mars mission (space.com) (hou.usra.edu) — Characteristic energy, declination, right ascension of the departure asymptote vector (C3/DLA/RLA) were discussed in our interview with Mark Wallace. (theorbitalmechanics.com)Short & Sweet— Chinese crew reaches Tianhe space station module (spacenews.com)— Faulty memory system halts Hubble operations (spacenews.com)— NEO Surveyor moves forward (spacenews.com)— Launcher announces development of orbital transfer vehicle (spacenews.com/)Questions, comments, corrections— From the intro: Bill Nelson agrees a second HLS contractor would be nice. (spacenews.com)— An interstellar… big thing… is headed towards the solar system. (twitter.com/Astro_Wright) (twitter.com/TM_Eubanks)— ROSA deployment videos were published this week. (twitter.com/NASASpaceflight) (twitter.com/BoeingSpace)This week in SF history— 25 Jun, 1992: Launch of STS-50, the first Extended Duration Orbiter (en.wikipedia.org) (en.wikipedia.org) (PDF: sci-hub.do)— Next wee

Spaceflight news— ESA spacecraft to join Venusian fleet (space.com) (esa.int) (en.wikipedia.org) (arxiv.org) — Jean-Luc Margot et al recently made rough measurements of Venus’ moment of inertia (youtube.com) (arxiv.org) — Planetary Society did a writeup on DAVINCI+ and VERITAS (planetary.org)Short & Sweet— First commercial deep-space antenna begins official operations in UK (twitter.com/esaoperations)— Relativity goes reusable (spacenews.com)— Two HLS contracts are one step closer (spacenews.com)This week in SF history— Launch of Endeavor, STS-57 on June 21 1993 (en.wikipedia.org) (nasa.gov) (directory.eoportal.org) — FARE (Fluid Acquisition and Resupply Experiment) looked like a sci-fi special effect (youtu.be)— Next week (7/22 - 7/28) in 1992: It’s good to be home. Glad I packed an extra lunch!

Spaceflight news— Discovery 15 and 16 selected - we’re heading for Venus! (space.com) (spacenews.com)— NASA Presidential Budget Request (planetary.org)— House bill wants to designate space as critical infrastructure (spacenews.com)Short & Sweet— South Korean rocket prepares for October test (theregister.com)— Axiom, SpaceX reach agreement to send three more private crews to ISS (cnet.com) (spacenews.com)— JWST launch update (spacenews.com)Interview -- Dr. Alessandro Patruno, Quaternion Books— Support this work by buying a copy of The Human Computer: Katherine Johnson’s Story (kickstarter.com)— More info about the book is on the publisher’s website (quaternionbooks.com)— facebook.com/quaternionbooks— twitter.com/QuaternionbooksThis week in SF history— 10 June, 1969. Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) program cancelled (PDF: nro.gov) (PDF: nro.gov) (en.wikipedia.org)— Next week (6/15 - 6/21) in 1993: It was the longest day. Ten minutes later, it was the shortest.Thanks to Colin-in-the-chat for naming this wee