The Orbital Mechanics Podcast

Weird, short episode here, but it still feels weird to not start the show by saying “and I’m Ben.”So, we’ve had a personal emergency here on the crew. All three of us are fine, and we will let you know more about what’s happened, but for right now, this week’s episode is delayed. Hopefully it’ll be coming out later this week, but I don’t know. It may take a little while for things to get back to normal, but hopefully not too long. We just need a little bit of time to cope, and then we can figure out what our plans are.Thank you guys for listening, and you know, I miss y’all.

Spaceflight News— Starship Block 2: 0 for 3 (spacenews.com) (youtube.com)— Block 3 Update (nasaspaceflight.com)Short & Sweet— Xodiac flies final time (arstechnica.com)— China successfully tests vertical-takeoff vertical-landing rocket (cgtn.com)This Week in Spaceflight Historyii May 24, 1962: Fourth flight of Project Mercury (en.wikipedia.org) (nasa.gov)— Next week (6/10 - 6/16) in 1973: Dos equis

Spaceflight News— Neutron update (spacenews.com)Short & Sweet— China announces mission to Venus (ieee.org)Tianhe to be expanded (spacenews.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 14 May, 1973. Launch of Skylab (historicspacecraft.com) (PDF: nasa.gov)— Next week (5/20 - 5/26) in 1962: Kickin’ up fireflies.

Spaceflight News— Firefly Nozzle Anomaly (spacenews.com) (youtube.com)Short & Sweet— Efforts continue to rescue Lunar Trailblazer (spacenews.com)— ISS avoids space debris (space.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: Kosmos 482’s parachutes dangling out? (space.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— May 10, 1994: Last contact with the Clementine Spacecraft (en.wikipedia.org) (researchgate.net) (nap.nationalacademies.org) (klabs.org)— Next week (5/13 - 5/19) in 1973: It’s the final countdown

Spaceflight News— Sierra Space impact test (asdnews.com)— Atmos reentry test of PHOENIX-1 (spacenews.com) (europeanspaceflight.com)Short & Sweet— Kosmos 482’s deorbit update (sattrackcam.blogspot.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— Blue Origin tank failure? (HT ArcadeEngineer: fixupx.com/kerballistic07)This Week in Spaceflight History— 1 May, 1979: Enterprise rolled out to 39A (nasa.gov)— Next week (5/6 - 5/12) in 1994: Lost and gone forever, in orbit

Spaceflight News— The Riskiest Period of ISS’ Existence (spacenews.com)— Enginefest — Latitude (europeanspaceflight.com) — Pangea Aerospace (europeanspaceflight.com) — Venus Aerospace (prnewswire.com)Short & Sweet— Building destroyed in explosion at Northrop Grumman test site (space.com)— Seat barter agreement extended through 2027 (spacenews.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— Unc’ Willy: “First flight” is a better term (discord.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— April 24, 1970: Launch of Dong Fang Hong (astronautix.com) (en.wikipedia.org)— Next week (4/29 - 5/5) in 1979: Heading out for a three-month stay

Spaceflight News— Confirming Isaacman (spacenews.com) (law.cornell.edu) (aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org)— One of the Lunar Terrain Vehicles unveiled (lunaroutpost.com)Short & Sweet— New addition to DSN (space.com)— DOD hires Astroscale (satellitetoday.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: Jonathan McDowell retiring (archive.ph)This Week in Spaceflight History— 18 Apr, 2001. Maiden flight of GSLV Mk. I (a.k.a GSLV-D1) (isro.gov.in) (astronautix.com) (PDF: sci-hub.se)  (planet4589.org)— Next week (4/22 - 4/28) in 1970: Is the national anthem really 20 days long?

Spaceflight News— Two more PAMs (spacenews.com) (sam.gov)Short & Sweet— Fram2 launches and lands (arstechnica.com) (space.com)— SpinLaunch turns to broadband (spacenews.com) Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: Starliner shakeup (spaceflightnow.com)— From Espen Urkedal: FTS vs VTSThis Week in Spaceflight History— April 10, 1979: Launch (and early return) of Soyuz 33 (en.wikipedia.org) (blazingbulgaria.wordpress)— Next week (4/15 - 4/21) in 2001: Stumbling 58 minutes short of the finish orbit

Spaceflight News— Security Space (arstechnica.com) (spacenews.com)Interview -- Joseph Marlin, Deputy Chief Engineer, Blue Ghost Lunar Program— linkedin.com/in/josephmarlin— fireflyspace.comThis 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

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 gradientsThis 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

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

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”

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

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

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.

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

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 StarshipThis 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.

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

Thanks to Dennis O for naming this week’s episode!Spaceflight News— Mars Sample Return redesign (spaceflightnow.com) (spacenews.com)Short & Sweet— China tests mission extension tech on-orbit (spacenews.com)— X-37B’s latest mission passes one-year in space (space.com)— Pale Blue Propulsion (spacenews.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: Eaton/Pallisades fire relief for JPL workers (spacenews.com) (americaspace.com) (securelb.imodules.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— Jan. 17, 2005: US-China Orbital Debris Event (space.com) (PPT: celestrak.org) (spaceref.com) (PDF: orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov)— Next week (1/21 - 1/27) in 1997: A tap on the shoulder

Spaceflight News— Starship TF-7 (spacenews.com) (ringwatchers.com) (spacex.com) (twitter.com)Short & Sweet— India launches space docking demo mission (nasaspaceflight.com) (space.com) (en.wikipedia.org) (isro.gov.in)— Launches gaining frequency (spacenews.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 10 Jan, 1968: Surveyor 7 lands on the moon (nasa.gov) (ntrs.nasa.gov) (ntrs.nasa.gov)— Next week (1/14 - 1/20) in 2005: Was that the Aurora Australis?