Terranauts

That's a Wrap

Thu, 13 Jul 2023 17:47:27 GMT

Just a short announcement today to wrap up season four of Terranauts - and yes, there will be a season five. I hope you have been enjoying the journey so far and that you'll join us in the fall as we make the transition from Gemini to Apollo.

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Terranauts Episode 75

Thu, 29 Jun 2023 16:19:04 GMT

Today's episode is dedicated to all of those Terranauts who work in the back hallways and committee meeting rooms to make sure that there is support (and funding) for the various programs that get humans and their inventions a chance to get off the planet. I have worked with too many of these dedicated and talented individuals to mention them here by name.

It can be a thankless job and one that is not always shown the respect it deserves. Doing it well requires as much talent, vision and creative problem solving as any scientific discovery or engineering breakthrough. Those that do it well benefit everyone around them, although it may not always be obvious.

As Mac Evans points out in this episode - in a very real way there is a Canadian astronaut headed to the Moon in 2024 because of work that he and other talented and dedicated Terranauts did in 1994.

To all who have done and continue to do that job - Thanks.

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Hanging By A Thread

Thu, 15 Jun 2023 12:48:01 GMT

When last we left Mac Evans (in an episode called The Flag Is A One) - he was in the mission control centre of the Canadian Telecommunications Satellite (CTS), having just rescued it from an untimely demise. This was important because CTS was the first modern telecommunications satellite and set the pattern for 20 years of satellite development. It was an important Canadian contribution to the humanity's journey off the planet.

Today we are going to talk about a different kind of last minute rescue. Today the rescue involves not just a satellite, but, in effect, a whole national space program.

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The First Loss

Thu, 01 Jun 2023 14:58:50 GMT

n today's episode we pick up the Gemini story with preparation for Gemini IX. That means that we have to talk about the tragic events surrounding the deaths of Elliot See and Charles Basset who were the first NASA astronauts to die in the line of duty. We'll also talk about how NASA and the Gemini program moved on past this tragedy and how the backup crew of Tom Stafford and Gene Cernan stepped up to See and Basset who had been the prime crew for Gemini IX.

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After Eight

Thu, 18 May 2023 13:19:53 GMT

Today we take a little bit more time to examine the events of Gemini VIII and what NASA learned from that experience. For one thing it learned the value of having test pilots as astronauts. But it also learned that having a team on the ground that could adapt to rapidly changing events on orbit was pretty important as well.

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The Spin Cycle

Thu, 04 May 2023 12:41:02 GMT

When we left first time Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Dave Scott aboard Gemini VIII, they were just getting to orbit after what had been a pretty nominal launch of both their spacecraft and the Agena target vehicle that would rendezvous with. As we'll see, as the crew settled down to begin their rendezvous task the flight continued to go very well. Until it didn't...

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Getting Ready For Gemini VIII

Thu, 20 Apr 2023 13:31:41 GMT

Gemini VIII was the first mission of 1966 and the first mission of the second half of Gemini's flight program. All of the big boxes had been checked, but that did not mean there was not a lot left to do. This week we talk about plans for Gemini VIII and we introduce a gentleman named Neil Armstrong who, at the time, was just a first time mission commander.

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Atlas-Agena - Selecting A Target

Thu, 06 Apr 2023 14:27:56 GMT

In this episode we get caught up on what had been going on with the Agena program. Remember those guys? They were the ones whose rocket had blown up after launch which had caused the Gemini VI mission to be aborted before it even got off the launch pad. While the rest of the Gemini program has been making history, they have been trying to figure out how to get back to flight status.

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The Year is 1966

Fri, 24 Mar 2023 16:49:38 GMT

As the calendar turned over from 1965 to 1966, the Gemini program was entering a new phase. Having completed half of it's flight program and having made progress on all of it's major objectives, the program was already thinking about wrapping up. In a sense though, Gemini was just a marker of its time. A lot of things were changing quickly as the world moved from 1966 at NASA, in the space program and even around the world. In this episode of Terranauts we take a moment to look at what the world looked like at the dawn of the year 1966.

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Adapting to a New Environment - Space

Thu, 09 Mar 2023 13:56:17 GMT

As the year 1965 ended, astronauts Jim Lovell and Frank Borman were proving that human beings could adapt to the environment of space, having lived there for almost two weeks before successfully returning home.

Similarly, the Gemini program and NASA itself were also getting used to a new environment. An environment where they were focussed less on meeting the daily challenges of the Gemini program and more on how to use what they were learning there to help them get to the Moon.

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We Have Company Tonight

Thu, 23 Feb 2023 15:51:45 GMT

In this episode we finally get the party together on orbit as Wally Schirra and Tom Stafford in Gemini VIA complete the very first rendezvous with Jim Lovell and Frank Borman in Gemini VII.

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Gemini VI, The Third Time's The Charm

Thu, 09 Feb 2023 17:52:17 GMT

When we left the Gemini program Jim Lovell and Frank Borman were just getting to orbit to begin a week long wait for Wally Schirra and Tom Stafford to join them in the first-ever on orbit rendezvous of two spacecraft. Today we will finally get the crew of Gemini VI to orbit... although it may take a little while longer than we thought. Today we will finally get the crew of Gemini VI to orbit... although it may take a little while longer than we thought.

