Episode 54 - A Really Long Dog on Mars
Matt Brealey joins Jake and Anthony to talk about martian terrain data and imagery, and to go behind the scenes on his incredible creation, AreoBrowser.
And here’s the megafeed of everything I’ve been doing.
Matt Brealey joins Jake and Anthony to talk about martian terrain data and imagery, and to go behind the scenes on his incredible creation, AreoBrowser.
Jake returns from LPSC 2022 and shares some stories with Anthony. #TacoGate2022
A follow-up on my last show with Debra Werner about the war in Ukraine and all the fallout from it, both political and industrial. Everything from the NASA budgets for 2022 and 2023, NASA telling astronauts to stop tweeting, the increased importance of European human spaceflight, and how the launch industry might shift in the future.
Anthony is joined by Tim Dodd, the Everyday Astronaut, and Roland Miller, a photographer who has spent years documenting space hardware of all varieties. We’ll talk about Roland’s work, and go behind the scenes on his two published books (Abandoned In Place, Interior Space) and his next book (Orbital Planes) coming out this spring.
Scott Tilley, an amateur satellite tracker, joins Jake and Anthony to talk about tracking Chang’e-5 back to the Moon and into a Distant Retrograde Orbit, how he and the wider community of amateur satellite trackers do what they do, and what else he’s been tracking lately.
Debra Werner of SpaceNews joins me to talk about Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, the ways that it is affecting the space industry, how their last invasion had similar effects, and how the situation solidifies several arguments that have been made over the past decade or more.
A special feature of a very-MECO episode of my other podcast, Off-Nominal, that I did this week with Michael Sheetz of CNBC and Eric Berger of Ars Technica. If you have yet to check out Off-Nominal, find us on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.
Michael Sheetz of CNBC and Eric Berger of Ars Technica join Anthony to talk about the latest in the finance side of space—what’s up in the world of funding, which businesses look steady and which look shaky, and of course, how you can’t spell space without SPAC.
Jake and Anthony talk about some (really good) changes coming to the show, Jared Isaacman’s privately-funded Gemini program, and SpaceX’s Starship…update.
Jared Isaacman, commander of Inspiration4, announced the Polaris Program—a privately-funded development program to “rapidly advance human spaceflight capabilities” via flights on SpaceX’s Dragon and Starship vehicles. It begins with a mission to the highest Earth orbit ever flown by humans, featuring the first commercial spacewalk, and culminates with the first crewed Starship flight.
Eric Berger of Ars Technica joins me to talk about what’s on our radar in 2022, to predict when the big new rockets will fly, and to generally catch up on what’s going on in the space industry.
Jake and Anthony are joined by Dylan Taylor, Chairman & CEO of Voyager Space Holdings, founder of Space for Humanity, and commercial astronaut on Blue Origin’s New Shepard NS-19.
Last week I left my full-time gig at Big Cartel. I’m going independent to do more Main Engine Cut Off and Off-Nominal, and to make these space-focused projects the primary work that I do. I’m also going to be building some apps of my own, and doing a good bit of client work—which could include you! If you’ve got an app or a site or really anything digital to build, hit me up and let’s work together.
Jake and Anthony are joined by Matthew Russell of the The Interplanetary Podcast to talk about the wackiest space news of the year and to crown the winners of the 2021 Off-Nominees.
Today is my last day at Big Cartel. I’m going independent to do more Main Engine Cut Off, more Off-Nominal, to build some apps of my own, and to round all that out with a good bit of client work—which could include you! If you’ve got an app or a site or really anything digital to build, hit me up and let’s work together.
Phil McAlister, Director of Commercial Spaceflight at NASA, joins me to talk about the history of and lessons learned from the Commercial Cargo and Crew programs, what things went well and not so well in those programs, the difficulty of changing NASA’s approach to human spaceflight, how to deal with varying levels of Congressional funding and buy-in, and how all of that feeds into the new Commercial LEO Destinations program.
Bill Spetch, Manager of the ISS Vehicle Office at NASA, joins me to discuss the operational considerations of docking and berthing ports on the International Space Station, the recent traffic jams we’ve seen on station, why certain vehicles and systems use one port over the other, how to fit large cargo through docking ports, and what the future of ISS port operations look like in the era of commercial space station expansion.
Marshall Smith, Senior Vice President of Space Systems of Nanoracks, joins me to talk about Starlab, their commercial space station which recently won a contract award from NASA as part of their Commercial LEO Destinations program.
Brian Weeden of the Secure World Foundation joins me to talk about the technical and political fallout of Russia’s recent anti-satellite weapons demonstration, the history of anti-satellite weapons and testing, the geopolitical situation surrounding the topic, and what the future of space debris tracking and management looks like.
Jake and Anthony are joined by Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian to talk about Russia’s latest endangerment to the ISS—their anti-satellite operationthat resulted in a huge debris field—and about how Jonathan does all the excellent work he does tracking launches, satellites, and where everything in space is going.