*CONTENT WARNING*

A rushed development process, a faulty design, and non-existent quality control. This week, we're joined by space industry engineer Kyle (Skyhawk) to talk about the leadup and events of the Apollo 1 disaster.

Sources:

- NASA Report on AS-204

- Chariots for Apollo, Courtney G. Brooks

- Apollo 1: The Tragedy That Put Us On The Moon, Ryan S. Walters

Theme song by DJ Danarchy

Did you know that Ballooning was once an Olympic sport? This week, we're rejoined by Nicholas Slayton (@nslayton) to talk about balloons, specifically all the people who died trying to conquer the Stratosphere.

Find Nicholas' work here and here!

Support FTL through Patreon and unlock bonus content!

Theme song by DJ Danarchy

Sources

This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest, join our patreon at any tier: https://www.patreon.com/failuretolaunch

Non-failure topic this week as Quinn, Chris, and Other Chris talk about Max Valier, the Austrian dude largely responsible for popularizing space research, creating the first professional rocket program, and riding rocket cars.

Support FTL through Patreon and unlock bonus content!

Sources

- Max Valier, A Pioneer of Space Travel - Ilse Essers

- The Rocket Men (Air Force Magazine)

Theme song by DJ Danarchy

*CONTENT WARNING*

This week, we're back with Taylor and Tanner of the Beyond the Breakers podcast for part 2 of our series on Soyuz 11.

Follow Beyond the Breakers here

Support FTL through Patreon and unlock new bonus content

Sources:

- Salyut - The First Space Station: Triumph and Tragedy, Grujica Ivanovich (2008)

- Rockets and People Volume 4: The Moon Race, Boris Chertok (2013)

Theme song by DJ Danarchy

The story of the world's first space station is complicated, tragic, and incredibly stupid. Today, we're joined by Tanner and Taylor from @beyond_breakers to talk about it.

Follow Beyond the Breakers here!

Support FTL through Patreon and unlock new bonus content!

Sources:

- Salyut - The First Space Station: Triumph and Tragedy, Grujica Ivanovich (2008)

- Rockets and People Volume 4: The Moon Race, Boris Chertok (2013)

- Mir Hardware Heritage, NASA (1995)

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

The French were the first to fly and it made them really weird about balloons. This episode, we're joined by journalist @NSlayton to talk all about the first balloons and aeronauts.

Find Nicholas' work here and here!

Support FTL through Patreon and unlock new bonus content!

Sources:

- The Aeronauts, Donald Dale Jackson

- The Early History of Ballooning, Fraser Simons

What if America got so scared they let a Greek elevator repairman turn off the sky? In this episode, Quinn, Chris, and Other Chris are joined by guest youtuber Phrosphor to talk all about Operation Argus, the Cold War plan to hide America under a radioactive death cloud.

Check out Phros' work here!

Support the show and unlock bonus content!

Sources:

Burning the sky: Operation Argus and the Untold Story of the Cold War Nuclear Tests in Outer Space. Mark Wolverton, 2018

Iron Sky was alarmingly close to being a documentary. This week, Quinn is joined by Joe and Tom, the hosts of Lions Led By Donkeys to talk about all the ways the Soviets tried to put weapons in space. It involves far more flamingos than you'd expect.

Sources:

- Energiya-Buran: The Soviet Space Shuttle, Bart Hendrickx

- RussianSpaceWeb.com, Anatoly Zak