Off-Nominal

Anthony is joined by Eric Berger, Senior Space Editor at Ars Technica, and Casey Handmer, Founder of Terraform Industries, to talk about Eric’s visit to NASA HQ for a meeting on the Orion heat shield, the upcoming Artemis 2 mission, and Administrator Isaacman’s first few weeks.TopicsOff-Nominal - YouTubeEpisode 224 - Gotta Wear the Pants (with Eric Berger and Casey Handmer) - YouTubeIs Orion’s heat shield really safe? New NASA chief conducts final review on eve of flight. - Ars TechnicaNASA’s Orion Space Capsule Is Flaming Garbage – Casey Handmer's blogReid Wiseman on X: “Good morning, Moon. See you next month?”NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman on X: “Yesterday, I met with SpaceX and Blue Origin to understand the latest plans to accelerate NASA’s Artemis timeline. The capabilities these two partners are pioneering will be essential to returning NASA astronauts to the lunar surface, establishing an enduring presence, and…”Safety panel says NASA should have taken Starliner incident more seriously - Ars TechnicaFollow EricAuthor: Eric Berger - Ars TechnicaEric Berger (@SciGuySpace) / XReentry: SpaceX, Elon Musk, and the Reusable Rockets that Launched a Second Space Age | West Houston's Neighborhood BookshopFollow CaseyCasey HandmerCasey Handmer, PhD (@CJHandmer) / XTerraform IndustriesFollow Off-NominalSubscribe to the show! - Off-NominalSupport the show, join the DiscordOff-Nominal (@offnom) / TwitterOff-Nominal (@offnom@spacey.space) - Spacey SpaceFollow JakeWeMartians Podcast - Follow Humanity's Journey to MarsWeMartians Podcast (@We_Martians) | TwitterJake Robins (@JakeOnOrbit) | TwitterJake Robins (@JakeOnOrbit@spacey.space) - Spacey SpaceFollow AnthonyMain Engine Cut OffMain Engine Cut Off (@WeHaveMECO) | TwitterMain Engine Cut Off (@meco@spacey.space) - Spacey SpaceAnthony Colangelo (@acolangelo) | TwitterAnthony Colangelo (@acolangelo@jawns.club) - jawns.club 🐘Off-Nominal MerchandiseOff-Nominal Logo TeeWeMartians Shop | MECO Shop

Jake and Anthony are joined by Emilee Speck, Senior Content Editor at AccuWeather, to look back at their 2025 predictions, and make a few for 2026.TopicsOff-Nominal - YouTubeEpisode 223 - Not a Friend, But a Customer (with Emilee Speck) - YouTubeFollow EmileeEmilee Speck (@EMSpeck) / XEmilee Speck | LinkedInFollow Off-NominalSubscribe to the show! - Off-NominalSupport the show, join the DiscordOff-Nominal (@offnom) / TwitterOff-Nominal (@offnom@spacey.space) - Spacey SpaceFollow JakeWeMartians Podcast - Follow Humanity's Journey to MarsWeMartians Podcast (@We_Martians) | TwitterJake Robins (@JakeOnOrbit) | TwitterJake Robins (@JakeOnOrbit@spacey.space) - Spacey SpaceFollow AnthonyMain Engine Cut OffMain Engine Cut Off (@WeHaveMECO) | TwitterMain Engine Cut Off (@meco@spacey.space) - Spacey SpaceAnthony Colangelo (@acolangelo) | TwitterAnthony Colangelo (@acolangelo@jawns.club) - jawns.club 🐘Off-Nominal MerchandiseOff-Nominal Logo TeeWeMartians Shop | MECO Shop

