The Orbital Mechanics Podcast

Spaceflight News -- Starship Test Flight 4 ( spacenews.com ) ( nasaspaceflight.com ) ( youtube.com ) ( spacey.space/@spmttracker ) Short & Sweet -- Vast plans for ESA ( spacenews ) -- Chang’e-6 has its moon rocks ( spacenews ) ( spacenews.com ) -- Hubble Hobble ( spacenews.com ) Questions, Comments, Corrections -- RIP Bill Anders ( apnews.com ) -- Traches: Relativity and Novas ( discord.com )...

Spaceflight News -- ThinkSubOrbital ( spacenews.com ) (PDF: nasa.gov ) ( spacenews.com ) ( youtube.com ) ( sbir.gov ) ( sbir.gov ) Short & Sweet -- Starliner scrub ( americaspace.com ) ( spacenews.com ) ( spacenews.com ) -- Indian startup Agnikul Notches launches first flight ( payloadspace.com ) Questions, Comments, Corrections -- From the intro: -- Chang’e 6 landing ( spacenews.com ) ( space...

Spaceflight News -- More Starliner Delays ( spacenews.com ) (HT deltaV: twitter.com/jeff_foust ) ( spacenews.com ) (HT deltaV: https://arstechnica.com ) Short & Sweet -- U.S. accuses Russia of launching countersat weapon ( spacenews.com ) ( payloadspace.com )  -- Redwire wins award for European lunar lander’s robot arm ( europeanspaceflight.com ) Questions, Comments, Corrections -- From t...

Spaceflight News -- NASA Joins Rosalind Franklin Team ( spacenews.com ) -- Unknown Russian sat launched ( sattrackcam.blogspot.com ) ( russianspaceweb.com ) Short & Sweet -- Georgia scraps Spaceport Camden ( actionnewsjax.com ) -- Starliner leaks Helium ( spacenews ) This Week in Spaceflight History -- 27 May, 1999: The launch of STS-96 ( nasa.gov ) ( nss.org ) ( eoportal.org ) ( nasa.gov ) (...

Spaceflight News — Chang’e-6 mission underway ( spacenews.com ) ( spacenews.com ) ( nature.com ) ( spacenews.com ) Short & Sweet — Starliner delayed ( spacenews.com ) ( nasaspaceflight.com ) ( spacenews.com ) ( americaspace.com ) ( spacenews.com ) — Long March 6C makes first flight ( cgtn.com ) ( spacenews.com ) — Neutron debut slips into 2025 ( payloadspace.com ) Questions, Comments, Correcti...

Spaceflight News — Artemis I Lessons ( spacenews.com ) (PDF: oig.nasa.gov VIA oig.nasa.gov ) Short & Sweet — Thunder from down under ( abc.net.au ) ( abc.net.au ) ( southernlaunch.space ) — JAXA’s SLIM survives third lunar night ( japantimes.co.jp ) This Week in Spaceflight History — May 9, 1963: Launch of West Ford 2 (PDF: orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov VIA orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov ) ( en.wikip...

Spaceflight News — Voyager is communicative! ( blogs.nasa.gov ) — ESA debris removal mission finds a new target ( satellitetoday.com ) Short & Sweet — China releases a lunar landing update ( spacenews ) — TESS enters safe mode… again ( nasa.gov ) Questions, Comments, Corrections — Dennis O: SOFIA clarifications ( discord.com ) ( youtube.com ) — VAXheadroom shot SOFIA some footage in 2012 ( you...

Spaceflight News — Lunar buggy selection ( spacenews.com ) (PDF: sam.gov VIA sam.gov ) ( twitter.com/DubnHG1 ) ( nikkei.com ) Short & Sweet — Dragonfly mission officially confirmed ( nasa.gov ) — Mars Sample Revamp ( spacenews.com ) ( spacenews.com ) ( spaceflightnow.com ) Questions, Comments, Corrections — Unc Willy: Cape launch complexes ( discord.com ) This Week in Spaceflight History — 26...

