The Orbital Mechanics Podcast

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Well, after last week's short episode, I suspect that a lot of you anticipated this short episode would be coming out. I'm going to use some language that David, Dennis, and I have agreed represents our intentions. Please don't, like, take this too far, but we have decided to sunset the main show. Here's what we're going to do. Next week, on Sunday, July 6th , we're going to get together and we're...

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...

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 History ii May 24, 1962: Fourth flight of Project Mercury ( en.wikipedia.org ) ( nasa.gov ) — Next week (6/10...

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....

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 3...

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, Correcti...

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 —...

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 VTS This Week in Spaceflight History — April 10, 1979: Launch (and early return) of Soy...

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

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) i...

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 Orb...

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 Spacefligh...

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...

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.nas...

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...

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 Spaceflig...

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 missio...

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...

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 r...

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 ) ( nt...

Spaceflight News — K2 Space wins contract ( spaceinsider.tech ) ( spacenews.com ) ( addtheegg.com ) Short & Sweet — Contracts awarded for NASA’s Near Space Network ( spacenews.com ) — Record breaking spacewalk set by Shenzhou-19 crew ( spacenews.com ) — Crew-10 delayed ( spacenews.com ) This Week in Spaceflight History — 2 Jan, 1959. Launch of Luna 1, first spacecraft to reach the Moon ( en.wi...

Spaceflight News — Orion’s heat shield ( americaspace.com ) ( nasa.gov ) Short & Sweet — Tests of Russian Orbital Station core module announced ( interfax.com ) — Ingenuity’s Crash Investigation ( spacenews.com ) ( youtube.com ) ( youtube.com ) Questions, Comments, Corrections — Joel Rogers via email: Young and Crippen didn’t fly on Enterprise. This Week in Spaceflight History — December...

Spaceflight News — Swirl-dominated chambers ( payloadspace.com ) ( https://www.sierraspace.com ) ( Pic , from researchgate.net ) (PDF: nasa.gov ) Short & Sweet — So long Sutherland Spaceport ( satellitetoday.com ) Further delays to Artemis program announced ( spacenews.com ) This Week in Spaceflight History — 12 Dec, 1970. Launch of Uhuru ( nasa.gov ) (PDF: jhuapl.edu ) — Next week (12/17 - 12...