Main Engine Cut Off

I spent 2 minutes and 40 seconds in the shadow of the Moon in Gallatin, TN. Totality was an incredibly powerful experience, and I wanted to share what it was like to be there as best I could. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 17 executive producers—Kris, Mike, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Jamison, Guinevere, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, and four anonymous—and 66 other supporters on Patreon. Exploring Nashville My exact location in Gallatin, TN for totality My 8" Dobsonian telescope setup My photo of totality on Flickr Path of April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse in North America Email your thoughts and comments to anthony@mainenginecutoff.com Follow @WeHaveMECO Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Google Play, Stitcher, TuneIn or elsewhere Subscribe to the Main Engine Cut Off Newsletter Buy shirts and Rocket Socks from the Main Engine Cut Off Shop Support Main Engine Cut Off on Patreon

Caleb Henry of SpaceNews joins me to discuss the slowdown in GEO satellite orders, the latest on the big LEO constellations, and what’s up with the sky falling. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 17 executive producers—Kris, Mike, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Jamison, Guinevere, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, and four anonymous—and 65 other supporters on Patreon. Caleb Henry (@CHenry_SN) | Twitter Caleb Henry, Author at SpaceNews.com Lack of satellite orders triggers layoffs at Space Systems Loral - SpaceNews.com MDA slashes GEO order expectations - SpaceNews.com NGA director supports commercial remote sensing regulatory reform - SpaceNews.com Smallsat developers propose self-regulation to address orbital debris concerns - SpaceNews.com Three Orbcomm OG2 satellites malfunctioning, fate to be determined - SpaceNews.com SES loses 12 transponders on NSS-806 satellite, says impact is temporary - SpaceNews.com Email your thoughts and comments to anthony@mainenginecutoff.com Follow @WeHaveMECO Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Google Play, Stitcher, TuneIn or elsewhere Subscribe to the Main Engine Cut Off Newsletter Buy shirts and Rocket Socks from the Main Engine Cut Off Shop Support Main Engine Cut Off on Patreon

Rocket Lab completed their investigation into what went wrong on their first launch, Virgin Orbit’s carrier 747 arrived in Long Beach, and I discuss a few NASA-backed advanced propulsion projects. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 17 executive producers—Kris, Mike, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Jamison, Guinevere, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, and four anonymous—and 66 other supporters on Patreon. Main Engine Cut Off | Listen OnDemand Free | TuneIn Rocket Lab Completes Post-Flight Analysis | Rocket Lab Rocket Lab Addresses Vehicle Roll on Twitter Telemetry glitch kept first Electron rocket from reaching orbit - SpaceNews.com Rocket Lab clear on why first launch failed and confident to go again - NZ Herald Virgin Orbit plans 2018 first launch - SpaceNews.com Virgin Orbit Tweet Shows Launch Vehicle Hardware Virgin Orbit - NewtonThree Hotfire (5 June 2017) - YouTube Virgin Orbit - NewtonFour Hotfire (29 June 2017) - YouTube LauncherOne Service Guide (PDF, 2.5MB) Vector raises $21 million for small launch vehicle development - SpaceNews.com Ad Astra Rocket Company NextSTEP Year 2 Press Release (PDF, 82KB) NASA’s plasma rocket making progress toward a 100-hour firing | Ars Technica New NASA Contract Will Advance Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Technology | NASA NASA Contracts with BWXT for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Project - Main Engine Cut Off Email your thoughts and comments to anthony@mainenginecutoff.com Follow @WeHaveMECO Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Google Play, Stitcher, TuneIn or elsewhere Subscribe to the Main Engine Cut Off Newsletter Buy shirts and Rocket Socks from the Main Engine Cut Off Shop Support Main Engine Cut Off on Patreon

