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Failure To Launch
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Description
This is a podcast about all the mistakes, failures, and explosions that made space exploration possible.
46 Episodes
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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
*CONTENT WARNING*
A rushed development process, a faulty design, and non-existent quality control. This week, we're joined by space industry engineer Kyle (Skyhawk) to talk about the leadup and events of the Apollo 1 disaster.
Sources:
- NASA Report on AS-204
- Chariots for Apollo, Courtney G. Brooks
- Apollo 1: The Tragedy That Put Us On The Moon, Ryan S. Walters
Theme song by DJ Danarchy
Did you know that Ballooning was once an Olympic sport? This week, we're rejoined by Nicholas Slayton (@nslayton) to talk about balloons, specifically all the people who died trying to conquer the Stratosphere.
Find Nicholas' work here and here!
Support FTL through Patreon and unlock bonus content!
Theme song by DJ Danarchy
Sources
The Pre-Astronauts, Craig Ryan
Gaddafi article from the Independent
This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest, join our patreon at any tier: https://www.patreon.com/failuretolaunch
Non-failure topic this week as Quinn, Chris, and Other Chris talk about Max Valier, the Austrian dude largely responsible for popularizing space research, creating the first professional rocket program, and riding rocket cars.
Support FTL through Patreon and unlock bonus content!
Sources
- Max Valier, A Pioneer of Space Travel - Ilse Essers
- The Rocket Men (Air Force Magazine)
Theme song by DJ Danarchy
*CONTENT WARNING*
This week, we're back with Taylor and Tanner of the Beyond the Breakers podcast for part 2 of our series on Soyuz 11.
Follow Beyond the Breakers here
Support FTL through Patreon and unlock new bonus content
Sources:
- Salyut - The First Space Station: Triumph and Tragedy, Grujica Ivanovich (2008)
- Rockets and People Volume 4: The Moon Race, Boris Chertok (2013)
Theme song by DJ Danarchy
The story of the world's first space station is complicated, tragic, and incredibly stupid. Today, we're joined by Tanner and Taylor from @beyond_breakers to talk about it.
Follow Beyond the Breakers here!
Support FTL through Patreon and unlock new bonus content!
Sources:
- Salyut - The First Space Station: Triumph and Tragedy, Grujica Ivanovich (2008)
- Rockets and People Volume 4: The Moon Race, Boris Chertok (2013)
- Mir Hardware Heritage, NASA (1995)
Theme song by DJ Danarchy
This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest, join our patreon at any tier: https://www.patreon.com/failuretolaunch
The French were the first to fly and it made them really weird about balloons. This episode, we're joined by journalist @NSlayton to talk all about the first balloons and aeronauts.
Find Nicholas' work here and here!
Support FTL through Patreon and unlock new bonus content!
Sources:
- The Aeronauts, Donald Dale Jackson
- The Early History of Ballooning, Fraser Simons
What if America got so scared they let a Greek elevator repairman turn off the sky? In this episode, Quinn, Chris, and Other Chris are joined by guest youtuber Phrosphor to talk all about Operation Argus, the Cold War plan to hide America under a radioactive death cloud.
Check out Phros' work here!
Support the show and unlock bonus content!
Sources:
Burning the sky: Operation Argus and the Untold Story of the Cold War Nuclear Tests in Outer Space. Mark Wolverton, 2018
Iron Sky was alarmingly close to being a documentary. This week, Quinn is joined by Joe and Tom, the hosts of Lions Led By Donkeys to talk about all the ways the Soviets tried to put weapons in space. It involves far more flamingos than you'd expect.
Sources:
- Energiya-Buran: The Soviet Space Shuttle, Bart Hendrickx
- RussianSpaceWeb.com, Anatoly Zak
This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest, join our patreon at any tier: https://www.patreon.com/failuretolaunch
Turns out there were a lot of Soviet space teen movies. And some of them are even good.
Last time, we talked about the biggest rocket ever designed. This time, we're rejoined by guest Scott to talk about the lunatic who designed it, Bob Truax. Also making appearances in this story: Johnny Carson, Evel Knievel, Robert Goddard, and a tortilla baron.
Sources:
- Great Mambo Chicken and the Transhuman Condition, Ed Regis
We've also got a patreon! If you want to support FTL and unlock bonus episodes, follow the link below!https://www.patreon.com/failuretolaunch
The 60s was a time for scientists and engineers to ask the tough questions. Questions like: what if a rocket was so big it was a railroad? This episode, we're joined by friend of the show and rocket engineer Scott to talk about Sea Dragon, the largest rocket ever designed.
*This was our longest recording ever and ran into a couple of technical problems so please excuse some muddiness here and there that we couldn't edit around.
We've also got a patreon! If you want to support the show and unlock bonus episodes, follow the link below!https://www.patreon.com/failuretolaunch
This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest, join our patreon at any tier: https://www.patreon.com/posts/96333556?pr=true If you ever wanted to see a dude drill a venusian rabbit-lizard with a WW1-era handgun, we've got you covered.
Couldn't have happened to a worse guy (still didn't deserve to be airbrushed). Today Quinn, Chris, and Other Chris start off 2024 by talking about Grigory Nelyubov, the cosmonaut who fell from grace and got written out of history for being an arrogant prick.
We've also got a patreon! If you want to support the show and unlock a new bonus episode, follow the link below!
https://www.patreon.com/failuretolaunch
Sources:
- The First Soviet Cosmonaut Team, Colin Burgess
- The Cosmonauts Who Weren't There, James Oberg
A few days before Christmas in 1960, a pair of Soviet space dogs (Comet and Joke) were launched toward orbit to pave the way for Yuri Gagarin.
To every listener of FTL, thank you, have good holidays however you celebrate it, and you can expect a lot more fun (horrible) stories and guests in 2024.
In the early 60s, the Soviets convinced the world their space program worked flawlessly by only announcing successes and covering up all failures. This policy extended to the people who worked for them.
In this short series, we'll be looking at all the cosmonauts who were written out of history, starting with the first cosmonaut to ever die in the line of duty: Valentin Bondarenko.
Sources
- The First Soviet Cosmonaut Team, Colin Burgess
- The Cosmonauts Who Weren't There, James Oberg
In late 1944, the Polish Home Army undertook one of the coolest resistance missions in WW2: stealing an entire V2 rocket and smuggling it to the UK. This episode, we're joined by @RedeyeReviewer to talk about a story that really deserves to be an action flick.
Check out Redeye's channel!
Sources:
The Polish Underground, 1939-1947
Animals in Space
From space engineer to arms dealer to the pawn of a dictator. This episode, Quinn, Chris, and Other Chris talk to documentary maker BobbyBroccoli about the story of Gerald Bull, the most infamous figure in Canadian space history.
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