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NASA Day of Remembrance, Why We Remember

Thu, 26 Jan 2023 16:12:57 GMT

Each January NASA pauses to honour NASA astronauts who lost their lives in cause of space exploration. This year, today, the 26th of January is the day NASA has chosen to mark this Day Of Remembrance. Once again this year, we, at Terranauts, also mark this day with a special episode to honour those flight crew that have died in humanity's quest to travel to and live off our planet. Once again this year, I am joined by Chris Hadfield. Joining us for a discussion of the Day of Remembrance and why it matters is Tim Braithwaite from the Canadian Space Agency liaison office at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

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Making Lemonade

Thu, 12 Jan 2023 19:27:40 GMT

When we left the Gemini program, President Lyndon B. Johnson was just stepping up the microphone at his ranch in Texas to explain how NASA was going to respond to the failure of Gemini 6 barely 72 hours previously. Instead of stepping back and contemplating the big pile of lemons that life had just handed them, NASA was about to make pitcher of pretty impressive lemonade by attempting something they, and humanity, had never done before. Let's pick up the story...

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The Spirit of 76

Thu, 08 Dec 2022 16:20:10 GMT

It was the 25th of October, 1965. And Houston had a problem. And by that I mean that Gene Kranz and the flight control team in the mission control centre of the manned spaceflight center in the Houston had a problem, Gemini VI had failed. For the first time in over 4 years NASA had launched a human space flight mission that had ended in failure. True, the humans in the mission had not actually gotten off the launch pad since the mission had ended when the unmanned Gemini Agena Target Vehicle had destroyed itself on the way to orbit. Still Gemini VI was a failed mission. How NASA responded to that failure would say a lot about how far it had come in four years - and how it was preparing for its much longer journey to the surface of the Moon and back.

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NASA Gemini VI - No Joy, No Joy

Thu, 24 Nov 2022 16:05:00 GMT

In this episode of the Terranauts podcast, NASA is about about to launch Gemini VI but something happens somethings that had never happened to a crewed mission before. As the launch of Gemini VI approached in the fall of 1965, everyone on the Gemini program was focussed on the problem of rendezvous. Last episode we talked about what that entailed. But in addition to worrying about how rendezvous would actually work, there were still some very real questions about the Gemini Agena Target Vehicle that the US Air Force and Lockheed were supplying to the program. Nevertheless by October of 1965, a target vehicle had been tested, retested and accepted by NASA. It was sitting atop it's Atlas launch vehicle preparing for it's date with destiny and the Gemini spacecraft containing Wally Schirra and Tom Stafford - which was sitting on it's own launch pad a short distance away.

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Gemini V - Getting It All Together

Thu, 10 Nov 2022 18:48:33 GMT

By the Fall of 1965, the Gemini program was well underway and riding the wave of a couple of very successful flights. NASA engineers and management could take pride in the fact that success had actually been fairly hard won. NASA had proven that it could work through significant issues and contingencies and still find a way to make it all work on orbit. There was still one major objective that had remained out of reach, though. And that was the issue of spacecraft rendezvous. So although NASA had proven they could make it work, they still needed to prove they could get it all together before they did so.

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Gemini V Goes The Distance

Fri, 28 Oct 2022 15:22:34 GMT

In this episode NASA and Project Gemini really stretch their legs in an attempt to set the record for the longest human space flight. Reaching the goal of 8 days will mean proving that humans can live and work in space long enough to get to the Moon and back. All that NASA needed was a good plan, a little bit of luck... and a working fuel cell. Tune in to see how THAT worked out.

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Project Gemini and the Apollo Moon Deadline

Thu, 13 Oct 2022 17:02:11 GMT

This time on Terranauts we are back to talking about Project Gemini. With the accolades from Ed White's stunning spacewalk still ringing in their ears, the Project Gemini team needed to go back to work to continue their mission of getting NASA ready for the Apollo program and it's date with destiny on the surface of the Moon. By the time Gemini IV landed less than 4 and half years remained for NASA to meet President Kennedy's deadline. And there were a lot of things NASA did not yet know how to do.

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Terranauts is Back for Season 4

Thu, 29 Sep 2022 17:16:59 GMT

Terranauts is back for Season 4. This season we are planning to follow Gemini as it accelerates off the launch pad on the way to putting NASA firmly on a course for the Moon. Today, though, in addition to setting the stage for season 4, I'd like to pause and think about how some parts of the Terranaut journey haven't changed all that much in nearly 60 years. Including the fact the Mother Nature continues to get a vote on when it's time to GO.

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Terranauts Season 3 Wrap Up

Fri, 01 Jul 2022 16:15:21 GMT

Well Terranauts listeners, that is, in fact, going to be a wrap for season 3 of Terranauts. We will have to pick up the story of the Gemini program after the summer break. Never fear, over the summer we will be posting some of our favourite episodes from the past three seasons of Terranauts for your continued listening enjoyment.