I spend some time thinking through what the future of the ISS holds, and what may come after it. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 17 executive producers—Kris, Mike, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Jamison, Guinevere, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, and four anonymous—and 65 other supporters on Patreon. The Space Review: Pondering the future of the International Space Station T+20: Mike Johnson, Chief Designer at NanoRacks on NanoRacks’ History, NextSTEP, and Wet Workshops - Main Engine Cut Off NanoRacks | The Operating System of Space NanoRacks To Catalyze Concepts for Deep Space Habitats Bigelow Aerospace Axiom Space The Space Show, 01/06/2017, Michael Suffredini, Amir Blachman, Axiom Space Email your thoughts and comments to anthony@mainenginecutoff.com Follow @WeHaveMECO Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Google Play, Stitcher, or elsewhere Subscribe to the Main Engine Cut Off Newsletter Buy shirts and Rocket Socks from the Main Engine Cut Off Shop Support Main Engine Cut Off on Patreon

Eric Berger returns to the show to talk about Elon Musk and SpaceX’s crusade against cost-plus contracting, the end of Red Dragon, where NASA policy is heading, and what SpaceX may have in store for the Air Force’s next round of development contracts. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 16 executive producers—Kris, Mike, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Laszlo, Jamison, Guinevere, Nadim, Peter, and four anonymous—and 63 other supporters on Patreon. Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace) | Twitter Elon Musk knows what’s ailing NASA—costly contracting | Ars Technica Elon Musk’s Mars rocket may be about to lose half of its engines | Ars Technica SpaceX appears to have pulled the plug on its Red Dragon plans | Ars Technica Farewell, Red Dragon - Main Engine Cut Off SpaceX goes there—seeks government funds for deep space | Ars Technica NASA finally admits it doesn’t have the funding to land humans on Mars | Ars Technica Op-ed: We love you SpaceX, and hope you reach Mars. But we need you to focus. | Ars Technica Email your thoughts and comments to anthony@mainenginecutoff.com Follow @WeHaveMECO Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Google Play, Stitcher, or elsewhere Subscribe to the Main Engine Cut Off Newsletter Buy shirts and Rocket Socks from the Main Engine Cut Off Shop Support Main Engine Cut Off on Patreon

Loren Grush of The Verge joins me to talk about Falcon Heavy, SpaceX cancelling Dragon 2 propulsive landings, Red Dragon riding off into the sunset, Moon Express, US space policy, and a whole lot more. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 16 executive producers—Kris, Mike, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Laszlo, Jamison, Guinevere, Nadim, Peter, and four anonymous—and 62 other supporters on Patreon. Loren Grush (@lorengrush) | Twitter Elon Musk suggests SpaceX is scrapping its plans to land Dragon capsules on Mars - The Verge Farewell, Red Dragon - Main Engine Cut Off Larry Lemke - Red Dragon: Low Cost Access to the Surface of Mars (SETI Talks) - YouTube Meet Scott Pace, the National Space Council's new executive secretary | The Planetary Society JAXA Interested in NASA’s Deep Space Gateway - Main Engine Cut Off To mine the Moon, private company Moon Express plans to build a fleet of robotic landers - The Verge How Moon Express could use robots to mine the Moon - YouTube Email your thoughts and comments to anthony@mainenginecutoff.com Follow @WeHaveMECO Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Google Play, Stitcher, or elsewhere Subscribe to the Main Engine Cut Off Newsletter Buy shirts and Rocket Socks from the Main Engine Cut Off Shop Support Main Engine Cut Off on Patreon

XCOR laid off the rest of its staff and is closing up shop after losing a contract with ULA, which leaves ULA in an interesting spot for Vulcan-ACES. On the ULA side, they won their first Phase 1A contract from the Air Force, and the contract price sheds some light on just how much they’re cutting their costs. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 16 executive producers—Kris, Mike, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Laszlo, Jamison, Guinevere, Nadim, Peter, and four anonymous—and 56 other supporters on Patreon. XCOR Aerospace Lays Off Entire Staff But Intends To Keep Going XCOR Loses XS-1 and ULA ACES Contract, Announces Lay Offs - Main Engine Cut Off ULA wins competition for $191 million Air Force launch - SpaceNews.com United Launch Alliance Wins Competitive Contract Award to Launch the United States Air Force STP-3 M - United Launch Alliance Very interesting comments on STP-3 from Tory Bruno on the ULA subreddit NASA - NASA Selects Launch Services Provider for Juno Jupiter Mission Air Force asks SpaceX, ULA to bid on a five-launch contract - SpaceNews.com Email your thoughts and comments to anthony@mainenginecutoff.com Follow @WeHaveMECO Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Google Play, Stitcher, or elsewhere Subscribe to the Main Engine Cut Off Newsletter Buy shirts and Rocket Socks from the Main Engine Cut Off Shop Support Main Engine Cut Off on Patreon