Spaceflight News — Last Delta IV heavy ( spacenews.com ) ( americaspace.com ) ( nasaspaceflight.com ) (PDF: ulalaunch.com ) ( arstechnica.com ) Short & Sweet — Relativity Space wins contract ( spacenews ) — Japan secures a moon landing ( spacenews ) — Max Space Modules ( spacenews ) Questions, Comments, Corrections — Csaba via Discord: SOIR means "evening" in French, pretty clever pun ( discor...

Spaceflight News — Broken records and Starship’s near future ( nasaspaceflight.com ) ( spacenews.com ) ( nasaspaceflight.com ) Short & Sweet — New Shepard Plans Crewed Flight ( spacenews.com ) — Lunar Rover Mk 2 ( spacenews.com ) This Week in Spaceflight History —  April 11, 2006: Arrival of Venus Express at Venus ( en.wikipedia.org ) (PDF: sci.esa.int VIA sci.esa.int ) — Next week (4/16...

Spaceflight News — Orbital Reef Rundown ( nature.com ) (PDF: star.spaceops.org VIA star.spaceops.org ) ( genesisesi.com ) — Artemis 3 now has 3 experiments ( nasa.gov ) ( hou.usra.edu ) Short & Sweet — A Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine flies for first time (HT Andrew Z: autoevolution.com ) — A Nascent Solution For Voyager 1 ( spacenews.com ) This Week in Spaceflight History — 6 Apr, 1965: La...

Spaceflight News — Starship IFT-3 ( spacenews.com ) ( twitter.com ) ( youtu.be ) Short & Sweet — Euclid spacecraft addresses ice-buildup on optics ( asdnews.com ) — Ariane 6 coming together ( esa.int ) — Soyuz aborts at the pad ( spacenews.com ) Questions, Comments, Corrections — From the intro: launch escape slide ( youtube.com ) This Week in Spaceflight History — 17 Mar, 2002. Launch of GRAC...

Interview — Professor Dante Lauretta — The Asteroid Hunter: A Scientist’s Journey to the Dawn of our Solar System (hachettebookgroup.com ) — facebook.com/AZAstrobiology — threads.net/@azastrobiology — instagram.com/azastrobiology — Thanks to Grand Central Publishing ( twitter.com/GrandCentralPub ) ( instagram.com/grandcentralpub )

Spaceflight News — Stoke Space focusing on first stage ( nasaspaceflight.com ) ( youtu.be ) Short & Sweet — Tianhe’s solar arrays patched ( space.com ) — Stratolaunch tests Talon ( spacenews.com ) ( spacenews.com ) — Starship Flight 3 on its way ( spacenews.com ) ( space.com ) This Week in Spaceflight History — 16 Mar, 1966. Recovery of Veterok and Ugolyok, who to this day hold the record for...

Spaceflight News — Last big IM-1 update ( arstechnica.com ) ( twitter.com/jeff_foust ) Short & Sweet — Orion has hatch problems ( spacenews.com ) — ISRO plans for Mars helicopter ( indiatoday.in ) Questions, Comments, Corrections — Varda landing footage ( youtube.com ) This Week in Spaceflight History — 8 Mar, 2001. Launch of STS-102 ( nss.org ) ( aiaa.org ) — Next week (3/12 - 3/18) in 1966:...

Spaceflight News — IM-1 landing follow-up ( spacenews.com ) ( youtube.com ) ( youtube.com ) Short & Sweet — ISRO completes human-rating of engine ( isro.gov.in ) — Software error responsible for Firefly’s off-nominal payload delivery ( fireflyspace.com ) ( space.com ) — Varda’s capsule returns ( spacenews.com ) Questions, Comments, Corrections — Espen via email: IM-1’s fuel loading  This...

Spaceflight News — IM-1 launch ( americaspace.com ) ( americaspace.com ) ( spacenews.com ) ( spacenews.com ) ( nasaspaceflight.com ) (PDF: intuitivemachines.com ) Short & Sweet — H3 completes first successful launch ( spacenews.com ) — Voyager 1 still struggles to communicate ( space.com ) This Week in Spaceflight History — February 21 2008, Interception and destruction of USA-193 ( thespacere...