In the meantime, we really would appreciate your feedback on the show - or even just the chance to say hello. Please feel free to reach out on our Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/TerranautsPodcast

or you can email me directly at: Terranauts@sidekick65.com

or you can some join the conversation on my discord channel at: https://discord.gg/DB4CQcc92u

Thanks for listening. We'll talk to you again soon.

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Terranauts - Getting "Up" To Work

Fri, 17 Jun 2022 14:34:18 GMT

In this episode the NASA flight control confronts one of its biggest challenges to date as they prepare to attempt not only NASA's first EVA but also the very first ever attempt at the rendezvous of two spacecraft on orbit.

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Gemini Powers Up

Thu, 02 Jun 2022 13:16:11 GMT

In the last episode of Terranauts, the Gemini Program had finally returned NASA astronauts to orbit - after a hiatus of almost 2 years. But getting to orbit had never been the objective of the Gemini program. Now that the spacecraft and the booster had been checked out the real work could begin - and that was the work of helping NASA get ready to go to the Moon.

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A New Era For NASA

Thu, 19 May 2022 14:33:04 GMT

In which we finally get NASA astronauts back to orbit - despite Mother Nature's best efforts to the controversy and in which we discuss blackouts, Broadway musicals, and beef (of the corned variety) and how all of these things helped point the way to the new era that was about to begin at NASA.

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The Next Generation

Thu, 05 May 2022 13:15:56 GMT

Today we are talking to a couple of Terranauts from The Next Generation. Laura Bradbury and Frederic Fortier both work for GHGSat, a Canadian company that is doing big things to combat climate change with small satellites. Find out what it's like to be working with today's cutting edge space technology.

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The Pointy End

Thu, 14 Apr 2022 13:28:27 GMT

With the successful launch of the Gemini I, the Titan Gemini Launch Vehicle was fully checked out and ready for flight operations. So, it's time to take a look at the spacecraft it was designed to launch. In this episode we'll take a look in some detail at the Gemini spacecraft and what NASA hoped to do with it once it started flying.

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The Human Connection

Thu, 31 Mar 2022 15:59:13 GMT

In this episode of Terranauts we take a bit of break from talking about the development of the technology for the Gemini Program and go back and take a look at what the humans that would fly Gemini - both in orbit and from the ground - have been up to.

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Gemini Gets Off The Ground

Thu, 17 Mar 2022 14:57:59 GMT

At long last, we finally get the Gemini program into orbit. With just a few minor detours along the way...

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Spacecraft - A Time Of Testing

Thu, 03 Mar 2022 16:23:48 GMT

In this episode we take some time to look at just what it takes to get a spacecraft from the factory floor to the launch pad. And, in case it wasn't obvious from the title of the episode - the answer is that it takes a lot of testing. A whole lot of testing. And guess what, when you do a lot of tests, a lot of things can, and do, go wrong. Which is kind of the point. You'll have to listen in to see what I mean.

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Gliding To A Stop

Thu, 17 Feb 2022 16:32:09 GMT

Today on Terranauts we are back to talking about the history of human spaceflight and we finally get project Gemini out of the starting gate. When we left the project it was off to a "fast, clean start" under project manager Jim Chamberlin. It was not to last. In the first year of its existence, project Gemini would actually get no closer to launching a spacecraft, and Jim Chamberlin would be replaced as project manager. There were a lot of reasons for the struggle, including a major budget crisis in the fall of 1962. We'll talk about that today. We'll also talk about the one major challenge that Gemini never did overcome - the paraglider system.

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We Remember With Helene and Chris Hadfield

Thu, 03 Feb 2022 14:27:29 GMT

Last Thursday on 27 January, 2022 NASA marked its Day of Remembrance. A time that is set aside to remember those astronauts who died in the line of duty.

On this episode of the podcast I talk with Helene and Chris Hadfield about the Day of Remembrance, about their memories of some of the crew who did not make it home from space. We also talk about what remembering means to them and about how we do and should pay appropriate tribute to the crew that have lost their lives and to their families who sacrificed their loved ones in the pursuit of Humanity's journey off the planet.

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Good Fast Or Cheap

Thu, 20 Jan 2022 15:27:43 GMT

In today's episode we are going to pick up the story of project Gemini as it makes the transition from an engineering study to a full up space project. In order to understand what that means, and what that meant we will have to talk a bit about how space projects get managed - and why contrary to many myths - that wasn't any easier back in 1962 than it is today.

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Technological Imperatives

Thu, 06 Jan 2022 17:15:42 GMT

In the last episode of Terranauts we talked about the origin of the Gemini Project. It basically started because some Project Mercury engineers wanted to improve the Mercury capsule and make it easier to build, test and fly. But that on its own was not enough to convince NASA to actually build a new spacecraft. In this episode of Terranauts, we talk about the Technological Imperatives that DID convince NASA that it needed a new spacecraft and a new project to learn some things it was really going to need to know before it tried to go to the Moon.

