Failure To Launch
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- 11. Nov. 2026
Über den Podcast
This is a podcast about all the mistakes, failures, and explosions that made space exploration possible.
Folgen 136
Challenger P.1 - The Start of Shuttle
On January 28, 1986, Space Shuttle Challenger exploded on ascent during its 10th mission, killing seven space travellers. In this series, we’ll explore the historical context of the disaster, the life stories …
Shownotes
On January 28, 1986, Space Shuttle Challenger exploded on ascent during its 10th mission, killing seven space travellers. In this series, we’ll explore the historical context of the disaster, the life stories of its crew, how it happened, and the ways it changed how we explore space.
In this first episode, Quinn, Chris, and Other Chris cover the origins of the Space Shuttle Program, the nearly Soviet levels of politicking and corner-cutting that went into its development, and how the institutional problems that caused the Challenger Disaster were there from the beginning.
Support FTL on Patreon to unlock bonus content and join our Discord community
SOURCES:
Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space, Adam Higginbotham
The Challenger Launch Decision: Risky Technology, Culture, and Deviance at NASA, Diane Vaughan
The Challenger Decision, T.A. Heppenheimer
FTL theme song by DJ Danarchy
[UNLOCKED] Tatsumaki Class (w. Tex Talks Battletech)
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 …
Shownotes
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.
If you want a primer on Battletech, check out Tex’s video on Twycross or his guide to the Inner Sphere!
FTL theme song by DJ Danarchy
Shirtsleeve Spaceflight and the Soyuz 11 Catastrophe (w. SYDDOYWTW)
What do you have to worry about? Skin's mostly airtight. We collaborated with Somehow You Didn't Die On Your Way To Work to talk about that period in the 60s when the Soviets got so obsessed with cramming as …
Shownotes
What do you have to worry about? Skin's mostly airtight.
We collaborated with Somehow You Didn't Die On Your Way To Work to talk about that period in the 60s when the Soviets got so obsessed with cramming as many people into their spacecraft as possible, they ditched spacesuits as a concept. And then the consequences of that choice in 1971 with Soyuz-11.
Support FTL on Patreon to unlock bonus content and join our Discord community
FTL theme song by DJ Danarchy
Space Policy & the ISS (w. Nik Proxima)
The ISS is the greatest product of international space cooperation ever achieved. It is also a product of happening at exactly the right time to actually be possible. Today, we’re talking to space policy expert …
Shownotes
The ISS is the greatest product of international space cooperation ever achieved. It is also a product of happening at exactly the right time to actually be possible. Today, we’re talking to space policy expert Nik Proxima about the history of the ISS. We cover its conception as a post-Cold War recycling program, why it continued to operate even as member nations became adversaries, and how space cooperation today is very different from 20 years ago.
Check out Nik’s work here: Space Scout and Proxima: A Human Exploration of Mars
FTL theme song by DJ Danarchy
*PREVIEW* Second Sun (Modern Warfare 2)
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. A formative game from our childhoods, Call of Duty Modern …
Shownotes
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.
A formative game from our childhoods, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, has a very controversial moment that some have argued could negatively influence young minds. We are of course talking about the mission where you destroy the ISS with a hijacked nuclear missile. And to better explore the topic of space law and nuclear EMPs, we brought on space policy wonk Nik Proxima to talk about it!
Check out Nik’s work here: Space Scout and Proxima: A Human Exploration of Mars
FTL theme song by DJ Danarchy
The Trial of Georg Rickhey
In 1947, Georg Rickhey, General Director of Mittelwerk, was charged with war crimes. He was acquitted for lack of evidence.Today, Quinn and Chris are talking about Operation Paperclip and the deliberate efforts …
Shownotes
In 1947, Georg Rickhey, General Director of Mittelwerk, was charged with war crimes. He was acquitted for lack of evidence.Today, Quinn and Chris are talking about Operation Paperclip and the deliberate efforts made by its staff to protect post-war Nazis from justice and war crimes trials (conducted by other US military officers).
Support FTL on Patreon to unlock bonus content and join our Discord community
SOURCES:
- Secret Agenda: The United States Government, Nazi Scientists, and Project Paperclip, 1945–1990, Linda Hunt
- The Rocket and the Reich, Michael Neufeld
- A History of the Dora Camp, Andre Sellier
FTL theme song by DJ Danarchy
*PREVIEW* Ulysses 1994XF04 (Ace Combat)
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.I do not much like the Federation of Central Usea (FCU) …
Shownotes
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.
I do not much like the Federation of Central Usea (FCU). They’ve done some bad things.
This week, Quinn, Chris, and Other Chris cover Ulysses from discovery to impact to the decades of fallout we still live with today. How humanity faced a possible extinction event, how we came together to defend ourselves, and how every Shield against Ulysses was turned into a Sword for war.
[This is an in-character episode covering the Ulysses Impact Event from the video game series Ace Combat. A big thank you to all the fans who contributed to the Journey Home singalong and Kilian Croghan for the episode art!]
SOURCES:
- Encyclopedia Strangereal
- Last Christmas, Gaze Magazine (Jan 1, 1999)
- Asteroid On Collision Course With Earth, Usea Today (Apr 21, 1996)
- Titan Guns, Our Science (Sept 20, 1998)
- The Twelve Colors of the Sky, Kei Nagase
- Lines in the Sand: A Memoir, L. Foulke
FTL theme song by DJ Danarchy
Technofascism & Space
What with all the history talk, we haven't really yet tackled the space elephant in the room: that the space industry is increasingly run by billionaires and open fascists. So today, we're chatting with Ziggy …
Shownotes
What with all the history talk, we haven't really yet tackled the space elephant in the room: that the space industry is increasingly run by billionaires and open fascists. So today, we're chatting with Ziggy, a post-graduate student studying fascist movements and their ties to scifi, on how reactionary movements in the past and present have co-opted space for their political ends.
Support FTL on Patreon to unlock bonus content and join our Discord community
FTL theme song by DJ Danarchy
*PREVIEW* The USSA Mars Shot Project (Fallout)
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 months before the Bombs Fell, the American space …
Shownotes
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 months before the Bombs Fell, the American space program was preparing for its greatest challenge yet: reaching the Red Planet. But the program wasn't as innocent as it seemed. This week, Scribe Quintus is taking Chris and Other Chris through the history of the USSA's Mars Shot Project and the XMB Booster developed by ArcJet Systems.
A big thanks to Alex the OK, Nicholas Slayton, Angry Scooter, and Kelly of CIAS for contributing audiologs to this episode.
FTL theme song by DJ Danarchy
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 …
Shownotes
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”.
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
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 …
Shownotes
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)!
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
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 …
Shownotes
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
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
*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 …
Shownotes
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.
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 …
Shownotes
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
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 …
Shownotes
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!
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
FTL theme song by DJ Danarchy
*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 …
Shownotes
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.
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 …
Shownotes
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!
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
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 …
Shownotes
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!
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
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 …
Shownotes
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.
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
*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 …
Shownotes
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.
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 …
Shownotes
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
*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 …
Shownotes
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.
*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.
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 …
Shownotes
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!
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
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 …
Shownotes
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
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' …
Shownotes
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
*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.
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 …
Shownotes
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.
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 ZakFTL theme song by DJ Danarchy
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 …
Shownotes
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
*PREVIEW* Mystery of the Third Planet (1981)
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.
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