The Orbital Mechanics Podcast

Spaceflight News — The Riskiest Period of ISS’ Existence (spacenews.com) — Enginefest — Latitude (europeanspaceflight.com) — Pangea Aerospace (europeanspaceflight.com) — Venus Aerospace (prnewswire.com) Short & Sweet — Building destroyed in explosion at Northrop Grumman test site (space.com) — Seat barter agreement extended through 2027 (spacenews.com) Questions, Comments, Corrections — Unc’ Willy: “First flight” is a better term (discord.com) This Week in Spaceflight History — April 24, 1970: Launch of Dong Fang Hong (astronautix.com) (en.wikipedia.org) — Next week (4/29 - 5/5) in 1979: Heading out for a three-month stay

Spaceflight News — Confirming Isaacman (spacenews.com) (law.cornell.edu) (aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org) — One of the Lunar Terrain Vehicles unveiled (lunaroutpost.com) Short & Sweet — New addition to DSN (space.com) — DOD hires Astroscale (satellitetoday.com) Questions, Comments, Corrections — From the intro: Jonathan McDowell retiring (archive.ph) This Week in Spaceflight History — 18 Apr, 2001. Maiden flight of GSLV Mk. I (a.k.a GSLV-D1) (isro.gov.in) (astronautix.com) (PDF: sci-hub.se) (planet4589.org) — Next week (4/22 - 4/28) in 1970: Is the national anthem really 20 days long?

Spaceflight News — Two more PAMs (spacenews.com) (sam.gov) Short & Sweet — Fram2 launches and lands (arstechnica.com) (space.com) — SpinLaunch turns to broadband (spacenews.com) Questions, Comments, Corrections — From the intro: Starliner shakeup (spaceflightnow.com) — From Espen Urkedal: FTS vs VTS This Week in Spaceflight History — April 10, 1979: Launch (and early return) of Soyuz 33 (en.wikipedia.org) (blazingbulgaria.wordpress) — Next week (4/15 - 4/21) in 2001: Stumbling 58 minutes short of the finish orbit

Spaceflight News — Security Space (arstechnica.com) (spacenews.com) Interview -- Joseph Marlin, Deputy Chief Engineer, Blue Ghost Lunar Program — linkedin.com/in/josephmarlin — fireflyspace.com This Week in Spaceflight History — Apr 4, 1983. Launch of STS-6 (americaspace.com) — Next week (4/8 - 4/14) in 1979: Stumbling a mile before the finish line

Spaceflight News — Still sticking with Starliner (spacenews.com) (aviationweek.com) (spacenews.com) Short & Sweet — Starlab starts new phase (space.com) Questions, Comments, Corrections — Blaise via email: SRTM gravity gradients This Week in Spaceflight History — March 31, 1972: Launch of Kosmos 482 (en.wikipedia.org) (spacereview.com) (leonarddavid.com) — Next week (4/1 - 4/7) in 1983: Orbital structural test article

Spaceflight News — China’s Mars Sample Return open to International Cooperation (cgtn.com) (spacenews.com) Short & Sweet — Several Russian sats on the move (sattrackcam.blogspot.com) (defence-blog.com) — X-37B lands after record-breaking mission (arstechnica.com) Questions, Comments, Corrections — From the intro: leaked starship photos: (HT The Orbital Index: reddit.com) (HT The Orbital Index: reddit.com) This Week in Spaceflight History — 18 Mar, 1980. Plesetsk launch pad disaster (plesetzk.ru) (russianspaceweb.com) (bbc.co.uk) (en.wikipedia.org) — Tangent on GRAU indices (en.wikipedia.org) — Next week (3/25 - 3/31) in 1972: Much closer, much easier, but 53 years late

Spaceflight News — IM-2 lunar landing (intuitivemachines.com) (spacenews.com) (spacenews.com) (nasaspaceflight.com) (intuitivemachines.com) (youtube.com) Short & Sweet — Voyager turns off further instruments (space.com) — A Falcon 9 loses a leg (spacenews.com) Questions, Comments, Corrections — From the intro: ISS too clean (newsbreak.com) (cell.com) This Week in Spaceflight History — 15 Mar, 1976. Launch of Lincoln Experimental Satellite 8 and 9 (LES-8 and -9) (skyrocket.de) (wikipedia.org) (ll.mit.edu) — Next week (3/18 - 3/24) in 1980: Wait nine years until “openness”