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Enter The Twins

Thu, 09 Dec 2021 14:16:09 GMT

In this episode of Terranauts we return to the historical narrative of humanity's journey off the planet.

We are going to wind the clock back to September, 1962 when John F. Kennedy made his famous "we choose to go to the moon" speech at Rice University in Houston, Texas. It was an important moment in the history of the human spaceflight and marked the beginning of a new - and much more intense period in the race to get to and stay in space. We'll take a look at the spaceflight landscape at that moment in 1962. We'll also introduce the next NASA space program that would take people off the planet - project Gemini.

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Just Call Me Robo - Part 2

Thu, 25 Nov 2021 14:09:25 GMT

In this episode I continue my conversation with three Terranauts who have all worked in Mission Control of the International Space Station as callsign ROBO - responsible for the operation of the International space Station's robotic arm. They have been witness too, and participants in some amazing events and some truly significant changes in the way mission control is done.

This is part 2 of the interview, if you haven't listened to part 1, I would suggest you do that before listening to this episode. Thanks to Mathieu Caron, Danielle Cormier and Tim Braithwaite for joining me for this interview.

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Just Call Me Robo - Part 1

Thu, 11 Nov 2021 16:58:45 GMT

In this episode we continue our series on the evolution of Mission Control. Last time, I talked about my experience walking into Mission Control in the middle of the Space Shuttle program and at the end of the era of the Apollo control centre as it was about to make a transition to the Space Station era.

Today we talk to three Terranauts who have been around for that transition and who continue to work on the International Space Station in various ways. They have all worked in Mission Control and have been witness to and participants in some amazing events and some truly significant changes in the way mission control is done. Thanks to Mathieu Caron, Danielle Cormier and Tim Braithwaite for joining me for this interview.

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A Moment in Time

Thu, 28 Oct 2021 16:54:13 GMT

In this episode of Terranauts we explore the world of NASA's Mission Control Centre as it was in 1995. At that time, Mission Control was still being performed out of the same building and the same control room as it had been since 1964 when control of manned spaceflight missions had moved from Cape Canaveral to the Manned Space Center in Houston. This was the building from which NASA had gone to the moon. Over the course of 30 years many of the details had changed, but a lot had also stayed the same. But change was coming in the form of a new control centre, new technologies and new partnerships and ways of getting to and staying in space. But today we will take a moment to see what the world of Mission Control looked like, when I spent my first working shift there in February 1995.

Resources for this episode:

"Failure Is Not An Option", Gene Kranz, Simon &Shuster, New York, NY, 2000

"Shuttle Mission Control Flight Controller Stories and Photos, 1981-1992", Marianne Dyson, 2021

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From Flight Test to Mission Control

Thu, 14 Oct 2021 13:35:12 GMT

Welcome back to season 3 of Terranauts. Today's episode is the first in a series of episodes looking at how the advent of the International Space Station changed how we go to space. The series will culminate in a conversation with some Terranauts who have been working as ISS flight controllers for the past 20 years. They have seen and lived this transformation up close. But before we get to that conversation we need some context. So today we actually go back to the early days of aircraft flight testing to see where many of the techniques and much of the culture of spacecraft mission control came from.

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Season 3 Update

Thu, 30 Sep 2021 12:56:45 GMT

Season 3 is almost here ...

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Best of Season 2 - Sarah Gallagher Thinks Big

Fri, 20 Aug 2021 18:53:41 GMT

Season 2 has come to close and until Season 3 starts in September were playing some of our most popular episodes from the past year.

Meet Terranaut Sarah Gallagher, Science Advisor to the President of the Canadian Space Agency, professor at Western University in London, Ontario, and supermassive black holes and galaxy researcher.

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Best of Season 2 - Chris Hadfield and Iain Christie on NASA's Day Of Remembrance

Fri, 23 Jul 2021 20:13:25 GMT

Season 2 has come to close and until Season 3 starts in September were playing some of our most popular episodes from the past year. First up is Chris Hadfield and Iain Christie on NASA's Day Of Remembrance.

On January 28, 2021, NASA marked its Day Of Remembrance. It was a day set aside to honour the sacrifices of all astronauts who have died in the pursuit of the human exploration of space. In this episode of Terranauts, host Iain Christie sits down with Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield to talk about those we have lost and what their sacrifices have meant.

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Season Two Recap and Season Three Preview

Thu, 08 Jul 2021 15:45:28 GMT

Season 2 of Terranauts is a wrap! In this, the 40th episode, we take a quick look back at our second season and look forward to Season 3. While we won't be releasing new episodes over the summer, we will be keeping the feed active with some highlights of the past two seasons. We will also be busy with some other projects including starting a Terranauts facebook page. Search for us @TerranautsPodcast on Facebook. Thanks so much for listening this season... and we'll talk to you again soon.

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The Flag is A One - Part 2

Thu, 24 Jun 2021 13:59:37 GMT

In part 2 of "The Flag Is A One" we pick up the story of the Communications Technology Satellite just as a perplexing and potentially mission ending failure is occurring. Mac Evans will take us through a few days of high drama in the Mission Operations Centre as the team tries to use a tiny little bit of data to diagnose the problem, and fix it. It's a classic Terranaut story.

