The Orbital Mechanics Podcast

Spaceflight News— The most amazing little rocket that will have ever built (spacenews.com) (aas.org) (aas.org) (aas.org) (PDF: hou.usra.edu)Short & Sweet— Starbase Update (nasaspaceflight.com)— Thales Alenia to build an airlock (europeanspaceflight.com)Vast reschedules Haven-1 (spacenews.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: ThrustMe pushes into US market (spacenews.com) (thrustme.fr)— Unc’ Willy: Frustums, and NGLR (discord.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 11 Feb, 2000: Shuttle Radar Topography Mission launched on STS-99 (en.wikipedia.org) (airandspace.si.edu VIA web.archive.org) (PDF: agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com)— Next week (2/18 - 2/24) in 1996: Goes where it says on the tin.

Spaceflight News— Blue Ghost M1 (americaspace.com) (nasaspaceflight.com) (fireflyspace.com) (gsfc.nasa.gov) (baas.aas.org) (hou.usra.edu) Short & Sweet— Starliner investigation nears completion (spacenews.com)— AstroForge announces first target (space.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: IRNSS-1K launch failure (thehindu.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— Feb. 6, 1995: STS-63 approaches within 11 meters of Mir (en.wikipedia.org) (PDF: nasa.gov) (thespaceabove.us)— Next week (2/11 - 2/17) in 2000: Tail-first and burning fast

Spaceflight News— NICER repair on EVA 91 (nasaspaceflight.com) (svs.gsfc.nasa.gov) (science.nasa.gov) (svs.gsfc.nasa.gov) (heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov)Short & Sweet— ESA to vote on future of Space Rider spacecraft (europeanspaceflight.com)— China hops higher, maybe (spacenews.com) (bilibili.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: New Shepard’s lunar gravity mission (spacenews.com)— Hydraq via email: CH4 hydrodynamics in StarshipThis Week in Spaceflight History— 3 Feb, 1994: The launch of STS-60 (americaspace.com) (americaspace.com) (PDF: nasa.gov) (nss.org)Next week (2/4 - 2/10) in 1995: Hey, it’s me again. I’m outside.

Spaceflight News— Starship FT-7 (nasaspaceflight.com) (spacenews.com) (bsky.app/profile/derekdotspace.bsky.social) (space.com) (spacenews.com)Short & Sweet— ISRO successfully docks in space (spacenews.com)— RFA granted license for vertical launch from UK (europeanspaceflight.com) Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: New Glenn First Flight (nasaspaceflight.com) (americaspace.com) (americaspace.com) (spacenews.com) (spacenews.com) (spacenews.com)— DarthMooMoo: Varda launched on F9, not Electron (discord.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 22 Jan 1997: Space debris hits a person for the first and only time on record. (HT SciKyle: en.wikipedia.org) (PDF: deepblue.lib.umich.edu) (PDF: apps.dtic.mil) (foxnews.com)— Next week (1/28 - 2/3) in 1994: Call before you come over

Thanks to Dennis O for naming this week’s episode!Spaceflight News— Mars Sample Return redesign (spaceflightnow.com) (spacenews.com)Short & Sweet— China tests mission extension tech on-orbit (spacenews.com)— X-37B’s latest mission passes one-year in space (space.com)— Pale Blue Propulsion (spacenews.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: Eaton/Pallisades fire relief for JPL workers (spacenews.com) (americaspace.com) (securelb.imodules.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— Jan. 17, 2005: US-China Orbital Debris Event (space.com) (PPT: celestrak.org) (spaceref.com) (PDF: orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov)— Next week (1/21 - 1/27) in 1997: A tap on the shoulder

Spaceflight News— Starship TF-7 (spacenews.com) (ringwatchers.com) (spacex.com) (twitter.com)Short & Sweet— India launches space docking demo mission (nasaspaceflight.com) (space.com) (en.wikipedia.org) (isro.gov.in)— Launches gaining frequency (spacenews.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 10 Jan, 1968: Surveyor 7 lands on the moon (nasa.gov) (ntrs.nasa.gov) (ntrs.nasa.gov)— Next week (1/14 - 1/20) in 2005: Was that the Aurora Australis?

