The Orbital Mechanics Podcast

Spaceflight news — Chang’e-5 lunar sampling ( spacenews.com ) ( spacenews.com ) ( theverge.com ) ( spaceflight101.com ) — Sample transfer happened shortly after docking (HT Sam in the chat: youtube.com ) ( twitter.com/050644zf ) — Hayabusa2 sample returns ( spacenews.com ) ( hayabusa2.jaxa.jp ) ( twitter.com/haya2e_jaxa ) — Extended mission ( smh.com.au ) ( hayabusa2.jaxa.jp )  Short & Sw...

Spaceflight news — Rocket Lab recovery ( twitter.com/ChrisG_NSF ) — A list of direct quotes from the press conference ( twitter.com/Erdayastronaut ) Short & Sweet — Phobos rover begins landing tests. ( space.com ) — The first H3 launches face delays. ( spacenews.com ) — Starship prepares to hop ( twitter.com/elonmusk ) — Carbice and Relativity raise millions in investment. ( spacenews.com ) (...

Spaceflight news — SN8 follow-up ( twitter.com/elonmusk ) ( twitter.com/elonmusk ) ( youtube.com ) — Martyte is a ceramic-filled epoxy, used to coat the flame trench ( ntrs.nasa.gov ) — Vega launch failure linked to human error ( spacenews.com ) Short & Sweet — Russian spacewalk completed to prepare for science module. ( space.com ) — Loverro exit illuminated ( washingtonpost.com ) — Skyrora t...

Spaceflight news — Starship SN8 fires a second (and third) time. ( space.com ) ( youtube.com ) ( twitter.com/elonmusk ) — Crew-1 certified ( spacenews.com ) ( spacenews.com ) ( americaspace.com ) (two parter: americaspace.com / americaspace.com ) Short & Sweet — Upgraded version of Sherpa tug to fly in mid-2021. ( spacenews.com ) ( satnews.com ) — Bridenstein expected to turn down a continued...

Spaceflight news — Rocket lab aims to recover booster ( spacenews.com ) ( aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org ) ( rocketlabusa.com ) Short & Sweet — Spacebit doesn’t hate wheels, but does love sharing data. ( spacenews.com ) — Galactic Energy reaches orbit. ( spacenews.com ) — Virgin Galactic enters final testing phase before operations. ( spacenews.com ) — The Curse of Scrubtober Ends. ( americaspace.c...

Spaceflight news — Direct lunar water observation ( americaspace.com ) ( spacenews.com ) ( nature.com ) — OSIRIS-REx stores sample ( spacenews.com ) ( asteroidmission.org ) ( asteroidmission.org ) Short & Sweet — Launchspace to install debris collection payload on ISS. ( spacenews.com ) — Ariane 6 needs additional funding. ( spacenews.com ) — Falcon 9 launch abort conclusion. ( spacenews.com )...

Spaceflight news — OSIRIS-REx completes TAG ( americaspace.com ) ( spacenews.com ) ( spacenews.com ) ( spacenews.com ) ( asteroidmission.org ) — Descent video and description by Dante Lauretta ( asteroidmission.org ) ( twitter.com/NASA ) — TAGSAM details ( link.springer.com ) ( youtu.be ) — We spoke with Richard Witherspoon, mission operations systems engineer at Lockheed Martin in Ep 186 ( theorb...

Spaceflight news — NASA and ESA Lunar Gateway contracts awarded ( space.com ) ( spacenews.com ) — Airbus and Thales Alenia were also contracted to develop a lunar lander ( spacewatch.global ) ( esa.int ) Short & Sweet — Prototype rover tested in Mojave desert. ( cnet.com ) — Fire at Firefly’s Wallops Launch Complex. ( twitter.com/Firefly_Space ) ( twitter.com/DavidNagySFgang ) — Zvezda atmosph...

Spaceflight news — SpaceX Crew-1 mission delayed ( spacenews.com ) ( spacenews.com ) — Tom Mueller explained the gas generator cycle, and the Merlin engine in particular ( youtube.com ) — GPS III SV04 launch scrubbed earlier this month due to “ unexpected pressure rise in the turbomachinery gas generator” ( twitter.com/elonmusk ) Short & Sweet — Chinese taikonauts selected for country’s space...

Spaceflight news — Tianwen-1 selfie ( twitter.com/AJ_FI ) — No country’s first Mars mission has ever been an orbiter/lander pair before ( eoportal.org ) — Orbiter instrumentation ( nssc.cas.cn ) — Lander/rover instrumentation ( spacerobotics.eu ) Short & Sweet — U.S. to monitor spacecraft around cis-lunar space ( breakingdefense.com ) — ThrustMe secures ESA funding ( satellite-evolution.com )...

Spaceflight news — NASA science mission delays ( spacenews.com ) — JWST deployment tests are done! ( nasa.gov ) Short & Sweet — Blue Origin pursues space station development. ( spacenews.com ) — Price tag for on-orbit publicity photos. ( spacenews.com ) — ISS leak narrowed down to two modules. ( businessinsider.com ) Questions, comments, corrections — Andrew Z: Bishop grapple fixture placement...

Spaceflight news — Nanoracks ISS airlock is nearly complete ( spacenews.com ) ( youtube.com ) — Dynetics HLS mockup arrives at JSC ( twitter.com/Dynetics ) ( techcrunch.com ) — On-orbit refueling is required to get Dynetics HLS to the moon ( spacenews.com ) Short & Sweet — Russia announces solo mission to Venus ( dailymail.co.uk ) ( nplus1.ru ) ( twitter.com/katlinegrey ) — China preps for Cha...