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The Flag is A One

Thu, 10 Jun 2021 14:46:49 GMT

In this episode of Terranauts we talk about a little known moment of high drama in the Canadian space program surrounding the crucial Communications Technology Satellite mission.

In 1976, Canada and the world were in the midst of a telecommunications revolution. Determined to use satellite communications, John Chapman led a bold effort to build and test a satellite that would become the prototype of what we now think of as a telecommunications satellite. But the Communications Technology Satellite mission almost ended before it began. Mac Evans, who was there, as the Mission Director - is here today to tell us the story. Note that this is part one of a two part story.

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Punctuating The Equilibrium

Thu, 27 May 2021 16:42:19 GMT

There are times in the development of technology and society when things change only slowly. And then there are times when things change rapidly indeed. The 1960's were certainly one of those times, for a lot of reasons. In this episode of Terranauts however, we are going to talk specifically about how simultaneous revolutions in telecommunications and satellite technology came together to change the way we talk to one another forever.

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35 Years of Space Robotics with Cameron Ower

Thu, 13 May 2021 12:53:45 GMT

Dr. Cameron Ower is the Chief Technology Officer at McDonald Dettwiler and Associates where he has been working for much of the last 35 years. When he started at MDA (then known as Spar Aerospace) he worked with and for the engineers who had designed and built the very first space robot, the original Space Shuttle Canadarm. His job, at the time, was to design the next generation of space robot - the space station arm and its special purpose dexterous manipulator known as DEXTRE. This would become the first robot to live and work permanently in space. Today, he is helping lead the team of engineers that is designing the Canadarm 3, the robot that will help humans work and live farther from home than we ever have before. Tune in to hear what has (and hasn't) changed in the last 35 years the world of space automation and robotics.

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Connecting the World by Leaving the Planet

Thu, 29 Apr 2021 12:52:56 GMT

In this episode of Terranauts we talk about the beginnings of the other great endeavour in space. Instead of talking about leaving the planet to explore space, we're going to talk about the early efforts to work from space to understand the Earth and improve life here. Specifically, we are going to talk about the early efforts to literally connect the world, by sending satellites to space. Along the way we're going to introduce another first Terranaut. In this case, it's John H Chapman, Canada's first Terranaut, and one of the people that more or less invented the profession we now refer to as the "Space Scientist."

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David Kendall is the Quintessential Terranaut (Part 2)

Thu, 15 Apr 2021 15:56:02 GMT

Today on Terranauts the second part of my conversation with the Quintessential Terranaut Dave Kendall. We talk about Dave's career managing increasingly larger and more international programs until he ended up as the chair of one of the United Nation's largest and most active committees. Not bad for a lad from Twickenham.

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David Kendall is the quintessential Terranaut

Thu, 01 Apr 2021 14:24:00 GMT

This week on Terranauts we're taking a break from our regular run of the Terranauts Guide to Leaving the Planet to bring you a fascinating interview with David Kendall who could be described as the quintessential Terranaut.

On Terranauts we often talk about the fact that no gets to space alone. We are fond of saying that space is a team sport, not only for individuals but for countries as well. Over the course of the past season and a half we have certainly talked to our share of Terrantauts with extensive international experience. But I think It's pretty rare to have one with the pedigree of today's guest.

Dr. David Kendall has not only been at the forefront of major international collaborations for the last 40 years, he has also been a Vice President of the International Astronautical Federation AND for two years he was the Chair of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.

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Project Mercury Opens a New Door for Humanity

Thu, 18 Mar 2021 14:17:53 GMT

Having completed a "textbook" mission with Wally Schirra's flight, it was now time to go for a full day on orbit with the flight of Mercury-Atlas 9 and Gordon Cooper. But this would be the final act of Project Mercury. The project had been a complete success, but its day was done as NASA and the world moved beyond simply wondering if a human could leave the planet - and started wondering what humans - and their inventions - would do when they were there.

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Project Mercury Stretches Its Legs

Thu, 04 Mar 2021 17:17:02 GMT

If you can do something three times, doing it three more times doesn't sound like it should be that hard. Unless, of course, you're talking about orbiting the planet. In this episode we take a look at the third Project Mercury manned orbital flight - which doubled the number of orbits from 3 to 6 and we talk about why that was a lot more work for the Project Mercury Terranauts than you might have expected.

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Project Mercury Comes of Age

Thu, 18 Feb 2021 15:28:11 GMT

In this episode we return to the story of Project Mercury. Having managed to achieve its original object of getting and American into orbit, Project Mercury, life was now changing as NASA's manned space activities expanded to include the new Gemini and Apollo programs. And, now that NASA had discovered it knew how to get a humans into orbit, they needed to start thinking about what they were going to do there.

