Is the NASA Advisory Council (NAC) system becoming unglued? During the NAC Science Committee meeting on March 21st, there were significant questions about the Primary NAC and its ability to deliver recommendations to NASA's leadership expeditiously so they can be acted upon by NASA Leadership. That wasn't the only thing on the minds of NASA's scien…

We’re giving up on new ways to describe how busy it is now in the world of space-related news. Nonetheless, we still have a Starship Flight 3 recap, a look at the next (and last) Delta IV Heavy launch, and we also focus on the upcoming total solar eclipse. But first, in the News Roundup, even more, including: Crew 7 returns from the ISS; RocketLab’…

There’s a ton of space news to discuss this time around, and we made the time to do it in this lengthy episode. Not to worry, there’s lots of good stuff in here, including: Blue Origin’s New Glenn Rolls out to LC-36; Changes in the ISS management team; ISS Leak in the Zvezda increases; Roscosmos selling off $124 Million in assets due to Ukraine war…

It’ll do your heart good to have a listen to the IM-1 launch audio snippet at the opening of this episode. This episode finds us still focusing on the Intuitive Machines IM-1 lunar lander launch and lunar landing attempt to come later this week. Chantelle Baier from 4Space joins us once again to talk about the launch and the lunar landing, schedule…

Welcome to the First Talking Space of 2024! The Intuitive Machines IM-1 mission is the second flight of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) missions. Its purpose is to have commercial entities be responsible for sending NASA science payloads and eventually cargo to the lunar surface to support human exploration of the Moon. NASA isn't t…

First off, apologies are in order for our extended absence from your podcast-hungry ears. We try our best to record on a consistent basis, but sometimes there’s a perfect storm of Life Events getting in the way for the Talking Space team when it comes down to getting an episode in the can. We DID even record an episode with Gene and Larry that we c…

There’s a lot going on this time around, as usual. First, in the news roundup: Starship: The Lawsuit pitting the Center for Biological Diversity against the FAA and SpaceX proceeded mostly as expected (with a notable exception). The FAA awaits the US Fish and Wildlife Service to complete their Biological Assessment portion for review of the Starshi…

So much has happened so fast in the last couple of weeks related to SpaceX’s pursuit of Starship’s Flight 2 launch license. Look at all these goings-on: September 10, 2023: The list of 63 corrective actions specified in the Mishap Investigation Report are published; September 13, 2023: Acting FAA Administrator Polly Trottenberg comments to reporter…

This episode brings lots of Space news from around the globe, as well as from our own back yards. Literally. First off: both Sawyer and Mark witnessed the plasma trail from the latest Crew Dragon reentry from their own back yards. A photo that looks … kind of like what they saw (taken by NASA) … is shown here. Next, we have plenty of news in the ro…

How many people outside the space community know about the Artemis Moon to Mars program? What do people who don’t follow spaceflight think of the current program? If given a chance, would YOU go to the Moon or Mars? Our guest, Nathan Price, is attempting to explore these questions with people who don’t typically follow the space program all that cl…

ESA’s Aeolus earth observation satellite, launched in August 2018, ended its primary mission on July 28, 2023. It still had one final mission: a safe, fiery, controlled reentry into Earth’s atmosphere conducted by the European Space Agency flight controllers. Larry Herrin provides details of the importance of this maneuver. August 8, 2023 was Artem…

SpaceX’s effort to launch its second integrated test of Starship is likely facing a triple whammy of delays, including a new one that should really be of no surprise to the company. It certainly is no surprise to Eric Roesch, who joins us on this episode to discuss the latest developments in the saga. First, there’s the well-known environmental law…

The environmental lawsuit brought by a consortium of environmental and tribal groups against the FAA and SpaceX has shown no visible movement since July 5, 2023, but we have all the details on what did transpire on that date. Turns out that since our recording date, another filing in the case would extend the deadline for proposing a briefing sched…

You may ask, “Why are we talking about the OceanGate Expeditions’ Titan submersible tragedy in a podcast dedicated to space-related stuff?” The commonality with undersea exploration is the lack of Human Commercial Spaceflight Safety Regulations. Do we need more regulation? The team muses about this issue in this episode of Talking Space. But first,…

Talk all you want about the delays caused by repairs/mods to the launch pad and re-certifying the Autonomous Flight Termination System, the real issue that is grounding Starship at Boca Chica is this one thing: The Lawsuit. You know … the one filed by a consortium of environmental groups and Indigenous tribes against the FAA alleging (based on the …

This episode is packed full of news and insights. Let’s get to it! In the News Roundup: NASA selects the second lunar lander partnership for the Artemis moon missions Rocket Lab scoops up a bargain with purchase of lease for Virgin Orbit’s Long Beach, CA headquarters and the usual “certain other assets” Virgin Galactic’s Unity 25 successful test fl…

Talk about risky! This time around, the two cousins are being left alone to see what mischief they can get up to. Good thing there’ll be an adult in the room. Mark Ratterman and Larry Herrin are joined by our guest, NASA’s Dr. Mary K. Kaiser, to discuss the omnipresent issue of space debris. We are “flexing” once again from our usual format to brin…

In this installment, we welcome Larry Herrin, a former 10-year-old Apollo astronaut, as the newest pundit on the Talking Space podcasting team. We forgot to mention in the show that Larry is also Mark Ratterman’s cousin! As his inaugural contribution, Larry tells us about a relatively new, reusable, rocket-powered spaceplane designed and built by N…

We start this week off with a roundup of news from NASA with the announcement of the Artemis II crew, its Mars Habitat, the second independent review of the Mars Sample Return, and a celebration of two missions hitting 50 - 50 orbits for Juno and 50 flights for Ingenuity (and you can even an audio recording of the Mars helicopter here). We then cha…

Talking Space returns for its fifteenth season with a new format! First up, we have a brief roundup of news, including Kathy Lueders retirement from NASA, with Ken Bowsersox set to take over Space Operations on May 1st, the cessation of Virgin Orbit’s operations, more delays with Starliner, Soyuz’s uncrewed return to Earth, and a special report on …

The Talking Space team was on site as the Crew-5 astronauts and cosmonaut made their way to the ISS. Hear the launch audio plus what went on behind the scenes when a hurricane threatened the mission and ground infrastructure. Full show notes coming soon.By Gene Mikulka ,Sawyer Rosenstein, Mark Ratterman,Dr. Kat Robison

August 4th, 2022, was one of the most active launch days in recent memory. The Talking Space Team attempts to check all the boxes bringing a little insight into each one, including some launch audio from the Mighty AtalsV that carried the SIBRSGEO 6 into orbit and the scream of the Falcon 9 as it took South Korea’s KPLO probe to the Moon. We briefl…

On this episode of Talking Space with Mark Ratterman and Dr Kat Robison we have an excellent interview from Mark with Kennedy Space Center’s Dr Kristin Smith and Kathy Rice, both of whom are in KSC's weather office. Special thanks to KSC’s public affairs team, especially Mary MacLaughlin, who make it possible to bring interviews like this to our li…

This episode we take a unique look at the historic Axiom-1 mission to the ISS from multiple perspectives. That includes our own Sawyer Rosenstein who was at the press site for the launch and our own Mark Ratterman who viewed the launch from offsite. There was a unique oddity to the audio from this launch which you'll have to hear for yourself. We c…

Our Mark Ratterman was on hand at NASA's Kennedy Space Center for the rollout of America's new launch vehicle: NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion Spacecraft sitting atop the 322 foot stack. . It was the first time a large rocket set on its way to the launch pad from the Vehicle Assembly Building since the Space Shuttle. No longe…