Failure To Launch

Most people know about Laika the space dog or ham the astrochimp. What most people don't know about are the cyberpunk animals of the French Space Program. This episode, we explore CERMA, the Hammaguir launch site, and the various endangered animals France launched into space. Show Notes: Start of "Soviet September", where Quinn is banned from talking about the USSR or their space program for the n...

The Soviets came up with some truly innovative ways to protect their cosmonauts and space stations. This episode, we dig through a layer of Cold War secrecy and cover-ups to bring you the history of space guns. From cosmonaut Alexei Leonov taking on a wolfpack with a 1.5lb handgun to the Space Shuttle kicking off a wave of stupid Soviet space weapons.

Part 2 of our 2 part series. In 1978, a Soviet spy satellite carrying weapons-grade uranium slammed into Canada's Northwest Territories. This episode, we talk about the scientists, soldiers, and psychics who signed on with Operation Morning Light to clean up the mess and why they failed. Content Warning: As with most things involving the Canadian government's treatment of First Nations people, a f...

This series, we are doing a deep dive on Cosmos 954, the Soviet spy satellite carrying a nuclear reactor that deorbited and crashed into Canada's Northwest Territories. In Part 1, we focus on the satellite itself, how it failed, and how a little-known American government agency stepped up to tackle a nuclear disaster. Topics covered include: - Why the Soviets loaded a spy satellite with weapons-gr...

This episode, we take a look at the history of Sputnik 2 as well as the the Soviet answer to Project Albert: the Canine Cosmonaut program. Topics covered include: - How Korolev designed, built, and launched a satellite in less than a month. - Why the Soviets only picked stray female mutts to fly on their rockets. - Why there was no reason for Laika to die except Khrushchev's ego. Show Notes: Red M...

This episode, we finish our three-part series on Sputnik 1 and the people, politics, and egos that launched the Space Race. Topics covered include: - The decisions that made Sputnik 1 the perfect propaganda tool and worthless as a scientific instrument - Khrushchev chopping up the Red Army and purging its top general - How media and politicians in the West fanned the flames of Sputnik Panic - How...

In this episode, we continue our investigation into Sputnik 1, its troubled development, and the politics that went into world's first satellite. Topics covered include: - Khrushchev being so sold on rockets he slashes the Red Army by a third - Rival engineers who got each other sent to the gulag - Building a rocket site in the most inhospitable place on Earth - Two revolutions, one coup d'état, a...

Back from an extended hiatus, we take a look at the cult that developed around Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space. Topics covered include: - Gagarin's folk tale-worthy landing and the subsequent cover-up - Gagarin's father being demoted to his uncle by state propaganda - Yuri's unlikely role as the first Soviet sex symbol - How the Kremlin exploited (and continues to exploit) Gagarin's legacy Sh...

Between super-heavy lifters, centrifuges throwing shells into space, or hypersonic warheads, this is a time of Sputnik Moments - moments in history that represent a great leap in science. But what about the first Sputnik Moment? What about the satellite that was so influential that it set the bar for every scientific breakthrough since and kicked off the greatest (peaceful) competition in human hi...

No better way to start off than to dive into the wonderful world of animal experimentation. In Episode Zero, Quinn and Chris go over America's Project Albert, Nazi rockets cobbled together from spare parts, so many dead monkeys, and much more.