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Chris Hadfield and Iain Christie on NASA's Day Of Remembrance

Thu, 04 Feb 2021 15:40:03 GMT

Last week, on 28 January, NASA marked its Day Of Remembrance. It was a day set aside to honour the sacrifices of all astronauts who have died in the pursuit of the human exploration of space. In this episode of Terranauts, host Iain Christie sits down with Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield to talk about those we have lost and what their sacrifices have meant.

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Themistocles and Kennedy - The Power of the Big Idea

Thu, 21 Jan 2021 19:39:23 GMT

The need to do big things is a basic human urge. The need to do them together is an even more basic one. Going to space satisfies both those urges in fundamental and sometimes profound ways. But human beings have been captive to the Collective Power of The Big Idea for a long time. In this episode, Terranauts host Iain Christie muses on how the theme of working together to accomplish big things can be seen as far back as ancient Athens and how it expresses itself today.

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Mercury Atlas 6 - John Glenn Makes American History

Thu, 07 Jan 2021 15:05:15 GMT

When we left Project Mercury they had finally managed to have a successful orbital flight. All of the technologies, techniques and procedures had been tested. The global tracking network was in place. There was only one thing left to do. Put an astronaut in the capsule and get him into orbit... and bring him home, of course. In this episode of a Terranauts Guide To Leaving The Planet, NASA finally makes it to the big leagues - getting to orbit and setting a course for the moon.

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Project Mercury Gets Around

Thu, 10 Dec 2020 15:18:37 GMT

This week's installment of The Terranauts Guide to Leaving the Planet is called "Project Mercury Gets Around." When we left the Mercury Flight Control team they were just about to make their first attempt to get an American into space. Once they cleared that hurdle though, the game would change again, as they confronted all of the things they would need to learn in order not just to get to space, but to stay there for at least one orbit around the earth. Oh yes, and did we mention, the President was about to let the world know that he had much bigger plans for the American space program.

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Getting NASA's Project Mercury off the Ground

Thu, 26 Nov 2020 17:18:17 GMT

In this episode of a Terranauts Guide to Leaving The Planet, we return to the story of First Terranaut Gene Kranz and the early days of NASA's Mercury Project which was supposed to get the first American into space. As we found out last time, though, Project Mercury was having trouble getting more than a few inches off the launch pad. In addition to that, they had some pretty big challenges to overcome. Most of which had nothing to do with getting to space, and everything to do with connecting places on Earth.

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Avoiding Another Titanic - Des Power on Tracking Icebergs from Space

Thu, 12 Nov 2020 20:26:17 GMT

If you were going to spend some time on board a drilling rig in the North Atlantic, in the foggiest place on the planet where icebergs are common, you would probably want Des Power looking over your shoulder from space. Des and the team at C-CORE have been solving the problem of tracking icebergs from space for more than 20 years. Des didn't start out wanting to go to space, but that's where he spends a lot of his time these days and there are a lot of people who are glad he does.

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Flight Director Gene Kranz

Thu, 29 Oct 2020 20:18:48 GMT

Today we have another instalment of the Terranauts Guide to Leaving the Planet. The guide is our exploration of spaceflight, the challenges that have been overcome in getting there, and the people who overcame them. Today's focus, a young engineer named Gene Kranz who would later become the NASA Apollo Flight Director, and who famously said of the rescue of Apollo 13, "failure is not an option."

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Sarah Gallagher Thinks Big

Thu, 15 Oct 2020 14:18:31 GMT

Meet Terranaut Sarah Gallagher, Science Advisor to the President of the Canadian Space Agency, professor at Western University in London, Ontario, and supermassive black holes and galaxy researcher.

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Wernher von Braun - The First Terranaut

Thu, 01 Oct 2020 15:39:51 GMT

In the latest instalment of the Terranauts Guide to Leaving the Planet, Iain talks about the first Terranauts. In this multi-episode track, Iain first discusses Wernher von Braun who could be considered the first Terranauts. von Braun's life and story is a complicated one. His work, which started in earnest in Germany shortly before World War II led to the first rockets that sent humans to space.

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Designing a Space Station and Other Stories

Thu, 17 Sep 2020 15:35:38 GMT

Welcome to the Terranauts first episode of Season 2. On this episode we talk to long time Terranaut Colleen Merchant who worked on the international team that designed and built the Space Station and the international flight control team that continues to support it on orbit today.

Her career has taken her from the Tropical heat of Houston summers to the frozen wasteland of Saint-Hubert, Quebec in January. She has worked for both NASA and the Canadian Space Agency in roles ranging from purely technical, to leading teams to strategic planning at the national level. She has developed new rendezvous procedures for the space shuttle and spent many hours in Mission Control watching those procedures play out on orbit.

About Season 2: This year on Terranauts we're going to offer a mix of interviews with Terranauts, people who go to space all the time without leaving the planet. In addition to our interviews we're also planning regular installments of the Terranauts Guide to Leaving the Planet where we explore the history of humankind's adventures off the planet.

- Please support Terranauts on Patreon.

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Best of - Apollo 13 and Stan Rogers in Tales From Mission Control

Thu, 03 Sep 2020 18:45:38 GMT

As we pause before starting season 2 in September, we're playing remastered "Best of Terranauts" episodes. This is our Summer Series Best of episode 4, Apollo 13 and Stan Rogers in Tales From Mission Control.