Spaceflight news — Cause of ULA’s recent hot-fire abort has been identified. ( americaspace.com ) ( twitter.com/torybruno ) — A “routine, ongoing trade study” has resulted in the possibility of a three-core Vulcan Super Heavy ( twitter.com/torybruno ) — Astra’s Rocket 3.1 flight terminated during its first stage. ( spacenews.com ) ( twitter.com/Astra ) Short & Sweet — Juno eyes extended missio...

Spaceflight news — Rocket Lab secretly launches Photon spacecraft ( techcrunch.com ) ( spacenews.com ) ( space.com ) Short & Sweet — SpaceX sets a new record. ( americaspace.com ) — China launches a reusable spacecraft. ( spacenews.com ) — We have a Starship hop! ( spacenews.com ) ( youtube.com ) This week in SF history — 7 Sept, 1995. Launch of STS-69 ( wikipedia.org ) ( sciencedirect.com ) —...

Spaceflight news — Funding secured for NanoFEEP manufacturer Morpheus Space ( spacenews.com ) (HT Andrew Zdanowicz: defenseone.com ) — Liquid eyeliner demonstrates an effect similar to the Taylor Cones utilized in electrospray engines (HT Colin: hackaday.com ) Short & Sweet — SLS takes a brief break. ( americaspace.com ) ( spacenews.com ) — Starliner's schedule falls further behind Crew Dragon...

Spaceflight news — Europa Clipper might not fly on SLS ( spacenews.com ) Short & Sweet — Ball Aerospace successfully completes green-fueled smallsat mission. ( smallsatnews.com ) — Blue Origin delivers its lunar lander mockup. ( spacenews.com ) — SpaceX sets a reuse record. ( spacenews.com ) Questions, comments, corrections — Brian Kostka via email: there was an "iron lung" on Skylab! This wee...

Spaceflight news — Lucy on track for 2021 launch ( americaspace.com ) — Rocket Lab increases performance ( spacenews.com ) (PDF: rocketlabusa.com ) — NASA to coordinate smallsat rideshares ( spacenews.com ) — Heat management becomes a new bottleneck in the smallsat era ( spacenews.com ) Short & Sweet — Dragon’s first commercial crew mission ( spacenews.com ) — A new industry seeks standardizat...

Spaceflight news — Mars Perseverance and Ingenuity on their way to Mars ( spaceflightnow.com ) ( americaspace.com ) — SHERLOC calibration target includes spacesuit samples ( collectspace.com ) — Crew Dragon is coming home ( arstechnica.com ) Short & Sweet — Airbus to build Mars sample return mission’s orbital element ( spacenews.com ) — Cause of Rocket Lab’s recent launch failure has been iden...

Spaceflight news — Progress MS-15 encounters KURS docking issue ( rocketrundown.com ) ( russianspaceweb.com ) ( youtube.com ) Short & Sweet — Astra will make another attempt at orbit ( spacenews.com ) ( twitter.com/Astra ) — LauncherOne failure update ( spacenews.com ) — NASA still has concerns with Starliner ( spacenews.com ) Questions, comments, corrections — twitter.com/amyinorbit : STS-93...

Spaceflight news — Dream Chaser trunk, Shooting Star, finds its own life ( americaspace.com ) ( sncorp.com ) ( space.com ) Short & Sweet — Hayabusa2 now has a sample return date! ( spaceflightnow.com ) — Florida’s Mk 2 Starship is being scrapped. ( teslarati.com ) — Crew Dragon planned to return in early August. ( spacenews.com ) Questions, comments, corrections — From the intro: the closest i...

Spaceflight news — Starliner has more work to do ( americaspace.com ) ( spacenews.com ) — Starship construction update (HT Andrew Z: wccftech.com ) Short & Sweet — X-ray space telescope’s launch date delayed. ( spaceflightnow.com ) — Cost overruns result in changes to Europa Clipper instruments. ( spacenews.com ) — NASA has new planetary protection directives. ( spacenews.com ) — NASA doesn’t...

Spaceflight news — Perseverance launch slips again ( spacenews.com ) — Centaur has been repaired ( twitter.com/thesheetztweetz ) Short & Sweet — Rocket Lab suffers second-stage failure and loss of vehicle. ( arstechnica.com ) ( spacenews.com ) ( twitter.com/RocketLab ) — ULA receives its first BE-4. ( spacenews.com ) — First indigenous-owned ground station to be built in Australia ( satnews.co...

Spaceflight news — Demo-2 and spacewalks ( spacenews.com ) ( americaspace.com ) — Suborbital Crew ( spacenews.com ) — SpaceShip Two news ( spacenews.com ) Short & Sweet — ISRO opens up spaceflight to the private sector. ( deccanchronicle.com ) — ULA completes wet dress rehearsal ahead of Perseverance launch ( americaspace.com ) (HT Andrew Z: twitter.com/TJ_Cooney ) — SpaceX plans a booster rec...

Spaceflight news — Astrobotic to deliver VIPER rover to Moon ( spaceflightinsider.com ) ( nasaspaceflight.com ) — Some instruments will fly on earlier CLPS payloads ( geekwire.com ) ( nasa.gov ) — Crew Dragon Endeavour is still nominal. ( teslarati.com ) Short & Sweet — Another trickle of Boeing Artemis HLS information (HT deltaV: washingtonpost.com ) — Small launch company Astra to make new o...

Spaceflight news — Loverro misconduct update ( wsj.com via marketscreener.com ) — Kathy Lueders selected to lead HEO Mission Directorate ( twitter.com/JimBridenstine ) ( arstechnica.com ) Short & Sweet — InSight’s mole is fully underground ( livescience.com ) ( reddit.com/r/InSightLander ) ( twitter.com/InSightImageBot ) — Northrup Grumman received contract to develop Gateway module ( spacefli...