Jake and Anthony are joined by Brendan Byrne, News Director at Central Florida Public Media and host of Are We There Yet?, to present the 2025 Off-Nominees: the most bizarre space news stories of the year.TopicsOff-Nominal - YouTubeEpisode 222 - Way to Gaureau (Presenting the 2025 Off-Nominees with Brendan Byrne) - YouTubeThe Off-Nominal Awards - Off-NominalEutelsat resolves OneWeb leap year software glitch after two-day outage - SpaceNewsJeff Foust on X: “NASA says there could be delays in the next Cygnus mission to the ISS after its shipping container sustained damage. NASA will alter the cargo manifest for the next cargo Dragon mission to put more consumables on it.”Isar Aerospace’s first Spectrum launch fails - SpaceNewsLivestream: First test flight of Isar Aerospace - YouTubeBOOM! ISAR Spectrum Rocket Launch Failure - YouTubeJeff Bezos Faceplants at Blue Origin Rocket Launch Capsule LandingUnpacking claims Jeff Bezos opening the Blue Origin capsule hatch was staged | Snopes.comAlpha FLTA006 "Message In A Booster" - YouTube[EXCLUSIVE] ERIS | Test Flight 1 SUCCESS | Gilmour Space Technologies - YouTubeAir Safety #OTD by Francisco Cunha on X: “Here´s an international mess... Today, a Zambian-registered light aircraft, carrying 400 pounds of drugs with "SpaceX" labels, inbound from Colombia, crashed in Brazil, killing the pilot, who was Australian.”Before a Soyuz launch Thursday someone forgot to secure a 20-ton service platform - Ars TechnicaKatya Pavlushchenko on X: “New photos of the damaged launch pad at Site 31 of Baikonur Kosmodrome were published in Telegram channels and on Novosti Kosmonavtiki forum. Sad to see it like this.”R-7 ICBM/Soyuz rocket launch facilities in BaikonurAlejandro Alcantarilla Romera (Alex) on X: “More than two and a half years after the last Proton launch, another one is out on the pad for launch in a few days.”Jake’s Original Falcon Heavy TakeBooster 18 suffers anomaly during proof testing - NASASpaceFlight.comRoscosmos replaces cosmonaut on next Crew Dragon mission to ISS - SpaceNewsSo how do Russian cosmonauts feel about Russia’s war on Ukraine? - Ars TechnicaNASA rebukes Russian use of space station for propaganda purposes [Updated] - Ars TechnicaFollow BrendanBrendan Byrne (@SpaceBrendan) / XBrendan ByrneAre We There Yet? : NPRFollow Off-NominalSubscribe to the show! - Off-NominalSupport the show, join the DiscordOff-Nominal (@offnom) / TwitterOff-Nominal (@offnom@spacey.space) - Spacey SpaceFollow JakeWeMartians Podcast - Follow Humanity's Journey to MarsWeMartians Podcast (@We_Martians) | TwitterJake Robins (@JakeOnOrbit) | TwitterJake Robins (@JakeOnOrbit@spacey.space) - Spacey SpaceFollow AnthonyMain Engine Cut OffMain Engine Cut Off (@WeHaveMECO) | TwitterMain Engine Cut Off (@meco@spacey.space) - Spacey SpaceAnthony Colangelo (@acolangelo) | TwitterAnthony Colangelo (@acolangelo@jawns.club) - jawns.club 🐘Off-Nominal MerchandiseOff-Nominal Logo TeeWeMartians Shop | MECO Shop

Jake and Anthony are joined by Jeffrey Kluger to talk about his new book, Gemini: Stepping Stone to the Moon, the Untold Story.TopicsOff-Nominal - YouTubeEpisode 221 - Ornithopter of Spacecraft (with Jeffrey Kluger) - YouTubeGemini: Stepping Stone to the Moon, the Untold Story: Kluger, Jeffrey: 9781250323002: Amazon.com: BooksGeminiFollow JeffreyJeffrey Kluger (@jeffreykluger) / XJeffrey Kluger | TIMEFollow Off-NominalSubscribe to the show! - Off-NominalSupport the show, join the DiscordOff-Nominal (@offnom) / TwitterOff-Nominal (@offnom@spacey.space) - Spacey SpaceFollow JakeWeMartians Podcast - Follow Humanity's Journey to MarsWeMartians Podcast (@We_Martians) | TwitterJake Robins (@JakeOnOrbit) | TwitterJake Robins (@JakeOnOrbit@spacey.space) - Spacey SpaceFollow AnthonyMain Engine Cut OffMain Engine Cut Off (@WeHaveMECO) | TwitterMain Engine Cut Off (@meco@spacey.space) - Spacey SpaceAnthony Colangelo (@acolangelo) | TwitterAnthony Colangelo (@acolangelo@jawns.club) - jawns.club 🐘Off-Nominal MerchandiseOff-Nominal Logo TeeWeMartians Shop | MECO Shop