The latest Terranauts podcast happens to be the 13th episode and it coincides with the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 13 mission. So naturally Iain provides a unique and insightful look at the mission.

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Best of - Tales from Mission Control

Thu, 20 Aug 2020 21:06:01 GMT

As we pause before starting season 2 in September, we're playing remastered "Best of Terranauts" episodes. This is our Summer Series Best of episode 3, Tales from Mission Control. Host Iain Christie takes you on a journey through Johnson Space Center’s Mission Control Center during the 90’s with the first part of a this new series, Tales from Mission Control.

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Best of - Launch Day

Thu, 06 Aug 2020 17:20:30 GMT

As we pause before starting season 2 in September, we're playing remastered "Best of Terranauts" episodes. This is our Summer Series Best of episode 2, Launch Day. Launch Day is a quintessentially Terranaut experience, and this is Iain's Launch Day story.

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Best of - The Original Terranaut Story

Thu, 23 Jul 2020 14:03:45 GMT

As we pause before starting season 2 in September, we're playing remastered "Best of Terranauts" episodes for the next three weeks. This week, host Iain Christie, recounts the story of when he realized what it meant to be what he now calls a Terranaut.

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Season One Recap and Season Two Preview

Thu, 09 Jul 2020 15:34:41 GMT

It's hard to believe that we've come to an end of Season 1. Iain shares his thoughts including what he learned from his guests and in creating a podcast for the first time. He then provides a glimpse into Season 2 which is scheduled to launch on September 10. Between now and then you can expect a "best of season" to be published.

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Rocket Science Part 2

Thu, 25 Jun 2020 16:10:32 GMT

In this episode of Terranauts, Iain Christie discusses the history of rocket science as part of a new series, a Terranauts guide to leaving the planet.

Since the new series is about leaving the planet it only makes sense to talk about rockets, rocket science and its history. And you’ll be surprised at how how far back the history of rocket science began.

This is the first of two parts on rocket science. Part one covers everything until the early 20th century. Part two starts in the 20th century and covers what we would call modern rocketry.

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This Terranaut would have worked for free

Thu, 11 Jun 2020 16:18:04 GMT

His love for space was so strong that he joked that when he was interviewed to be one of the first people at a new space organization, that he was willing to work for free.

That was what Gilles Leclerc told Iain Christie in this weeks Terranauts podcast. He was one of the first five employees at the Canadian Space Agency.

Leclerc has been working at the Canadian Space Agency for almost as long as there has been a Canadian Space Agency. He has held, or acted in, just about every management position all the way up to President. He has had a front row seat for just about all of Canada's big moments in space since the early 1990's. Join Iain for a conversation about what it has been like to be a self-described "ordinary person" that has spent a career going to space in extraordinary ways … without ever leaving the planet.

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Rocket Science

Thu, 28 May 2020 15:26:35 GMT

In this episode of Terranauts, Iain Christie discusses the history of rocket science as part of a new series, a Terranauts guide to leaving the planet.

Since the new series is about leaving the planet it only makes sense to talk about rockets, rocket science and its history. And you'll be surprised at how how far back the history of rocket science began.

This is the first of two parts on rocket science. Part one covers everything until the early 20th century. Part starts in the 20th century and covers what we would call modern rocketry.

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Footsteps on the path to the Moon and Mars

Thu, 14 May 2020 15:31:17 GMT

Dr. David Williams is both a Terranaut and astronaut. He's been a pioneer at bringing medicine to space, helped construct the International Space Station, written popular children books on space, managed a hospital system with a larger budget than the Canadian Space Agency, began training astronauts as aquanauts and much more. Along the way he's come to understand the critical role thousands of Terranauts have played as on the path to the Moon and Mars.

The Show

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The Clandestine Terranaut

Thu, 30 Apr 2020 16:00:00 GMT

What is a Clandestine Terranaut? If you’re opening up New Space markets, albeit in the failing Soviet Union, and then Russia, and different parts of the US government either support you or don’t, how do you classify your work?

After all, you’re being asked to transition a communist state to, in part, a capital state with a new venture.

Today on the Terranauts podcast you’ll hear that story from someone who could have been labelled the “clandestine” Terranaut at the time.

The Show

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Apollo 13 and Stan Rogers in Tales From Mission Control

Thu, 16 Apr 2020 16:00:00 GMT

He also concludes the Stan Rogers story which was mentioned in the last episode. Oh, and did I mention there’s singing?

Listen in.