Spaceflight News— K2 Space wins contract (spaceinsider.tech) (spacenews.com) (addtheegg.com)Short & Sweet— Contracts awarded for NASA’s Near Space Network (spacenews.com)— Record breaking spacewalk set by Shenzhou-19 crew (spacenews.com)— Crew-10 delayed (spacenews.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 2 Jan, 1959. Launch of Luna 1, first spacecraft to reach the Moon (en.wikipedia.org) (smithsonianmag.com) (mentallandscape.com) (smithsonianmag.com)— Next week (1/7 - 1/13) in 1968: Highlander - there can be only one (of seven)

Spaceflight News— Orion’s heat shield (americaspace.com) (nasa.gov)Short & Sweet— Tests of Russian Orbital Station core module announced (interfax.com)— Ingenuity’s Crash Investigation (spacenews.com) (youtube.com) (youtube.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— Joel Rogers via email: Young and Crippen didn’t fly on Enterprise.This Week in Spaceflight History— December 17, 2012: Grasshopper makes its first real hop (spacenews.com) (en.wikipedia.org)— Next week (1/1 - 1/6) in 1959: To the moon! Uh... to the Sun!

Spaceflight News— Swirl-dominated chambers (payloadspace.com) (https://www.sierraspace.com) (Pic, from researchgate.net) (PDF: nasa.gov)Short & Sweet— So long Sutherland Spaceport (satellitetoday.com)Further delays to Artemis program announced (spacenews.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 12 Dec, 1970. Launch of Uhuru (nasa.gov) (PDF: jhuapl.edu)— Next week (12/17 - 12/23) in 2012: Ride ‘em, cowboy

Spaceflight News— Epsilon can’t stop exploding (space.com) (youtu.be) (PDF: jaxa.jp)— A Dragonfly on a Falcon Heavy (satellitetoday.com)Short & Sweet— Old spaceport, newish rocket (europeanspaceflight.com)— New rocket, new spaceport (spacenews.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: New Glenn on the pad (space.com) (blueorigin.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 3 Dec, 2003: Shuttle Training Aircraft loses part of an engine (iasa.com.au VIA web.archive.org) (en.wikipedia.org) (simpleflying.com)— Next week (12/10 - 12/16) in 1970: Equatorial eyes

Spaceflight News— Global grasshoppers — Russia’s hopper (arstechnica.com) — EU’s hopper (europeanspaceflight.com)Short & Sweet— Omani spaceport looks to launch next month (www.thenationalnews.com)— China tests inflatable spacecraft on orbit (news.cgtn.com) (space.com) (spacenews.com)— Starship Test Flight Six (nasaspaceflight.com) (spacenews.com) Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: Progress contamination (russianspaceweb.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— November 28, 1983: Launch of STS-9, Columbia (en.wikipedia.org) (PDF: nasa.gov) (nasa.gov)  (americaspace.com)— Next week (12/3 - 12/9) in 2003: You’ve heard of the space banana, but what about the Banana River dunk?

Spaceflight News— Zvezda leak disagreement (spacenews.com) (spacenews.com) (arstechnica.com)Short & Sweet— NGR is in the building! (spacenews.com)— Bye bye ABL (from launch anyway) (arstechnica.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— 24 Nov, 1970. Launch of Kosmos 379 (astronautix.com) (russianspaceweb.com) (russianspaceweb.com) — Next week (11/26 - 12/2) in 1983: And then there were six

Spaceflight News— CRS-2 extended (spacenews.com) (sam.gov)Short & Sweet— Gilmour ups and Bowen downs (spacenews.com) (spacenews.com)— LignoSat to be deployed from ISS (popsci.com) (nanosats.eu)— Long March 9: Starship (arstechnica)Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: LEO safety study (PDF: ntrs.nasa.gov)This Week in Spaceflight History— 12 Nov, 1981: The launch of STS-2 (en.wikipedia.org) (nasa.gov) (historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov)— Next week (11/19 - 11/25) in 1970: LELO: Low-Earth “Lunar” Orbit

Spaceflight News— Shenzhou-19 reaches Tiangong (spaceflightnow.com)— Mirror platform for Tiangong (news.cgtn.com) (youtube.com)— Low-cost Tiangong cargo S/C (spacenews.com)— “Kinetica-2 [selected] as top launcher choice” (twitter.com/cas_space)— Crewed moon rover (spacenews.com) (twitter.com/YuqiiQian)Short & Sweet— Artemis heat shield chunks (spacenews.com)— Liquid water on Mars (nature.com VIA nasaspaceflight.com) (news.berkeley.edu)— California startup develops ABEP system (spacenews.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— November 8, 2004: First launch of a Soyuz 2 carrier rocket (en.wikipedia.org) (v2rockethistory.com)— Next week (11/12 - 11/18) in 1981: 40% of the mission, 90% of the objectives.

