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Failure To Launch

Failure To Launch Podcast

This is a podcast about all the mistakes, failures, and explosions that made space exploration possible.

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25 episodes
Avg 1 hr 7 min
English

Episodes 25

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Sunday · 1 hr 22 min
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 here Support FTL on Patreon to unlock bonus content and join our Discord community SOURCES: - Animals in Space, Colin Burgess and Chris Dubbs - Packing for Mars, Mary Roach - A Brief History of Animals in Space, NASA FTL theme song by DJ Danarchy
September 9 · 1 hr 42 min
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 here Support FTL on Patreon to unlock bonus content and join our Discord community SOURCES: - Thread of the Silkworm, Iris Chang - China in Space, Brian Harvey - China’s Space Program, S. Chandrashekar FTL theme song by DJ Danarchy
August 26 · 1 hr 33 min
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 down Find our merch store here Support FTL on Patreon to unlock bonus content and join our Discord community SOURCES: - Packing For Mars, Mary Roach - Conference on Nutrition in Space and Related Waste Problems FTL theme song by DJ Danarchy
August 19 · 19 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.
August 12 · 1 hr 32 min
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 Esselman FTL theme song by DJ Danarchy
July 29 · 1 hr 8 min
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 here Support FTL on Patreon to unlock bonus content and join our Discord community SOURCES: - 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
July 24 · 14 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.
July 15 · 1 hr 27 min
Moon Tank 2: Lunokhod 2 (w. Victoria Scott)
The guy who made the Ultima games owns a space tank. We’re back with auto journalist and podcaster Victoria Scott to keep talking Lunokhod. In Part 2, we go over the journey of Lunokhod 2, lives saved in the Chernobyl Disaster, and the post-Soviet desperation that led to a Moon rover being sold for $68,500. Check out Victoria’s work here and listen to Tran Girlismo! Find our merch store here Support FTL on Patreon to unlock bonus content and join our Discord community SOURCES: - Unmanned Missions toward the Moon, Anatoly Zak - Soviet and Russian Lunar Exploration, Brian Harvey - Tank on the Moon, 2007 FTL theme song by DJ Danarchy
July 1 · 1 hr 26 min
Moon Tank: Lunokhod 1 (w. Victoria Scott)
In a desperate bid to one-up the American Apollo missions, the Soviets built nuclear Moon tanks. We’re joined by auto journalist and podcaster Victoria Scott for a series on the Soviet Lunokhod rovers. In Part 1, we talk about the three-pronged Soviet lunar program, how they built the first space tank, and how you can stay warm in winter with a kilo of Polonium-210. Check out Victoria’s work here and listen to Tran Girlismo! Find our merch store here Support FTL on Patreon to unlock bonus content and join our Discord community SOURCES: - Unmanned Missions toward the Moon, Anatoly Zak - Soviet and Russian Lunar Exploration, Brian Harvey - Tank on the Moon, 2007 FTL theme song by DJ Danarchy
June 26 · 1 hr 56 min
Burn Space Down: The Starfish Prime Shot
On July 9th, 1962, the US Navy lit space on fire from Hawaii to New Zealand and fried a quarter of all active satellites in orbit. This week, we’re joined by engineer and friend of the show Ian to talk about Starfish Prime, the largest nuclear test ever conducted in space, and all the satellites that test killed. Find our merch store here Support FTL on Patreon to get bonus content and join our Discord community SOURCES: - Burning the Sky, Mark Wolverton - Dark Sun: Making of the Hydrogen Bomb, Richard Rhodes FTL theme song by DJ Danarchy
June 25 · 19 min
*PREVIEW* The Lesson (1987)
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. For June’s bonus, we’re joined by Ani Mejlumyan of the Lions Led By Donkeys podcast to talk all about The Lesson, a strange Soviet-Armenian animated short about environmentalism. Or possibly John Lennon. Or being so relentlessly horny that you short-circuit a Soviet censor’s brain.
June 11 · 1 hr 30 min
Deep Sea & Space (w. Dr Alan Jamieson)