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Terranauts Tales from Mission Control

Thu, 02 Apr 2020 16:00:00 GMT

In this weeks Terranauts podcast, host Iain Christie takes you on a journey through Johnson Space Center’s Mission Control Center during the 90’s with the first part of a new series, Tales from Mission Control.The Show Like the show? Support the show:https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=4270364 Email your thoughts, comments, and questions to:podcast AT spaceq.ca Follow us on Twitter:https://twitter.com/canadainspace Subscribe to the SpaceQ Short Cuts Newsletter:https://eepurl.com/cTNNpf

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The RADARSAT program and Synthetic Aperture Radar

Thu, 19 Mar 2020 20:17:11 GMT

On the podcast we have talked to Terranauts who have been in on the early days of big programs and we have talked to Terranauts that are bringing new technology to space and to market. Today we're going to talk to a couple of Terranauts who have spent their careers watching and helping a technology through literally three generations in space. That technology is Synthetic Aperture Radar, or RADARSAT as it's known in Canada, and those Terranauts are Gord Rigby and Alan Thompson.

The Show

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Two unlikely Terranauts

Thu, 05 Mar 2020 17:54:27 GMT

Cerys Goodall and Hugh Scholey are two pretty unlikely Terranauts. As two public relations professionals the last thing they ever thought they would end up doing was going to space. But that's what they did. In this episode of Terranauts we'll hear their stories and talk about how going to space changes your perspective, even if you never leave the ground.

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Meet Terranaut Michael Lyon a Space Adventurer and New Space Lawyer

Thu, 20 Feb 2020 17:03:45 GMT

Michael Lyon had a passion for space and when the opportunity to join Space Adventures came a long it was the beginning of several New Space businesses Michael would be involved in.

The Show

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Ewan Reid: From Shuttle and Space Station Support to Creating Mission Control Space Services

Thu, 06 Feb 2020 16:13:36 GMT

What started as an internship, and could have been a very short career, instead led Ewan Reid to creating his own startup, Mission Control Space Services. In this weeks Terranauts podcast, Iain Christie talks to Ewan Reid the CEO of Mission Control Space Services who started as an intern at Neptec, a company Iain eventually led.

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Teaching and Training the Next Generation of Space Explorers

Thu, 23 Jan 2020 15:27:49 GMT

In this episode of Terranauts we feature Dr. Gordon Osinski, a professor at Western University and the director of the Institute for Earth and Space Exploration. Dr. Gordon Osinski is teaching the next generation of space explorers, which includes graduates students at Western University, while at the same time training them and astronauts who will one day explore the moon, and quite possibly Mars.

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International Terranaut Daniel Schulten

Thu, 09 Jan 2020 18:22:00 GMT

Happy New Year and welcome to another episode of Terranauts where we interview people that go to space all the time, without ever leaving the planet. Today we're going international with Daniel Schulten who started his career in the Netherlands and ended up moving to Canada to work on projects like the RADARSAT Constellation Mission. Today he leads MDA's Launchpad initiative which aims to create new Terranauts. Listen in.

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The Original Terranaut Story

Thu, 12 Dec 2019 15:25:29 GMT

This week, host Iain Christie, recounts the story of when he realized what it meant to be what he now calls a Terranaut.

The Show

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Launch Day

Thu, 28 Nov 2019 15:33:27 GMT

Today we’ve got something special for you. Iain Christie, the host of Terranauts, was the Gala speaker at the recent Canadian Space Summit. His talk was titled, Launch Day. This is the live recording of that speech. As Iain puts it, Launch Day is a quintessentially Terranaut experience, and this is his Launch Day story. But as you’ll hear, we want to hear about your Launch Day story. If we get enough stories, we’ll put together a special podcast. Send your stories to podcast@spaceq.ca.

The Show

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Chris Hadfield - An Astronaut on Terranauts

Thu, 14 Nov 2019 20:13:35 GMT

This week on the Terranauts podcast we have a very special guest, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield. Hadfield, as a former astronaut, provides his perspective on Terranauts and as you'll hear, now that he's a retired astronaut, he's become a Terranaut himself. The stories you'll hear today are not your typical astronaut stories, so listen in.

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Bill Mackey an Original Canadian Space Station Flight Controller

Thu, 31 Oct 2019 14:14:34 GMT

In the last episode we had a bit of history lesson from Mac Evans about the beginnings of Canada's current space program. We talked about the creation of the Canadian Space Agency and the negotiation of the international treaty for what eventually became the International Space Station. Today's guest Bill Mackey is going to help us continue that story and learn about the building of both the International Space Station and the international team that had to manage and run it.

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Mac Evans and Building a National Space Program

Thu, 17 Oct 2019 19:57:57 GMT

Last week on the Terranauts podcast we talked about what it takes to build your own satellite. This week we think a little bigger and talk about what it takes to build a space program. Our guest this week is Mac Evans, a former president of the Canadian Space Agency and a current member of Canada's Space Advisory Board. Mac is also one of the architects of Canada's space program. We talk about that and about what it has been like to go to space for the last 50 years... without ever leaving the planet.

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Terranauts Inaugural Podcast with Stephane Germain

Thu, 03 Oct 2019 11:00:00 GMT

When most people think about space they think of astronauts, names like Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Chris Hadfield are familiar to an awful lot of people. But for every astronaut that makes it to space there are legions of smart, dedicated, and interesting people who plan, design, build and operate the mission, spacecraft and instruments that make up the space program. Terranauts is about those people. The ones that go to space all the time, without ever leaving the planet. These are their stories.

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