Spaceflight News — Starship TF7 bounced to pieces (Paywall: aviationweek.com) (spacenews.com) Short & Sweet — Two payloads on IM-2 launch suffering problems on-orbit (spacenews.com) — Space capsule lands in Australia while first rocket readies to launch (spacenews.com) (abc.net.au) — Xona received contract to develop GPS alternative (insidegnss.com) Questions, Comments, Corrections — From the intro: Blue Ghost lunar landing? (Spoiler: it did!) (space.com) (spacenews.com) This Week in Spaceflight History — Feb 26, 1960: Failed launch of MiDAS 1 (en.wikipedia.org) (PDF: nro.gov) (PDF: nro.gov) — Next week (3/11 - 3/17) in 1976: Two score and nine years ago

Spaceflight News — Stoke Space reveals Andromeda 2 (stokespace.com) Short & Sweet — Long March 8A completes first flight (spacenews.com) — Germany provides funds for new launch facility (europeanspaceflight.com) Questions, Comments, Corrections — From the intro: Blue Origin Layoffs (spacenews.com) This Week in Spaceflight History — 24 Feb, 1996. Launch of POLAR satellite (PDF: ntrs.nasa.gov) (eyes.nasa.gov) (nasaspaceflight.com) — Next week (2/25 - 3/3) in 1960: The copper touch

Spaceflight News — The most amazing little rocket that will have ever built (spacenews.com) (aas.org) (aas.org) (aas.org) (PDF: hou.usra.edu) Short & Sweet — Starbase Update (nasaspaceflight.com) — Thales Alenia to build an airlock (europeanspaceflight.com) Vast reschedules Haven-1 (spacenews.com) Questions, Comments, Corrections — From the intro: ThrustMe pushes into US market (spacenews.com) (thrustme.fr) — Unc’ Willy: Frustums, and NGLR (discord.com) This Week in Spaceflight History — 11 Feb, 2000: Shuttle Radar Topography Mission launched on STS-99 (en.wikipedia.org) (airandspace.si.edu VIA web.archive.org) (PDF: agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com) — Next week (2/18 - 2/24) in 1996: Goes where it says on the tin.

Spaceflight News — Blue Ghost M1 (americaspace.com) (nasaspaceflight.com) (fireflyspace.com) (gsfc.nasa.gov) (baas.aas.org) (hou.usra.edu) Short & Sweet — Starliner investigation nears completion (spacenews.com) — AstroForge announces first target (space.com) Questions, Comments, Corrections — From the intro: IRNSS-1K launch failure (thehindu.com) This Week in Spaceflight History — Feb. 6, 1995: STS-63 approaches within 11 meters of Mir (en.wikipedia.org) (PDF: nasa.gov) (thespaceabove.us) — Next week (2/11 - 2/17) in 2000: Tail-first and burning fast

Spaceflight News — NICER repair on EVA 91 (nasaspaceflight.com) (svs.gsfc.nasa.gov) (science.nasa.gov) (svs.gsfc.nasa.gov) (heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov) Short & Sweet — ESA to vote on future of Space Rider spacecraft (europeanspaceflight.com) — China hops higher, maybe (spacenews.com) (bilibili.com) Questions, Comments, Corrections — From the intro: New Shepard’s lunar gravity mission (spacenews.com) — Hydraq via email: CH4 hydrodynamics in Starship This Week in Spaceflight History — 3 Feb, 1994: The launch of STS-60 (americaspace.com) (americaspace.com) (PDF: nasa.gov) (nss.org) Next week (2/4 - 2/10) in 1995: Hey, it’s me again. I’m outside.

Spaceflight News — Starship FT-7 (nasaspaceflight.com) (spacenews.com) (bsky.app/profile/derekdotspace.bsky.social) (space.com) (spacenews.com) Short & Sweet — ISRO successfully docks in space (spacenews.com) — RFA granted license for vertical launch from UK (europeanspaceflight.com) Questions, Comments, Corrections — From the intro: New Glenn First Flight (nasaspaceflight.com) (americaspace.com) (americaspace.com) (spacenews.com) (spacenews.com) (spacenews.com) — DarthMooMoo: Varda launched on F9, not Electron (discord.com) This Week in Spaceflight History — 22 Jan 1997: Space debris hits a person for the first and only time on record. (HT SciKyle: en.wikipedia.org) (PDF: deepblue.lib.umich.edu) (PDF: apps.dtic.mil) (foxnews.com) — Next week (1/28 - 2/3) in 1994: Call before you come over

