Failure To Launch

In this episode, we take a look into the idea of delivering mail by rocket. It's a story of colonialism, Nazis, scammers, stamp collectors, and possibly the dumbest/coolest conman of all time. 

Most people know about Laika the space dog or ham the astrochimp. What most people don't know about are the cyberpunk animals of the French Space Program. This episode, we explore CERMA, the Hammaguir launch site, and the various endangered animals France launched into space.

The Soviets came up with some truly innovative ways to protect their cosmonauts and space stations. This episode, we dig through a layer of Cold War secrecy and cover-ups to bring you the history of space guns. From cosmonaut Alexei Leonov taking on a wolfpack with a 1.5lb handgun to the Space Shuttle kicking off a wave of stupid Soviet space weapons.

Part 2 of our 2 part series. In 1978, a Soviet spy satellite carrying weapons-grade uranium slammed into Canada's Northwest Territories. This episode, we talk about the scientists, soldiers, and psychics who signed on with Operation Morning Light to clean up the mess and why they failed.

This series, we are doing a deep dive on Cosmos 954, the Soviet spy satellite carrying a nuclear reactor that deorbited and crashed into Canada's Northwest Territories. In Part 1, we focus on the satellite itself, how it failed, and how a little-known American government agency stepped up to tackle a nuclear disaster. Topics covered include:

This episode, we take a look at the history of Sputnik 2 as well as the the Soviet answer to Project Albert: the Canine Cosmonaut program.

This episode, we finish our three-part series on Sputnik 1 and the people, politics, and egos that launched the Space Race. Topics covered include:

In this episode, we continue our investigation into Sputnik 1, its troubled development, and the politics that went into world's first satellite. Topics covered include:

Back from an extended hiatus, we take a look at the cult that developed around Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space. Topics covered include:

Between super-heavy lifters, centrifuges throwing shells into space, or hypersonic warheads, this is a time of Sputnik Moments - moments in history that represent a great leap in science. But what about the first Sputnik Moment? What about the satellite that was so influential that it set the bar for every scientific breakthrough since and kicked off the greatest (peaceful) competition in human history? In this set of episodes, Quinn, Chris, and Other-Chris will take a deep dive into the horrible reasons that made Sputnik happen, the development of objectively the worst satellite ever made, and the way a small chrome ball turned the geopolitical world on its head.