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Astronaut and bestselling author Chris Hadfield joins me to discuss his new Cold War thriller Final Orbit and the real history behind it—UAPs, Operation Paperclip, and the exiled genius who built China’s rocket program. Along the way, we debate the moon landing hoax, the cost of the ISS, and why humans—not robots—must carry our story into the stars.

Key Takeaways:

00:00 Intro

03:06 The Cold War and space exploration
05:40 Conspiracy theories, UAPs, and whistleblowers
10:38 Checklists as a survival tool
16:06 Moon landing denial
21:26 Judging a book by its cover
26:38 Apollo-Soyuz collaboration
30:59 The legacy of Wernehr von Braun
34:20 McCarthyism and the future of space exploration
38:24 Chinese space program and rivalry
44:19 Is it reckless to send humans to space?
48:54 Outro

Additional resources:

➡️ Follow Chris Hadfield:

✖️ Twitter: https://x.com/cmdr_hadfield?lang=en
📚 Explore Chris Hadfield’s books: https://chrishadfield.ca/books/

➡️ My new book:

📖 Into the Impossible Volume 2: Focus Like a Nobel Prize Winner: Lessons from Laureates to Concentrate Your Creativity and Ignite Your Career: ⁠https://a.co/d/hi50U9U⁠

➡️ Follow me on your fav platforms:

✖️ Twitter:⁠ ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating⁠

🔔 YouTube:⁠ https://www.youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_confirmation=1⁠

📝 Join my mailing list:⁠ ⁠⁠https://briankeating.com/list⁠

✍️ Check out my blog:⁠ ⁠⁠https://briankeating.com/cosmic-musings/⁠

🎙️ Follow my podcast:⁠ ⁠⁠https://briankeating.com/podcast⁠

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Into the Impossible with Brian Keating is a podcast dedicated to all those who want to explore the universe within and beyond the known.

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Ep 156 Dark Matter in the Media Universe