Thanks to Dennis O for naming this week’s episode! Spaceflight News — Mars Sample Return redesign (spaceflightnow.com) (spacenews.com) Short & Sweet — China tests mission extension tech on-orbit (spacenews.com) — X-37B’s latest mission passes one-year in space (space.com) — Pale Blue Propulsion (spacenews.com) Questions, Comments, Corrections — From the intro: Eaton/Pallisades fire relief for JPL workers (spacenews.com) (americaspace.com) (securelb.imodules.com) This Week in Spaceflight History — Jan. 17, 2005: US-China Orbital Debris Event (space.com) (PPT: celestrak.org) (spaceref.com) (PDF: orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov) — Next week (1/21 - 1/27) in 1997: A tap on the shoulder

Spaceflight News — Starship TF-7 (spacenews.com) (ringwatchers.com) (spacex.com) (twitter.com) Short & Sweet — India launches space docking demo mission (nasaspaceflight.com) (space.com) (en.wikipedia.org) (isro.gov.in) — Launches gaining frequency (spacenews.com) This Week in Spaceflight History — 10 Jan, 1968: Surveyor 7 lands on the moon (nasa.gov) (ntrs.nasa.gov) (ntrs.nasa.gov) — Next week (1/14 - 1/20) in 2005: Was that the Aurora Australis?

Spaceflight News — K2 Space wins contract (spaceinsider.tech) (spacenews.com) (addtheegg.com) Short & Sweet — Contracts awarded for NASA’s Near Space Network (spacenews.com) — Record breaking spacewalk set by Shenzhou-19 crew (spacenews.com) — Crew-10 delayed (spacenews.com) This Week in Spaceflight History — 2 Jan, 1959. Launch of Luna 1, first spacecraft to reach the Moon (en.wikipedia.org) (smithsonianmag.com) (mentallandscape.com) (smithsonianmag.com) — Next week (1/7 - 1/13) in 1968: Highlander - there can be only one (of seven)

Spaceflight News — Orion’s heat shield (americaspace.com) (nasa.gov) Short & Sweet — Tests of Russian Orbital Station core module announced (interfax.com) — Ingenuity’s Crash Investigation (spacenews.com) (youtube.com) (youtube.com) Questions, Comments, Corrections — Joel Rogers via email: Young and Crippen didn’t fly on Enterprise. This Week in Spaceflight History — December 17, 2012: Grasshopper makes its first real hop (spacenews.com) (en.wikipedia.org) — Next week (1/1 - 1/6) in 1959: To the moon! Uh... to the Sun!

Spaceflight News — Swirl-dominated chambers (payloadspace.com) (https://www.sierraspace.com) (Pic, from researchgate.net) (PDF: nasa.gov) Short & Sweet — So long Sutherland Spaceport (satellitetoday.com) Further delays to Artemis program announced (spacenews.com) This Week in Spaceflight History — 12 Dec, 1970. Launch of Uhuru (nasa.gov) (PDF: jhuapl.edu) — Next week (12/17 - 12/23) in 2012: Ride ‘em, cowboy

Spaceflight News — Epsilon can’t stop exploding (space.com) (youtu.be) (PDF: jaxa.jp) — A Dragonfly on a Falcon Heavy (satellitetoday.com) Short & Sweet — Old spaceport, newish rocket (europeanspaceflight.com) — New rocket, new spaceport (spacenews.com) Questions, Comments, Corrections — From the intro: New Glenn on the pad (space.com) (blueorigin.com) This Week in Spaceflight History — 3 Dec, 2003: Shuttle Training Aircraft loses part of an engine (iasa.com.au VIA web.archive.org) (en.wikipedia.org) (simpleflying.com) — Next week (12/10 - 12/16) in 1970: Equatorial eyes

Spaceflight News — Global grasshoppers — Russia’s hopper (arstechnica.com) — EU’s hopper (europeanspaceflight.com) Short & Sweet — Omani spaceport looks to launch next month (www.thenationalnews.com) — China tests inflatable spacecraft on orbit (news.cgtn.com) (space.com) (spacenews.com) — Starship Test Flight Six (nasaspaceflight.com) (spacenews.com) Questions, Comments, Corrections — From the intro: Progress contamination (russianspaceweb.com) This Week in Spaceflight History — November 28, 1983: Launch of STS-9, Columbia (en.wikipedia.org) (PDF: nasa.gov) (nasa.gov) (americaspace.com) — Next week (12/3 - 12/9) in 2003: You’ve heard of the space banana, but what about the Banana River dunk?