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Astronaut and bestselling author Chris Hadfield joins me to discuss his new Cold War thriller Final Orbit and the real history behind it—UAPs, Operation Paperclip, and the exiled genius who built China’s rocket program. Along the way, we debate the moon landing hoax, the cost of the ISS, and why humans—not robots—must carry our story into the stars.

Key Takeaways:

00:00 Intro 

03:06 The Cold War and space exploration 

05:40 Conspiracy theories, UAPs, and whistleblowers

10:38 Checklists as a survival tool

16:06 Moon landing denial 

21:26 Judging a book by its cover 

26:38 Apollo-Soyuz collaboration 

30:59 The legacy of Wernehr von Braun

34:20 McCarthyism and the future of space exploration 

38:24 Chinese space program and rivalry 

44:19 Is it reckless to send humans to space? 

48:54 Outro

Additional resources: 

➡️ Follow Chris Hadfield:

✖️ Twitter: https://x.com/cmdr_hadfield?lang=en 
📚 Explore Chris Hadfield’s books: https://chrishadfield.ca/books/

➡️ My new book:

📖 Into the Impossible Volume 2: Focus Like a Nobel Prize Winner: Lessons from Laureates to Concentrate Your Creativity and Ignite Your Career: ⁠https://a.co/d/hi50U9U⁠ 

➡️ Follow me on your fav platforms:

✖️ Twitter:⁠ ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating⁠ 

🔔 YouTube:⁠ https://www.youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_confirmation=1⁠ 

📝 Join my mailing list:⁠ ⁠⁠https://briankeating.com/list⁠ 

✍️ Check out my blog:⁠ ⁠⁠https://briankeating.com/cosmic-musings/⁠ 

🎙️ Follow my podcast:⁠ ⁠⁠https://briankeating.com/podcast⁠ 

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Into the Impossible with Brian Keating is a podcast dedicated to all those who want to explore the universe within and beyond the known.

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