The Lab With Brad

The Challenger’s last flight

In January of 1986, the space shuttle Challenger came apart 73 seconds after launch. We take a look at what happened and why.

Here’s a sight on the first glide test of the Enterprise.

First free-flight test of space shuttle Enterprise

Here’s a video about the shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA.

Shuttle Carrier Aircraft

Here’s another video about the SCA.

HOW the 747 carried a SPACE SHUTTLE

And yet another video, with more of the same.

Inside Tour of a Space Shuttle & Shuttle Carrier Aircraft

Here’s a sight about the mockup of the space shuttle used to test moving an orbiter about—the space shuttle Pathfinder.

Space Shuttle Pathfinder

And here’s live video of the Challenger disaster.

Challenger Disaster Live on CNN

The space shuttle

With 135 missions over a 30 year period, the STS was enormously successful. It will take another episode or two to cover, but we start with an overview of NASA’s space shuttle program.

Here’s a video on how the space shuttle was launched.

How did the Space Shuttle launch work?

Here’s a longish video on how the space shuttle orbiter worked.

How did the Orbiter Vehicle work?

Here’s a video celebrating the 40 year anniversary of the space shuttle.

Space Shuttle’s 40th Anniversary

Skylab has fallen

We spend time talking about America’s first space station, a strike in space that didn’t happen, the first joint US USSR mission, and how and why Skylab fell.

Here’s a NASA site about Skylab.

Skylab - America's First Space Station

Here’s a sight about the strike in space that didn’t happen.

The Real Story of the Skylab 4 “Strike” in Space

And here’s a video on the first joint US USSR space mission.

The Flight of Apollo-Soyuz: 40th Anniversary

Our four year anniversary!

After four years of doing the show, we’re still doing the show! In celebration we talk about the show, how it started, how Phil joined as cohost, nuclear fusion, quantum tunneling, planetary probes, and a lightspeed camera.

Here’s a video about how quantum tunneling helps keep our sun shining.

The Sun can’t work without Quantum Tunneling

Here’s a video about the super highspeed camera, used to film the speed of light.

Filming the Speed of Light at 10 Trillion FPS

And here’s a video on how the super highspeed camera does what it does.

How do you film the Speed of Light?

A space station in Parel, and cannons in orbit

America’s Skylab space station was badly damaged during its launch. Meanwhile the USSR launch several space stations, some of which worked better than others.

Here’s a page with a nice overview of the Skylab program.

Skylab Paved Way for International Space Station

Here’s a site about Russia’s first space stations.

Russia's early space stations

Here’s a bit about the MOL program—space stations that never had anyone in them.

NASA Benefits from MOL Cancellation

Here’s a bit about the only cannon ever fired in space, and how that test relates to international law.

The Almaz military space station and outer space military laws

Here’s another page about Skylab.

Skylab - America's First Space Station

And here’s a site, with all the numbers, on how hot and cold a metal plate in low Earth orbit will get.

Estimating the Temperature of a Flat Plate in Low Earth Orbit

Wrapping up the moon

We cover the Apollo 15 through 17 missions. That includes the lunar rover vehicle, moonquakes, the incredible shrinking moon, and a colorful surprise.

Here’s an article about the 2005 study that discovered that the moon is seismically active.

NASA - Moonquakes

Here’s an article that explores a possible source of some of the moon’s quakes, namely, because the moon is shrinking.

Shrinking Moon May Be Generating Moonquakes

Here’s footage from Apollo 15, as they deployed the lunar roving vehicle.

NASA History | Apollo 15: Lunar Rover Deployment

Here’s some footage of the lunar rover in action.

Apollo 16 - LRV "Grand Prix"

Here’s the hammer and feather drop—a quick test of one of Galileo’s notions.

Apollo 15 Hammer-Feather Drop

And here’s some footage recorded when the astronauts ran across some bright orange soil on the moon.

APOLLO 17 Orange Soil

Apollo FORE-teen

Apollo fourteen was a mission that went almost entirely according to plan. It included the moon trees, and the only person to play golf on the moon’s surface so far.

Here’s NASA’s page on the Apollo 14 mission.

Apollo 14

Here’s an article about the moon trees.

Moon Trees Stand as Living Testaments to First Voyages to Moon

Here’s an article about the Apollo 11 quarantine.

Apollo 11 Astronauts Spent 3 Weeks in Quarantine, Just in Case of Moon Plague

Here’s a lengthy thing that explains more than you ever wanted to know about the Apollo program’s quarantine and decontamination procedures.

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Here’s an article about golf on the moon.

Alan Shepard smacked golf balls on the Moon — and now we know where they landed

And here’s a clip of an astronaut as he played a little golf.

Alan Shepard Hits A Golf Ball on the Moon

Apollo 13 and its problems

The Apollo 13 mission never landed on the moon; they only swung around it. They had a little problem when part of their spacecraft decided to explode. We also salute Michael Collins, Astronaut for the Gemini and Apollo programs, who died last week at the age of 90.

Here’s to you,

We never knew you

but as I’m still a kid,

I sure wish we did.

Only one link this time, a NASA page on the Apollo 13 mission.

Apollo 13

The 300

In celebration of our 300th episode, we do a nice relaxed mostly unstructured episode. We talk about space, and robots, and movies for some reason.

Apollo 12, and the lab has a problem

We talk about the “Lunar Surveyor” program, and Apollo 12. For our second mission to the moon, almost everything went perfectly. Which is much more than I can say about Monday.

Here’s a site that explains the nor gate, which we failed to do on Monday.

Logic NOR Gate Tutorial with Logic NOR Gate Truth Table

Here’s a site with more information about the “Lunar Surveyor” program.

The Surveyor Program

And here’s a NASA site about the Apollo 12 mission.

Apollo 12