Ascending Node

Space Shuttle astronaut Sandy Magnus joins Ascending Node to talk about a career that took her from a small town in southern Illinois to the International Space Station. She looks back on building the ISS, flying on the final Space Shuttle mission 15 years ago, and the survival training that prepared astronauts for anything, from Black Sea water landings to emergency touchdowns in Siberia. She als...

What does it actually take to build a rocket? In this episode of Ascending Node, Erika McClosky, senior director of Manufacturing, Operations, and Assembly, joins hosts Tory Bruno and Tabitha Lipkin on the factory floor to find out. The conversation covers the many types of engineering behind manufacturing, from designing individual parts to engineering the systems that build them, and why that wo...

This year marks 60 years of Star Trek, and its influence on space exploration is still just as strong today. In Part 2 of our conversation with Rod Roddenberry, we talk about IDIC, Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations, and why the idea that our differences make us stronger has never felt more relevant. We also get into what Blue Origin is doing to expand human access to space and push the b...

Rod Roddenberry joins Tory Bruno and Tabitha Lipkin to talk about his father's legacy and how Gene Roddenberry worked with the science community to ground Star Trek's vision in real possibility. Rod also shares stories from fans whose lives were shaped by the show, and why he believes great storytelling has the power to shift how we see the world. It's a conversation about legacy, inspiration, and...

General John Hyten, Executive Director of Club for the Future, joins the Ascending Node to talk about a career spent leading at the highest levels of national security and defense, from serving as Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the weight of responsibility that comes with one of the most demanding roles in the U.S. military. He digs into the camaraderie forged along the way, includi...

Steve Squyres joins the Ascending Node to talk about a career spent pushing the boundaries of Mars exploration, from serving as Principal Investigator for the scientific payloads on the iconic Spirit and Opportunity rovers to his early mentorship under Carl Sagan. He digs into how the Mars Telecommunications Orbiter (MTO) will support science happening on the Martian surface, and how Blue Ring cou...

Welcome to Ascending Node. Our premiere episode features an in-depth conversation between Tory Bruno and Tabitha Lipkin, exploring leadership, national security strategy, and the evolution of commercial spaceflight. 

Welcome to Ascending Node, the podcast that takes you inside the world of rockets, exploration, and the people building humanity's road to space. Your hosts, Tory Bruno and Tabitha Lipkin, bring you stories you won't hear anywhere else. Tory is a rocket scientist with decades of experience designing and building rockets and spacecraft, elevated by a career defined by serving the causes of freedom...