Spaceflight News — Dream Chaser readies for first flight ( nasaspaceflight.com ) ( nasaspaceflight.com ) Short & Sweet — Viasat-3 pushes forward ( spacenews.com ) — Lessons from Artemis 1 ( spacenews.com ) — X-37B’s orbit speculation ( arstechnica.com ) Questions, Comments, Corrections — 2002 VE68 was officially named Zoozve! ( alex-foster.com ) ( radiolab.org ) ( radiolab.org ) This Week in S...

Spaceflight News — CLPS’ second try ( spacenews.com ) — Collins completes Crew Capability Assessment ( prnewswire.com ) ( spaceflightnow.com ) ( youtube.com ) Short & Sweet — Queqiao-2 readies for launch ( cgtn.com ) — First metal 3D printer in space reaches ISS ( europeanspaceflight.com ) — Orbit raising raising questions ( spacenews.com ) This Week in Spaceflight History — 9 Feb, 2000. First...

Spaceflight News — Ingenuity Down (HT deltaV: twitter.com/AndySaunders_1 ) ( spacenews.com ) ( mars.nasa.gov ) — Slim Upside-Down ( spacenews.com ) ( spacenews.com )( global.jaxa.jp ) Short & Sweet — Redwire to provide elements of Blue Origin’s space tug ( spacenews.com ) — Two companies test reusable booster prototypes ( space.com ) (HT: Sam twitter.com/CNSpaceflight ) — ESA astronaut operate...

Spaceflight News — SLIM landing attempt ( spacenews.com ) ( spacenews.com ) ( nasaspaceflight.com ) ( en.wikipedia.org ) ( youtube.com ) (PDF: global.jaxa.jp ) Short & Sweet — EUS heads to qualification ( nasaspaceflight.com ) — Ingenuity contact lost during flight 72, regained ( mars.nasa.gov ) ( npr.org ) Questions, Comments, Corrections — From the intro: Peregrine Reentry ( spacenews.com )...

Spaceflight News — Peregrine Failure ( spacenews.com ) ( nasaspaceflight.com ) ( spacenews.com ) ( americaspace.com ) ( spacenews.com ) ( twitter.com/astrobotic ) Short & Sweet — Lay-offs at JPL ( spacenews ) — Starship’s second flight failure explained ( spacenews.com ) Questions, Comments, Corrections — From the intro: Early demo of a starship game, complete with engineering section ( starsh...

Spaceflight News — NIAC 2024 Phase One ( nasa.gov ) ( nasa.gov ) Short & Sweet — India launches X-ray space observatory ( spaceflightnow.com ) — Space station stories ( spacenews.com ) ( spacenews.com ) This Week in Spaceflight History — 12 January, 1997: Launch of Atlantis on STS-81 ( en.wikipedia.org ) ( americaspace.com ) ( youtube.com ) ( freshairarchive.org ) — Next week (1/16 - 1/22) in...

Spaceflight News — B1058 lost at sea ( spaceflightnow.com ) ( twitter.com/johnkrausphotos ) ( youtube.com ) ( ventusky.com ) ( twitter.com/edwards345 ) ( spaceexplored.com ) — Firefly malfunction ( spacenews.com ) Short & Sweet — China completes launch pad at first commercial spaceport ( cgtn.com ) This Week in Spaceflight History — 3 Jan, 1999: The launch of Deep Space 2 ( gsfc.nasa.gov ) ( w...

Spaceflight News — China launches spaceplane for third time ( spacenews.com ) ( arstechnica.com ) ( youtube.com ) ( nasaspaceflight.com ) Short & Sweet — Refractory Starship ( nasaspaceflight.com ) — iSpace hops again ( spacenews.com ) — Voyager 1 suffers communication anomaly ( space.com ) This Week in Spaceflight History — 19 Dec, 1976. The launch of the first KH-11 Kennen/Keyhole satellite...