Spaceflight News— Starship Flight 5 Review “Leaked” (spacenews.com) (twitter.com/elonmusk) (spacenews.com) (HT DennisO: x.com/StarshipGazer)Short & Sweet— Crew-8 post-landing medical issue (spacenews.com) (spacenews.com) (blogs.nasa.gov)— Companies to bring commercial launch to Ireland (europeanspaceflight.com)— ACS-3’s a little crooked (space.com) (blogs.nasa.gov)— Mars Sample Revision (spacenews.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: Aerojet 260 solid rocket test (en.wikipedia.org)This Week in Spaceflight History— 3 Nov, 1994. Launch of STS-66 (en.wikipedia.org) (PDF: nasa.gov) (nss.org) (youtu.be)— Next week (11/5 - 11/11) in 2004: A blind bowling ball

Thanks to Dennis O for naming this week’s episode!Spaceflight News— Intelsat 33e loses power and blows up (spacenews.com) (x.com/S4S_SDA) (reddit.com)Short & Sweet— Sirius Space hot fire (europeanspaceflight.com)— A Firefly to launch a Jackal (satellitetoday.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— Ross Peterson: Super Heavy’s reentry heating— Taylor S Marks: ISS graveyard orbit (discord.com)This Week in Spaceflight History—  27 Oct, 1992. Launch of the Znamya 2 solar power antenna (en.wikipedia.org) (thespacereview.com) (qsl.net) (skypub.com VIA web.archive.org)— Next week (10/29 - 11/4) in 1994: holding the weight of LEO on your shoulders

Spaceflight News— Worries about ISS making a splash (spacenews.com) (PDF: nasa.gov) (spacenews.com) (space.com)Short & Sweet— X-37B to perform aerobraking maneuver (defenseone.com)— Rocket Lab wins Mars Sample Return concept award (spacenews.com)— Vast unveils details on Haven-1 (payloadspace.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections— From the intro: Starship Flight Test 5 (youtu.be) (nasaspaceflight.com)This Week in Spaceflight History— October 17, 1974: Founding of OTRAG (en.wikipedia.org) (youtube.com) (youtube.com) (bernd-leitenberger.de)— Next week (10/22 - 10/28) in 1992: To shreds, you say!

Spaceflight News-- Vulcan anomaly (spacenews.com) (youtube.com) (spaceflightnow.com) (spacenews.com) (twitter.com/dwisecinema) (spacenews.com)Short & Sweet-- Voyager 2 turns off science instrument (inverse.com)-- Super bright Qianfan satellites (spacenews.com)-- NASA reduces rate of ISS leak (spacenews.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections-- Unc’ Willy: Crossfield’s employer (discord.com)This Week in Spaceflight History-- 8 Oct, 2012: The launch of CRS-1 (en.wikipedia.org) (nasaspaceflight.com)-- Next week (10/15 - 10/21) in 1974: The original SpaceX

Spaceflight News-- VIPER opinions (spacenews.com) (sam.gov) Short & Sweet-- Chinese lunar spacesuit revealed (cgtn.com) (space.com)-- Upper stage anomaly grounds Falcon 9 (space.com) (spacenews.com)-- MaiaSpace moves in (spacenews)This Week in Spaceflight History-- 2 Oct, 1921. Birth of Scott Crossfield (en.wikipedia.org) (PDF: govinfo.gov) (magazine.washington.edu)-- Next week (10/8 - 10/14) in 2012: A boxy box delivery

Spaceflight News-- ISRO rising (spacenews.com)Short & Sweet-- Iran successfully launches research satellite (almayadeen.net)-- Ariane 6 software fix (spacenews.com)-- Yutu 2 turns six (space.com)Questions, Comments, Corrections-- From the intro: Sirius Space will launch from Australia (europeanspaceflight.com)This Week in Spaceflight History-- Launch of Shenzhou 7 (神舟七号) (en.wikipedia.org) (PDF: nescacademy.nasa.gov) (youtube.com) (youtube.com)-- Next week (10/1 - 10/7) in 1921: Flying with Michael Burnham