The Curiosity Well Podcast

We are officially lunar-bound! On this episode, we break down the exact, minute-by-minute timeline of Flight Day 2 of the historic Artemis II mission. After a busy first 24 hours, Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen fired the European Service Module's main engine to commit the Orion spacecraft to a lunar transit trajectory.From early morning orbital raise maneuvers to testing deep-space laser communications, we cover all the manual hardware tests, cabin environment adjustments, and mid-flight troubleshooting that took place on April 2nd, 2026. Join us as we track Orion's transition out of standard Earth orbit and into the hands of the Deep Space Network.

Artemis II Day-One Update: Liftoff, Orion Checkout, and the Upcoming Trans-Lunar Injection BurnThe episode recaps the Artemis II launch from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39B at 6:35 PM Eastern on April 1, describing SLS ignition with twin solid rocket boosters and four RS-25 engines producing 8.8 million pounds of thrust, Orion’s separation from the core stage, and successful deployment of four solar arrays. It explains Orion’s first major burn to raise apogee and outlines the crew’s early tasks, including a Proximity Operations Demonstration in which Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen manually flew Orion near the spent upper stage to practice future docking skills. The crew also reported a blinking fault light on the space toilet as Mission Control troubleshoots. The update previews the mission’s most critical maneuver ahead: the 20+ minute trans-lunar injection burn to place Orion on a trajectory toward the Moon.

Tomorrow marks a monumental shift in space exploration as NASA’s Artemis II mission launches from the Kennedy Space Center. For the first time in 54 years, humans are returning to the Moon. In this episode of the Curiosity Well, we break down the exact sequence of events for launch day, the engineering behind the Space Launch System (SLS), and the flight path of the Orion capsule. We cover the entire 10-day, 1.1 million-kilometer journey, detailing the high Earth orbit checkout, the deep space lunar flyby, and the high-speed re-entry into Earth's atmosphere.In This Episode, We Cover:The Launch Timeline: A step-by-step breakdown of the final hours, from pumping 2.7 million liters of cryogenic propellants at -253°C to the automated engine ignition.The Artemis II Crew: Profiles on Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen.The Flight Path: The mechanics of Orion’s free-return trajectory, which will take the crew 7,500 kilometers beyond the far side of the Moon to set a new distance record for human spaceflight.Re-entry Physics: An explanation of how the Orion heat shield handles re-entry speeds of 40,000 kilometers per hour and temperatures reaching 2,760°C.

Ever wondered why a holiday near a black hole might leave you younger than your friends at home? Let's explore "Interstellar Jetlag" (Time Dilation) and discover why everything you know about time is wrong. In this episode of The Curiosity Well Podcast, I take you on a mind-bending journey into the fabric of reality itself and talk about the speed of light and how it affects time.What I Explore:Einstein’s Metronome: How the constant speed of light fundamentally breaks our understanding of hours and seconds.The Spacetime Fabric: The cosmic trade-off between moving fast through space and moving slow through time.Everyday Relativity: Why GPS satellites and your Uber driver actively rely on time travel math to function.Void Mail Q&A: Plus, we answer a brilliant (and sweaty) listener question in our Void Mail segment: If moving faster slows down time, will running on a treadmill every day actually make you live longer?Join the Curiosity Well: Don't let spacetime pass you by! If you enjoyed getting interstellar jetlag with me, make sure to hit follow on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your audio to help satisfy the great and powerful algorithms. Have a question you're too embarrassed to ask a real physicist? Send it in for our next Void Mail!