And here’s the megafeed of everything I’ve been doing.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine joins Jake and Anthony for the first episode of Off-Nominal Origins. We talk about how he got interested in space and aviation, his time at Rice University, his years as a Navy pilot, his continuing fascination with the Rocket Racing League, and a whole lot more. And yes, obviously, we talk about the time Jake and Anthony started a weird little sideshow at IAC 2019 with The Jim Bridenstine Fan Club.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine joins Jake and Anthony for the first episode of Off-Nominal Origins. We talk about how he got interested in space and aviation, his time at Rice University, his years as a Navy pilot, his continuing fascination with the Rocket Racing League, and a whole lot more.And yes, obviously, we talk about the time Jake and Anthony started a weird little sideshow at IAC 2019 with The Jim Bridenstine Fan Club.
Jake and Anthony stop by with a quick update on our donation campaign to help two wonderful organizations, Black Girls Code and the Banneker Institute. The response has been incredible so far, so let’s keep it up!
Jake and Anthony stop by with a quick update on our donation campaign to help two wonderful organizations, Black Girls Code and the Banneker Institute. The response has been incredible so far, so let’s keep it up!
We’ve put together a fundraiser with the help of our Off-Nominal Discord community to benefit two fantastic organizations that are helping make our space industry a better place: Black Girls Code and the Banneker Institute at Harvard.
Here at Off-Nominal, we've been following the demonstrations against racial inequality and police violence in the United States, Canada, and around the world with concern. These events have highlighted deep problems with how we treat each other in many domains, and space exploration is not exempt. While we have been processing this in real-time, it has become obvious that we must do our part and use our platform to speak up against these inequalities and take action to stop them. We have been engaging with our Discord community this past week to come up with a plan.
Here at Off-Nominal, we've been following the demonstrations against racial inequality and police violence in the United States, Canada, and around the world with concern. These events have highlighted deep problems with how we treat each other in many domains, and space exploration is not exempt.While we have been processing this in real-time, it has become obvious that we must do our part and use our platform to speak up against these inequalities and take action to stop them. We have been engaging with our Discord community this past week to come up with a plan.
Very special thanks to the 414 of you out there supporting Main Engine Cut Off for the month of May. MECO is entirely listener- and reader-supported, so your support keeps this blog and podcast going, growing, and improving, and most importantly, it keeps it independent.
It happened! American astronauts on American rockets from American soil. Bob and Doug successfully launched, docked to the ISS, and joined Expedition 63. I talk about what this means for SpaceX, NASA, space policy, and where things go from here.
Though NASA and its projects provide a source of hope through scientific advancement and inspiration, those things can often feel unreachable to many of us. However, the platform it provides for representation and for role models to step forward into the public eye is hugely important.
Virgin Orbit carried out their first flight this past weekend, and as most first launch attempts go for a new launch vehicle, it ended in a failure. But not without checking off a ton of items on the rundown.
It’s worth reading Jeff’s article on these changes. They make so much sense that I almost have nothing to say about it.
Roper has been the chair of the Space Acquisition Council, which has been trying to find ways to get funding out into the industry during the pandemic to help contractors of all sizes. They’ve moved much slower than I would have expected when hearing about the Council in the early days, but seems like the news will start flowing now. Starting with what is essentially advancing funds that were already planned is nice, but I’m expecting to see some splashier funding setups soon enough.
The head of human spaceflight at NASA resigned last week, just before the most important crewed launch the agency has seen in a decade. However, it appears as though the resignation is related to the Artemis program and its landers. I give some thoughts on the implications of the departure, and also cover a recent development in international space politics—the Artemis Accords.
Jake and Anthony are joined by Jason Davis of The Planetary Society to talk about NASA’s human landing systems, SpaceX’s upcoming DM-2 launch, and to debate whether or not Tom Cruise will make a cool movie on the ISS.
Jake and Anthony are joined by Jason Davis of The Planetary Society to talk about NASA’s human landing systems, SpaceX’s upcoming DM-2 launch, and to debate whether or not Tom Cruise will make a cool movie on the ISS.
The decision was primarily communicated as a way to eliminate technical risk and complexity, but it certainly plays well on the political and budgetary side of things, too. The convergence of political factors this year are a nightmare for NASA’s budget outlook, not to mention the federal budget generally.
This week we are joined by our Space Podcasting buddies from across the pond to talk about what happened in a really busy space news week. Anthony and Jake take time out from MECO and WEMARTIANS and their joint show Off Nominal to share their wisdom and humour.
Very special thanks to the 402 of you out there supporting Main Engine Cut Off for the month of April. MECO is entirely listener- and reader-supported, so your support keeps this blog and podcast going, growing, and improving, and most importantly, it keeps it independent.
NASA announced three contract awards for the Artemis Progam’s Human Landing System—a Blue Origin-led team, Dynetics, and SpaceX’s Starship. I talk through some thoughts on each landing system and what the future might hold for NASA, regarding both politics and decisions.