Episodes
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This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest of the episode and unlock more bonus content, consider supporting Failure To Launch on Patreon.
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A communications satellite is a bundle of computers (all made by different people) the size of a minivan. Coordinating all these systems to work together, send info to Earth, and accept new commands is nightmarish. This week, we're joined by Jake, a software engineer at the German Space Operations Center (GSOC) to learn a little bit about spacecraft operations.
Follow along with Jake's slides
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Theme song provided by DJ Danarchy
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Expedition Packing List. Food: 200 lb / Sledge: 150 lb / Science Equipment: 50 lb / Bear Meat: 12,000 lb. Today, Quinn and Chris are joined by Joe Kassabian, host of the Lions Led By Donkeys podcast to talk about a Victorian aerospace disaster: S A Andrée's attempt to reach the North Pole by balloon.
Follow Joe here!
Support Failure To Launch on Patreon and unlock bonus content!
Sources:
- The Ice Balloon: S. A. Andrée and the Heroic Age of Arctic Exploration, Alec Wilkinson
Theme song provided by DJ Danarchy
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This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest, join our Patreon at any tier!
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This is an unlocked patreon bonus episode. If you want to hear more content like this, consider supporting FTL on Patreon.
This month, we're mixing things up and achieving a first for this show by reviewing an actually good space movie, Tarkovsky's 1972 classic Solaris, itself based off Stanislaw Lem's novel of the same name.
A big thanks to returning guest Nicholas Slayton for bringing his Tarkovsky expertise to the episode! And for informing us of all the crappy Solaris movies (1968 & 2002) we can inflict on you at a later date. -
If you were a cosmonaut and you knew you were about to die, why wouldn't you announce your last words in a comedy Italian accent? Quinn, Chris, and Other Chris are joined by Jake Rockatansky (@RealRockatansky) of the QAA podcast to talk about the Lost Cosmonaut conspiracy theory, how it has evolved over the decades, and the Italian brothers most responsible for inventing it.
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Sources:
Phantoms of Space, James Oberg
http://www.svengrahn.pp.se/trackind/Torre/TorreB.html
Related viewing: the dumb conspiracy short film I made everyone watch
Music by DJ Danarchy
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This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest, join our Patreon at any tier!
Big thanks to Kelly for coming on! Check out his stuff at:
https://linktr.ee/bornunderpunchs
https://patreon.com/bornunderpunchs -
The first Romanian in space never set out to be a cosmonaut. He just loved to fly. Today, we're talking about Dumitru Prunariu, his unlikely path to space, and how he ran afoul of Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu, Romania's dictator duo.
Support FTL through Patreon and unlock bonus content!
Sources:
Interkosmos: The Eastern Bloc's Early Space Program, Bert Vis & Colin Burgess
Music by DJ Danarchy
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The first man to walk on the Moon was nearly spun to death three years before Apollo 11. We're back and talking with space engineer Scott about Gemini 8, the first orbital docking between two spacecraft and how it went horribly wrong.
Support FTL through Patreon and unlock bonus content!
Sources:
- On the Shoulders of Titans: A History of Project Gemini
- Gemini 8: The First Docking in Space, Drew LePage
Music by DJ Danarchy
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This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest, join our Patreon at any tier: https://www.patreon.com/failuretolaunch
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This week, we're rejoined by journalist and friend of the show @NSlayton to talk about Soyuz T-15, probably the coolest space mission ever attempted.
Read Nicholas' work at Task & Purpose and on his Newsletter!
Support FTL through Patreon and unlock bonus content
Sources:
- Mir Hardware Heritage, NASA
- The Story of Space Station Mir, David M Harland
- The work of space radio tracker Sven Grahn
Music by DJ Danarchy
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This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest, join our Patreon at any tier: https://www.patreon.com/failuretolaunch
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In September 1980, a fuel leak in a Titan II missile silo came close to turning Damascus, Arkansas, into a crater. This week, we're joined by guest @War_Takes to talk about the atomic spud gun, the folks who fought to prevent it, and how they were punished for their efforts.
Support FTL through Patreon and unlock bonus episodes!
Sources:
- Titan II: A History of a Cold War Missile Program, David Stumpf
- Command and Control, Eric Schlosser
Music by DJ Danarchy
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In order to spy on American satellites and missile tests, the Soviets built the USS Mobile Chernobyl. We're back and joined by Joe and Tom from Lions Led By Donkeys (@lions_by) to talk about the SSV-33 Ural, the world's largest spy ship.
Support FTL through Patreon and unlock bonus content!
Theme song by DJ Danarchy
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This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest, join our patreon at any tier: https://www.patreon.com/failuretolaunch
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Cape Canaveral is in Florida. Vandenburg launch site is in California. Today, we're joined by meteorologist and former launch forecaster Tenki to talk about the unique problems both face and why lightning and rockets should never mix (see: Apollo 12).
If you want to watch this as a video with Tenki's slides and visuals, we will have it posted on Youtube shortly. Subscribe to the channel so you can be notified when it goes up!
Support FTL through Patreon and unlock bonus content!
Theme song by DJ Danarchy
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What if mankind's first contact with alien life was through the barrel of a WW1-era German handgun? We're unlocking our first bonus episode for you, the audience!
If you want more of this, consider signing up on Patreon!
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We're back and talking about a very dumb Moon Landing Hoax "documentary". Also a fun history primer on how the Moon Hoax conspiracy theory got off the ground evolved over the decades.
Support FTL through Patreon and unlock bonus content!
Read Paolo Attivisimo's Moon Hoax: Debunked!
Theme song by DJ Danarchy
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This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest, join our patreon at any tier: https://www.patreon.com/failuretolaunch
Somehow it escaped our brains till now that CODBLOPS has a mission where you shoot down Soyuz 2.
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History content starts at 19:25
In 1959, the CIA and Mexican DFS stole a Soviet lunar probe in possibly the dumbest heist in spying history. This week, we're joined by @postoctobrist to talk about the CIA Luna Heist.
Support FTL through Patreon and unlock bonus content!
Read space historian Drew LePage's articles on the first moon race!
Sources:
- MIT Technology Review Article on the Heist
- CIA Article on the Luna Heist
Theme song by DJ Danarchy
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