Terranauts

With the successful launch of the Gemini I, the Titan Gemini Launch Vehicle was fully checked out and ready for flight operations. So, it's time to take a look at the spacecraft it was designed to launch. In this episode we'll take a look in some detail at the Gemini spacecraft and what NASA hoped to do with it once it started flying.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more...

In this episode of Terranauts we take a bit of break from talking about the development of the technology for the Gemini Program and go back and take a look at what the humans that would fly Gemini - both in orbit and from the ground - have been up to.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At long last, we finally get the Gemini program into orbit. With just a few minor detours along the way... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we take some time to look at just what it takes to get a spacecraft from the factory floor to the launch pad. And, in case it wasn't obvious from the title of the episode - the answer is that it takes a lot of testing. A whole lot of testing. And guess what, when you do a lot of tests, a lot of things can, and do, go wrong. Which is kind of the point. ...

Today on Terranauts we are back to talking about the history of human spaceflight and we finally get project Gemini out of the starting gate. When we left the project it was off to a "fast, clean start" under project manager Jim Chamberlin. It was not to last. In the first year of its existence, project Gemini would actually get no closer to launching a spacecraft, and Jim...

Last Thursday on 27 January, 2022 NASA marked its Day of Remembrance. A time that is set aside to remember those astronauts who died in the line of duty. On this episode of the podcast I talk with Helene and Chris Hadfield about the Day of Remembrance, about their memories of some of the crew who did not make it home from space. We also talk about what remembering means to them and about...

In today's episode we are going to pick up the story of project Gemini as it makes the transition from an engineering study to a full up space project. In order to understand what that means, and what that meant we will have to talk a bit about how space projects get managed - and why contrary to many myths - that wasn't any easier back in 1962 than it is today. Hosted on...

In the last episode of Terranauts we talked about the origin of the Gemini Project. It basically started because some Project Mercury engineers wanted to improve the Mercury capsule and make it easier to build, test and fly. But that on its own was not enough to convince NASA to actually build a new spacecraft. In this episode of Terranauts, we talk about the Technological Imperativ...

In this episode of Terranauts we return to the historical narrative of humanity's journey off the planet. We are going to wind the clock back to September, 1962 when John F. Kennedy made his famous "we choose to go to the moon" speech at Rice University in Houston, Texas. It was an important moment in the history of the human spaceflight and marked the beginning of a new - and much...

In this episode I continue my conversation with three Terranauts who have all worked in Mission Control of the International Space Station as callsign ROBO - responsible for the operation of the International space Station's robotic arm.  They have been witness too, and participants in some amazing events and some truly significant changes in the way mission control is done. This is...

In this episode we continue our series on the evolution of Mission Control. Last time, I talked about my experience walking into Mission Control in the middle of the Space Shuttle program and at the end of the era of the Apollo control centre as it was about to make a transition to the Space Station era. Today we talk to three Terranauts who have been around for that transition and who contin...

In this episode of Terranauts we explore the world of NASA's Mission Control Centre as it was in 1995. At that time, Mission Control was still being performed out of the same building and the same control room as it had been since 1964 when control of manned spaceflight missions had moved from Cape Canaveral to the Manned Space Center in Houston. This was the building from which NASA had...

Welcome back to season 3 of Terranauts. Today's episode is the first in a series of episodes looking at how the advent of the International Space Station changed how we go to space. The series will culminate in a conversation with some Terranauts who have been working as ISS flight controllers for the past 20 years. They have seen and lived this transformation up close. But bef...

Season 3 is almost here ... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Season 2 has come to close and until Season 3 starts in September were playing some of our most popular episodes from the past year.  Meet Terranaut Sarah Gallagher, Science Advisor to the President of the Canadian Space Agency, professor at Western University in London, Ontario, and supermassive black holes and galaxy researcher. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Season 2 has come to close and until Season 3 starts in September were playing some of our most popular episodes from the past year. First up is Chris Hadfield and Iain Christie on NASA's Day Of Remembrance. On January 28, 2021, NASA marked its Day Of Remembrance. It was a day set aside to honour the sacrifices of all astronauts who have died in the pursuit of the human exploration of space. In th...

Season 2 of Terranauts is a wrap!  In this, the 40th episode, we take a quick look back at our second season and look forward to Season 3.  While we won't be releasing new episodes over the summer, we will be keeping the feed active with some highlights of the past two seasons.  We will also be busy with some other projects including starting a Terranauts facebook page.  Search...

In part 2 of "The Flag Is A One" we pick up the story of the Communications Technology Satellite just as a perplexing and potentially mission ending failure is occurring.  Mac Evans will take us through a few days of high drama in the Mission Operations Centre as the team tries to use a tiny little bit of data to diagnose the problem, and fix it. It's a classic Terranaut story. Hosted on...

In this episode of Terranauts we talk about a little known moment of high drama in the Canadian space program surrounding the crucial Communications Technology Satellite mission. In 1976, Canada and the world were in the midst of a telecommunications revolution. Determined to use satellite communications, John Chapman led a bold effort to build and test a satellite that would become the prototype...

There are times in the development of technology and society when things change only slowly. And then there are times when things change rapidly indeed. The 1960's were certainly one of those times, for a lot of reasons. In this episode of Terranauts however, we are going to talk specifically about how simultaneous revolutions in telecommunications and satellite technology came together to change...

Dr. Cameron Ower is the Chief Technology Officer at McDonald Dettwiler and Associates where he has been working for much of the last 35 years. When he started at MDA (then known as Spar Aerospace) he worked with and for the engineers who had designed and built the very first space robot, the original Space Shuttle Canadarm. His job, at the time, was to design the next generation of space robot - t...

In this episode of Terranauts we talk about the beginnings of the other great endeavour in space. Instead of talking about leaving the planet to explore space, we're going to talk about the early efforts to work from space to understand the Earth and improve life here. Specifically, we are going to talk about the early efforts to literally connect the world, by sending satellites to...

Today on Terranauts the second part of my conversation with the Quintessential Terranaut Dave Kendall.  We talk about Dave's career managing increasingly larger and more international programs until he ended up as the chair of one of the United Nation's largest and most active committees.  Not bad for a lad from Twickenham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Terranauts we're taking a break from our regular run of the Terranauts Guide to Leaving the Planet to bring you a fascinating interview with David Kendall who could be described as the quintessential Terranaut. On Terranauts we often talk about the fact that no gets to space alone. We are fond of saying that space is a team sport, not only for individuals but for countries as well. Ov...

Having completed a "textbook" mission with Wally Schirra's flight, it was now time to go for a full day on orbit with the flight of Mercury-Atlas 9 and Gordon Cooper. But this would be the final act of Project Mercury. The project had been a complete success, but its day was done as NASA and the world moved beyond simply wondering if a human could leave the planet - and started wondering what huma...