Jake and Anthony are joined by Loren Grush of Bloomberg to talk about Jared Isaacman’s second nomination hearing and everything else going on around the industry, like maybe Sam Altman’s foray into rockets. Also, a little side quest into AI.TopicsOff-Nominal - YouTubeEpisode 220 - I Will Always Follow the Law, Senator (with Loren Grush) - YouTubeSpaceX Backer, Vying to Run NASA, Downplays Ties With Musk - BloombergSpaceX Pitches Accelerated Moon Landing Plan After NASA Pressure - BloombergBezos’ Blue Origin Lofts NASA Craft, Nails Booster Landing - BloombergExclusive | OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Has Explored Deal to Build Competitor to Elon Musk’s SpaceX - WSJRoscosmos replaces cosmonaut on next Crew Dragon mission to ISS - SpaceNewsTelegram: View @roscosmos_gkTelegram WidgetFollow LorenLoren Grush - BloombergLoren Grush (@grushcrush) - Instagram photos and videosLoren Grush (@lorengrush.bsky.social) — BlueskyFollow Off-NominalSubscribe to the show! - Off-NominalSupport the show, join the DiscordOff-Nominal (@offnom) / TwitterOff-Nominal (@offnom@spacey.space) - Spacey SpaceFollow JakeWeMartians Podcast - Follow Humanity's Journey to MarsWeMartians Podcast (@We_Martians) | TwitterJake Robins (@JakeOnOrbit) | TwitterJake Robins (@JakeOnOrbit@spacey.space) - Spacey SpaceFollow AnthonyMain Engine Cut OffMain Engine Cut Off (@WeHaveMECO) | TwitterMain Engine Cut Off (@meco@spacey.space) - Spacey SpaceAnthony Colangelo (@acolangelo) | TwitterAnthony Colangelo (@acolangelo@jawns.club) - jawns.club 🐘Off-Nominal MerchandiseOff-Nominal Logo TeeWeMartians Shop | MECO Shop

Jake and Anthony are joined by Ed Ge, CEO and co-founder of Aethero, a space computing startup focused on building the best integrated hardware and software in space. Also we randomly go eBay shopping for old Russian space hardware.TopicsOff-Nominal - YouTubeEpisode 219 - ITAR-Certified Auction Houses (with Ed Ge) - YouTubeAethero - Space Data, Re-ImaginedCosmic Shielding works with Aethero to protect Nvidia Jetson Orin NX GPU - SpaceNewsROSCOSMOS COSMONAUT SERGEY RYZHIKOV SPARE WINTER JACKET SOYUZ MS-27 ISS EXP. 73 | eBayPREFLIGHT THE CHALLENGE MOVIE COSMONAUT A. SHKAPLEROV JACKET SOYUZ MS-19 | eBayCosmonaut Oleg Novitsky Jersey T-shirt Soyuz MS-18 ISS Expedition 65 Gagarin :) | eBayLOK Lunar Lander LK Salyut Space Station Periscope Extremely Rare Artifact | eBayActual Console Panel Soyuz TM/Mir Space Station Extremely Rare | eBayFollow EdEdward (@somefoundersalt) / XFollow Off-NominalSubscribe to the show! - Off-NominalSupport the show, join the DiscordOff-Nominal (@offnom) / TwitterOff-Nominal (@offnom@spacey.space) - Spacey SpaceFollow JakeWeMartians Podcast - Follow Humanity's Journey to MarsWeMartians Podcast (@We_Martians) | TwitterJake Robins (@JakeOnOrbit) | TwitterJake Robins (@JakeOnOrbit@spacey.space) - Spacey SpaceFollow AnthonyMain Engine Cut OffMain Engine Cut Off (@WeHaveMECO) | TwitterMain Engine Cut Off (@meco@spacey.space) - Spacey SpaceAnthony Colangelo (@acolangelo) | TwitterAnthony Colangelo (@acolangelo@jawns.club) - jawns.club 🐘Off-Nominal MerchandiseOff-Nominal Logo TeeWeMartians Shop | MECO Shop

