Failure To Launch

The first Romanian in space never set out to be a cosmonaut. He just loved to fly. Today, we're talking about Dumitru Prunariu, his unlikely path to space, and how he ran afoul of Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu, Romania's dictator duo.

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Sources:

Music by DJ Danarchy

The first man to walk on the Moon was nearly spun to death three years before Apollo 11. We're back and talking with space engineer Scott about Gemini 8, the first orbital docking between two spacecraft and how it went horribly wrong.

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Sources:

- On the Shoulders of Titans: A History of Project Gemini

- Gemini 8: The First Docking in Space, Drew LePage

Music 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

What if the Bioshock Big Daddy suit were actually ideal for moonwalks? In the 1940s, the British Interplanetary Society (BIS) came up with a spacesuit that is both infamous and oddly prescient of spacesuit design. We brought on spacesuit knower JL (@WhaleOil2) to talk about this strange garment.

Follow JL's art and designs here!

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Music by DJ Danarchy

This week, we're rejoined by journalist and friend of the show @NSlayton to talk about Soyuz T-15, probably the coolest space mission ever attempted.

Read Nicholas' work at Task & Purpose and on his Newsletter!

Support FTL through Patreon and unlock bonus content

Sources:

- Mir Hardware Heritage, NASA

- The Story of Space Station Mir, David M Harland

- The work of space radio tracker Sven Grahn

Music 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

In September 1980, a fuel leak in a Titan II missile silo came close to turning Damascus, Arkansas, into a crater. This week, we're joined by guest @War_Takes to talk about the atomic spud gun, the folks who fought to prevent it, and how they were punished for their efforts.

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Sources:

- Titan II: A History of a Cold War Missile Program, David Stumpf

- Command and Control, Eric Schlosser

Music by DJ Danarchy

In order to spy on American satellites and missile tests, the Soviets built the USS Mobile Chernobyl. We're back and joined by Joe and Tom from Lions Led By Donkeys (@lions_by) to talk about the SSV-33 Ural, the world's largest spy ship.

Support FTL through Patreon and unlock bonus content!

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

Cape Canaveral is in Florida. Vandenburg launch site is in California. Today, we're joined by meteorologist and former launch forecaster Tenki to talk about the unique problems both face and why lightning and rockets should never mix (see: Apollo 12).

If you want to watch this as a video with Tenki's slides and visuals, we will have it posted on Youtube shortly. Subscribe to the channel so you can be notified when it goes up!

Support FTL through Patreon and unlock bonus content!

Theme song by DJ Danarchy