The earliest manned spaceflights were universally cramped, uncomfortable, and dangerous. What if your job was to do that multiple times a year underwater? This week, we're joined by Dr. Alan Jamieson, an accomplished marine biologist, veteran of many deep sea dives, and a host of the Deep Sea Podcast to compare our respective environments and see how they line up. Check out the Deep Sea Podcast here! Support FTL on Patreon to unlock bonus content and join our Discord community! FTL theme song by DJ Danarchy
June 5 · 1 hr 1 min
*UNLOCKED* Gleipnir (Ace Combat X)
More Ace Combat announcements are coming out and we're very excited about that, so we're unlocking our bonus episode from earlier this year on the Gleipnir flying stealthing aircraftlasermissilebattlecarrier. The final boss of superweapon development. A weapon worth double digits of the GDP of Laesath. The universe's most powerful Blue Angel. This time, we're tackling a fan request topic: Diego Gaspar Navarro's Folly, the Gleipnir.
May 29 · 14 min
*PREVIEW* Despoiler Class (w. 40K Badcast)
This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest of the episode and unlock more bonus content, consider supporting Failure To Launch on Patreon.
May 22 · 1 hr 20 min
The Coup of OKB-1 (w. Joe Kassabian)
A lot of people know that the Soviets canceled their manned lunar program after losing the Moon Race to Apollo. What most don’t know is how that program ended: in a backroom, cloak-and-dagger palace coup that made one man the unquestioned King of Soviet Space. This week, we’re joined by Joe Kassabian to talk about The Coup of OKB-1 by 𝓜𝓞𝓜. Listen to Lions Led By Donkeys here and check out Joe’s upcoming book! Find our merch store here! Support FTL on Patreon to unlock bonus content and join our Discord community! SOURCES: - Challenge to Apollo, Asif Siddiqi - Rockets & People 4, Boris Chertok - Soviet and Russian Lunar Exploration, Brian Harvey - RussianSpaceWeb, Anatoly Zak FTL theme song by DJ Danarchy
May 8 · 1 hr 34 min
NASA Cuts w. Gene Mikulka
In April 2026, while the crew of Artemis 2 was still travelling around the Moon, the Trump administration put forward a budget proposal to gut NASA. This week, we’re joined by space policy analyst and host of the Talking Space podcast, Gene Mikulka, to go over the threats to space science and the grassroots resistance to the cuts. Check out the Talking Space podcast here and follow Gene on Bluesky!Astronauts for America interview Find our merch store here!Support FTL on Patreon to unlock bonus content and join our Discord community! FTL theme song by DJ Danarchy
April 23 · 1 hr 59 min
NASA Railroad & Soyuz City (w. Gareth Dennis)
Alternate title: Railing Rockets. We're joined by Gareth Dennis, host of the RailNatter podcast, to talk about the intersections of rockets and trains. Gareth came prepared with a wonderful story of horses' arses and the NASA Railroad. Quinn, meanwhile, got sidetracked and wrote about how Soviet OKB head Sergei Korolev accidentally bankrupted a city. Check out RailNatter and Gareth's other videos here! Find our new merch store here! Support FTL on Patreon to unlock bonus content and join our Discord community! FTL theme song by DJ Danarchy
April 16 · 14 min
*PREVIEW* Gleipnir (Ace Combat X)
This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest of the episode and unlock more bonus content, consider supporting Failure To Launch on Patreon.
April 8 · 47 min
Part 2: Viktor Ilyin, Would-Be Cosmonaut Assassin
The only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a motorcycle. We're back for part 2 of our series on Viktor Ilyin and the story leading up to the attempted assassination of Leonid Brezhnev in 1969. Find our merch store here! Support FTL on Patreon to unlock bonus content and join our Discord community! SOURCES: - Into the Cosmos, Asif Siddiqi and James Andrews - The First Cosmonaut Team, Colin Burgess and Rex Hall - Soyuz-4 and -5 crews perform docking, spacewalk between ships, Anatoly Zak FTL theme song by DJ Danarchy
April 3 · 1 hr 31 min
Alien Planet & Spec Bio (w. Jay Eaton)
What would alien life look like? Would it look shockingly like an Ho-229 jet fighter? Would it be best researched by an AI with the mind of a preschooler? This week, we're joined by comic artist and speculative biology enthusiast Jay Eaton to talk about potential alien life and a really weird 2005 Discovery documentary, Alien Planet. Check out Jay's webcomic, Runaway to the Stars, here and sign up for the Kickstarter of their book! Find our new merch store here! Support FTL on Patreon to unlock bonus content and join our Discord community! FTL theme song by DJ Danarchy