Jake and Anthony dive into the excitement of the New Glenn launch, humorously measuring its altitude in Boeing 737s. They discuss the implications of ESCAPADE's low orbit and speculate about the future of Blue Origin after the successful demo. The hosts also chat about the political landscape surrounding NASA, focusing on Jared Isaacman's renomination and the potential for nuclear propulsion advancements. With witty banter and technical insights, they navigate the chaos of space exploration while reflecting on recent industry developments.

Jake and Anthony are joined by space artist and illustrator Paul Fjeld to review their rocket tier list, adjust some rankings, and add some new contenders to the mix.TopicsOff-Nominal - YouTubeEpisode 217 - Buran DMCA Takedown (with Paul Fjeld) - YouTubeEpisode 217 OuttakesRocket Tier List Rebuttal ※ veridical.netOff-Nominal Official Rocket - TierMaker (First Take)Off-Nominal Rocket Tiers Mark 2 - TierMaker (Spoilers)Follow PaulSpace Art by Paul FjeldFollow Off-NominalSubscribe to the show! - Off-NominalSupport the show, join the DiscordOff-Nominal (@offnom) / TwitterOff-Nominal (@offnom@spacey.space) - Spacey SpaceFollow JakeWeMartians Podcast - Follow Humanity's Journey to MarsWeMartians Podcast (@We_Martians) | TwitterJake Robins (@JakeOnOrbit) | TwitterJake Robins (@JakeOnOrbit@spacey.space) - Spacey SpaceFollow AnthonyMain Engine Cut OffMain Engine Cut Off (@WeHaveMECO) | TwitterMain Engine Cut Off (@meco@spacey.space) - Spacey SpaceAnthony Colangelo (@acolangelo) | TwitterAnthony Colangelo (@acolangelo@jawns.club) - jawns.club 🐘Off-Nominal MerchandiseOff-Nominal Logo TeeWeMartians Shop | MECO Shop

Eric Berger, Senior Space Editor at Ars Technica, dives into the competitive landscape of NASA leadership and the critical Artemis 3 lunar mission. He discusses the geopolitical importance of lunar exploration and the implications if the U.S. falls behind China. The conversation also touches on NASA's transparency issues, the potential streamlining of missions, and the dynamics of agency politics influencing the next NASA Administrator. Berger critiques both SpaceX and Blue Origin's media strategies while sharing insights on the future of lunar programming.

Jake and Anthony are joined by Craig Baerwaldt and Sarah Freese to talk about Space Happy Hour and the upcoming Sally’s Night event, honoring Sally Ride and celebrating women in aerospace.TopicsOff-Nominal - YouTubeEpisode 215 - Gainesville-on-Ocala (with Craig Baerwaldt and Sarah Freese) - YouTubeSally's Night | Space Happy Hour Global Women's Night November 13, 2025Space Happy Hour | Space Industry Networking EventsSpace Happy Hour: Overview | LinkedInFollow Off-NominalSubscribe to the show! - Off-NominalSupport the show, join the DiscordOff-Nominal (@offnom) / TwitterOff-Nominal (@offnom@spacey.space) - Spacey SpaceFollow JakeWeMartians Podcast - Follow Humanity's Journey to MarsWeMartians Podcast (@We_Martians) | TwitterJake Robins (@JakeOnOrbit) | TwitterJake Robins (@JakeOnOrbit@spacey.space) - Spacey SpaceFollow AnthonyMain Engine Cut OffMain Engine Cut Off (@WeHaveMECO) | TwitterMain Engine Cut Off (@meco@spacey.space) - Spacey SpaceAnthony Colangelo (@acolangelo) | TwitterAnthony Colangelo (@acolangelo@jawns.club) - jawns.club 🐘Off-Nominal MerchandiseOff-Nominal Logo TeeWeMartians Shop | MECO Shop