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by Failure To Launch Podcast
This is a podcast about all the mistakes, failures, and explosions that made space exploration possible.
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- 4 days ago15 min
*PREVIEW* The USSA Mars Shot Project (Fallout)
This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest of the episode and unlock more bonus content, support Failure To Launch on Patreon at any tier.In the months before the Bombs Fell, the American space program was preparing for its greatest challenge yet: reaching the Red Planet. But the program wasn't as innocent as it seemed. This week, Scribe Quintus is taking Chris and Other Chris through the history of the USSA's Mars Shot Project and the XMB Booster developed by ArcJet Systems. A big thanks to Alex the OK, Nicholas Slayton, Angry Scooter, and Kelly of CIAS for contributing audiologs to this episode.FTL theme song by DJ Danarchy
- 1 weeks ago1h 22m
Flight of the Alberts [5th Anniversary Special]
Capsule: check. Monkey: check. Downers: check. To celebrate our 5th anniversary as a show, Quinn, Chris, and Other Chris are going back to the well to talk about our first ever topic: Project Albert. Or “that time the US Government launched a half dozen doped-up monkeys on captured Nazi V-2s”. Find our merch store hereSupport FTL on Patreon to unlock bonus content and join our Discord communitySOURCES:- Animals in Space, Colin Burgess and Chris Dubbs- Packing for Mars, Mary Roach- A Brief History of Animals in Space, NASAFTL theme song by DJ Danarchy
- 1 weeks ago1h 42m
Project 714 'Shuguang' (w. November Kelly)
In the summer of 1966, work at China’s top-secret space program ground to a halt as every worker spent every day putting up posters, making denunciations, and murdering each other. This week, Quinn, Chris, and Other Chris are joined by November Kelly to talk about Project 714, China’s secret crewed space program and the incredibly dumb reason it died. Check out November's work here (TF), and here (WTYP), and here (KJB), and here (BGDC), and here (NGNM)!Find our merch store hereSupport FTL on Patreon to unlock bonus content and join our Discord communitySOURCES:- Thread of the Silkworm, Iris Chang- China in Space, Brian Harvey- China’s Space Program, S. ChandrashekarFTL theme song by DJ Danarchy
- 3 weeks ago1h 33m
The Horrors of Early Space Food (w. Dr Kaveh Hoda)
The first space food was made by veterinarians instead of dieticians and was so bad that many astronauts chose to fast through their missions. And it could've been *so* much worse. This week, Quinn, Chris, and Other Chris are talking to Dr Kaveh Hoda, gastroenterologist and host of the House of Pod podcast about the wonderful, disgusting world of astronaut kibble. Check out Kaveh's work here!Tragically, Backstroke of the West appears to have been taken downFind our merch store hereSupport FTL on Patreon to unlock bonus content and join our Discord communitySOURCES:- Packing For Mars, Mary Roach- Conference on Nutrition in Space and Related Waste ProblemsFTL theme song by DJ Danarchy
- Aug 19, 202619 min
*PREVIEW* LDSS Nauvoo (The Expanse)
This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest of the episode and unlock more bonus content, support Failure To Launch on Patreon at any tier.Count the moons, duster! Today, Quinn (Belter), Chris (Martian), and Other Chris (Earther) are talking about the largest ship ever built by humans, the LDSS Nauvoo aka the OPAS Behemoth aka Medina Station. We cover its transformation from an ark for the faithful to a missile against the alien to a battleship for the Belt and to a crossroads between stars.
- Aug 12, 20261h 32m
Nuclear Rockets (w. Scooter)
While most of NASA was focused on the Apollo Moon Program, a separate division was hard at work building then deliberately blowing up nuclear rocket cores all over Nevada. This week, we’re talking to train and nuclear knower Scooter about the weird and convoluted story of American nuclear rockets. Support FTL on Patreon to unlock bonus content and join our Discord community!SOURCES:- Nuclear propulsion: A vital technology for the exploration of Mars and the planets beyond, NASA - The NERVA Nuclear Rocket Reactor Program, W H EsselmanFTL theme song by DJ Danarchy
- Jul 29, 20261h 8m
Soyuz-23: Ice Fishing for Cosmonauts (w. Matt Lowne)
A secret military space station, a rookie crew, a flaky autopilot, insufficient batteries, a freak winter storm, and a frozen lake. We’re joined by space and KSP youtuber Matt Lowne to talk about Soyuz-23, the only water touchdown of a Soviet spacecraft and how it very nearly killed its entire crew. Check out Matt’s videos here!Find our merch store hereSupport FTL on Patreon to unlock bonus content and join our Discord communitySOURCES:- Soyuz: A Universal Spacecraft, Rex Hall- Salyut-5: The Last Military Lab, Anatoly Zak- https://www.astronomy.com/space-exploration/soyuz-23-how-two-cosmonauts-almost-died-after-landing-back-on-earth/ FTL theme song by DJ Danarchy
- Jul 24, 202614 min
*PREVIEW* Tatsumaki Class (w. Tex Talks Battletech)
This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest of the episode and unlock more bonus content, support Failure To Launch on Patreon at any tier.In the wake of Operation:REVIVAL, House Kurita embarked on a crash WarShip development program to try and match the naval superiority of the Clans. Today, we are joined by Dr. Randolph P. Checkers, one of the Periphery’s finest historians, to discuss one product of this program, the ill-fated Tatsumaki Class destroyer.
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