Failure To Launch

Failure To Launch

By Failure To Launch PodcastLeisureAviation
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Failure To Launch episodes

  • FTL Short: Russia's Uranus Battalion

    In a bid to find more soldiers to send to Ukraine, Russia has found an interesting new recruitment pool: rocket scientists. In this experimental short, Quinn talks briefly about Roscosmos' new Uran Battalion and the 60 year old men being offered the chance to die in the trenches.


    Not really sure what these shorts will turn into, if they continue. Bonus content, emergency filler episodes. But if you have opinions, let us know.


    Sources:

    https://www.ft.com/content/c194cb2d-3aa0-4195-9be5-e78c1d2fd183

    14 min
  • The Rocket Scientist Gang War w. Tom O’Mahony

    As the Cultural Revolution threw China into chaos, no institution was immune, not even their highly-secretive rocket program. In this episode we talk to Tom O'Mahony, host of the 33rd County and Beneath The Skin podcasts, about how China's rocket scientists spent the late 60s brawling in the streets and assassinating each other over office politics.


    Check out our guest, Tom (@gotitatguineys)

    • Host of 33rd County and Beneath The Skin
    • Producer of What a Hell of a Way to Die and Lions Led By Donkeys

    • Sources

      • Making Breakthroughs in the Turbulent Decade, Chengzhi Li
      • Thread of the Silkworm, Iris Chang
      • China in Space, Brian Harvey
      • 1 hr 16 min
      • The First Moon Race w. Andrew LePage

        The first Moon Race wasn't to land people. It wasn't even to land. In the late 1950s, the Soviets and Americans raced to see who could be the first to slam satellites into the Moon at Mach 10. In this episode, Quinn, Chris, and Other Chris interview space historian Andrew LePage on his work, his blog, and the probes that paved the way for Apollo.


        Go check out Drew's website! Also, a big thanks to Drew for coming on the show.


        Show Notes

        • https://www.drewexmachina.com/2015/09/27/nasas-forgotten-lunar-program/
        • https://www.drewexmachina.com/2018/11/08/the-first-race-to-the-moon-getting-off-the-ground/
        • https://www.drewexmachina.com/2019/09/14/the-first-race-to-the-moon-reaching-our-neighbor/
        • https://www.drewexmachina.com/2019/10/04/luna-3-shedding-light-on-the-dark-side-of-the-moon/
        • 1 hr 49 min
        • Part 2: Soyuz 1 & Vladimir Komarov

          Quinn, Chris, and Other Chris finish up their coverage of Soyuz 1 and Vladimir Komarov, the first man to die during a space mission. We also talk about the hundreds of dumb conspiracy theories that popped up around Soyuz 1, how they got started, and how they succeeded in replacing the truth.


          Sources

          • Soyuz 1: The Death of Vladimir Komarov by Asif Siddiqi
          • https://www.drewexmachina.com/2017/04/26/soyuz-1-tragedy/
          • https://www.russianspaceweb.com/soyuz1.html
          • http://www.svengrahn.pp.se/histind/Soyuz1Land/Soyanaly.htm#Asif2
          • https://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2011/05/02/134735091/questions-questions-questions-more-on-a-cosmonauts-mysterious-death
          • 1 hr 11 min
          • Part 1: Soyuz 1 & Vladimir Komarov

            The cosmonaut who cursed the Soviet Union as he burned alive. The friend who died to protect Yuri Gagarin. The lump of carbon in an open casket. There are a lot of stories out there about Vladimir Komarov and Soyuz 1, and most of them are lies. In this episode, Quinn, Chris, and Other Chris go over what really happened to the first man to die during a spaceflight.


            Show Notes:

            • Soyuz 1: The Death of Vladimir Komarov by Asif Siddiqi
            • http://www.svengrahn.pp.se/histind/Soyuz1Land/SoyAtti.htm
            • https://www.russianspaceweb.com/soyuz1.html
            • https://www.drewexmachina.com/2017/04/26/soyuz-1-tragedy/
            • 1 hr 3 min
            • Space Hygiene

              This episode, Quinn, Chris, and Other Chris talk about the history of Space Hygiene and the worst space mission that everyone survived. Topics covered include:

              • The Soviet and American test subjects who didn't bathe for science
              • The Gemini 7 astronauts who stewed in their spacesuits for two weeks
              • The Salyut cosmonauts who almost drowned using the first space shower

              • Sources:

                1. Packing For Mars, Mary Roach
                2. https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/mission_trans/gemini7.htm

                  1. 46 min
                  2. BION: How PETA Killed A Space Program

                    This episode we cover the history of the longest-running cooperation in space history, BION, as well as the endangered species it launched into space and the people who chained themselves to a door to shut it down.


                    Sources:
                    Animals in Space, Chris Dubbs & Colin Burgess
                    NASA
                    Institute for Biomedical Problems / Roscosmos

                    57 min
                  3. Part 2: Vanguard - America's Failed Answer to Sputnik

                    The Navy tries to launch a grapefruit into orbit, an Army general LARPs as a Bond villain, and America's first satellite launch comes down to the dumbest photo-finish in space history. Part 2/2 of our series on Project Vanguard, the US Navy's flawed satellite launch program.


                    Sources:
                    Red Moon Rising, Matthew Brzezinski
                    Vanguard: A History, NASA

                    51 min
                  4. The History of Space Toilets

                    The story of probably the funniest and worst field in space science. We cover the history of space toilets from the Gemini "Defecation Glove" to the Shuttle Toilet-Blender.


                    Show Notes
                    - Packing For Mars, Mary Roach
                    - How Do You Go To The Bathroom In Space, William R. Pogue

                    57 min
                  5. Part 1: Vanguard - America's Failed Answer to Sputnik

                    Project Vanguard, the US Navy's plan to put a satellite in orbit, isn't one of those space stories that's well-remembered and with good reason - it was a historic failure and a national embarrassment. Needless to say, we were interested. In this episode, America tries to beat the Soviets to orbit with three (3) competing space programs, Navy engineers discover possibly the most dangerous chemicals on the planet, and an unfinished, untested, underfunded, and mismanaged rocket is forced to perform "the wettest dry run in history".


                    P.S. Thank you to Sarah from the It Came From The Sea podcast for the intro (the annoyed tone is intentional and hopefully not directed at us)

                    Sources:
                    Red Moon Rising, Matthew Brzezinski
                    Ignition, John D. Clark
                    Vanguard: A History, NASA

                    1 hr 26 min

                  About Failure To Launch

                  From the publisher's feed

                  This is a podcast about all the mistakes, failures, and explosions that made space exploration possible.

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