SpaceX launched two missions last weekend, flew new titanium grid fins on Falcon 9, and are really picking up the pace. And Blue Origin got cozy with the Alabama Launch Alliance by announcing that they’ll build the BE-4 production facility in Huntsville—if the engine is chosen for Vulcan. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 15 executive producers—Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Laszlo, Jamison, Guinevere, Nadim, Peter, and four anonymous—and 55 other supporters on Patreon. SpaceX Doubleheader — Main Engine Cut Off NASASpaceflight on Twitter United Launch Alliance Issues Layoff Notices at Vandenberg AFB | Business - Noozhawk.com Blue Origin retains engine lead as House considers limitations on launch system funding - SpaceNews.com What just happened between Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and Alabama? | AL.com Aerojet Rocketdyne bringing 800 rocket jobs to Alabama | AL.com The Alabama Launch Alliance - Main Engine Cut Off Thornberry Walks Back Vulcan Intervention - Main Engine Cut Off Email your thoughts and comments to anthony@mainenginecutoff.com Follow @WeHaveMECO Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Google Play, Stitcher, or elsewhere Subscribe to the Main Engine Cut Off Newsletter Buy shirts and Rocket Socks from the Main Engine Cut Off Shop Support Main Engine Cut Off on Patreon

Boeing’s proposal won Phases 2 and 3 of DARPA’s XS-1 program, and I’m pretty bummed about it. And the Air Force announced that SpaceX will launch the fifth X-37B mission in August. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 14 executive producers—Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Laszlo, Jamison, Guinevere, Nadim, and four anonymous—and 52 other supporters on Patreon. Thoughts on XS-1 - Main Engine Cut Off DARPA selects Boeing for spaceplane project - SpaceNews.com Bulgariasat launch realigns; SpaceX secures X-37B launch contract | NASASpaceFlight.com SpaceX will launch next secret X-37 Air Force mission - SpaceNews.com Tory Bruno says ULA didn’t get to compete for Air Force X-37B launch that went to SpaceX - SpaceNews.com Email your thoughts and comments to anthony@mainenginecutoff.com Follow @WeHaveMECO Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Google Play, Stitcher, or elsewhere Subscribe to the Main Engine Cut Off Newsletter Buy shirts and Rocket Socks from the Main Engine Cut Off Shop Support Main Engine Cut Off on Patreon

Dr. Thomas Lang, Professor of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging at the UCSF School of Medicine, joins the show to discuss human health and physiology in space. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 13 executive producers—Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Laszlo, Jamison, Guinevere, and four anonymous—and 51 other supporters on Patreon. Thomas Lang | UCSF Profiles NASA Honors Two UCSF Scientists for Top Discoveries in Microgravity | UC San Francisco Browse Articles | npj Microgravity Towards human exploration of space: the THESEUS review series on muscle and bone research priorities | npj Microgravity The Space Show - March 7, 2017 - Dr. Francis Cucinotta on space radiation Study Reveals Immune System is Dazed and Confused During Spaceflight | NASA For an Immune Cell, Microgravity Mimics Aging | NASA Spaceflight alters expression of microRNA during T-cell activation. - PubMed - NCBI Spaceflight and simulated microgravity cause a significant reduction of key gene expression in early T-cell activation. - PubMed - NCBI Skeletal health in long-duration astronauts: nature, assessment, and management recommendations from the NASA Bone Summit. - PubMed - NCBI Email your thoughts and comments to anthony@mainenginecutoff.com Follow @WeHaveMECO Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Google Play, Stitcher, or elsewhere Subscribe to the Main Engine Cut Off Newsletter Buy shirts and Rocket Socks from the Main Engine Cut Off Shop Support Main Engine Cut Off on Patreon