Space and Things And Things Productions

Ever wondered what life might be like on a remote part of the world while tracking spacecraft and communicating with them? Ever considered the dangers of being in a blockhouse close to a rocket launch as it explodes? Well our guess this week has some stories for you. We speak to Dan Kovalchik who started working on tracking stations and eventually became the Systems Administrator for the Delta launches, a job he held for 21 years. He has a new book out called ‘Days of Delta Thunder’ so we caught up with him to have a chat.
Dan Kovalchik:
http://www.rangerat.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-kovalchik-43311880/
Days of Delta Thunder:
https://www.amazon.com/Days-Delta-Thunder-Dan-Kovalchik-ebook/dp/B0D1SCJ8HN
Delta II Launch Failure: 1997
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTmb3Cqb2qw 

Full show notes: https://spaceandthingspodcast.com/
Show notes include links to all articles mentioned and full details of our guests and links to what caught our eye this week.
Image Credits: 30th Space Wing Public Affairs
Space and Things:
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We can’t get enough of talking about the moon and we love a bit of poetry, so it was a joy talking to Christopher Cokinos for this week’s podcast. Christopher has just released a book called ‘Still as Bright - An Illuminating History of the Moon, from Antiquity to Tomorrow’ - and it’s a must read!
Christopher Cokinos: 
https://www.christophercokinos.com/
Still As Bright:
https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Still-As-Bright/Christopher-Cokinos/9781639365692 
Full show notes: https://spaceandthingspodcast.com/podcast/stp192-talking-about-the-moon-and-poetry-with-christopher-cokinos
Show notes include links to all articles mentioned and full details of our guests and links to what caught our eye this week.
Image Credits: Pegasus Books
Space and Things:
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Merch and Info: https://www.spaceandthingspodcast.com
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Spaceandthings
Business Enquiries: info@andthingsproductions.com
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/spaceandthings.

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With the recent moon landing attempts by private US companies having some mixed results, it seems that everyone is an expert on how to land something on the moon all of a sudden, well today we speak to an actual expert to find out what's really going on up there. Brandon Dotson has all the degrees and is currently writing a thesis on the difficulties of landing on the moon.
Brandon Dotson:
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=h-bD-jkAAAAJ&hl=en
Full show notes: https://spaceandthingspodcast.com/podcast/stp191-why-is-it-so-difficult-to-land-on-the-moon-with-brandon-dotson
Show notes include links to all articles mentioned and full details of our guests and links to what caught our eye this week.
Image Credits: NASA
Space and Things:
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Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Spaceandthings
Business Enquiries: info@andthingsproductions.com
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/spaceandthings.

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This week we speak to Lisa Young, Supervisory Conservator at the National Air and Space Museum, who has been responsible for the preservation of the spacesuits and spacecraft in the Smithsonian collection. Ever been to a museum and wondered about how they look after the spacesuits? Well Lisa is the expert.
Lisa Young:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-young-06a22512/
https://airandspace.si.edu/people/staff/lisa-young 
Full show notes: https://spaceandthingspodcast.com/podcast/how-to-look-after-a-spacesuit-with-lisa-young
Show notes include links to all articles mentioned and full details of our guests and links to what caught our eye this week.
Image Credits: Space and Things Podcast
Space and Things:
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Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Spaceandthings
Business Enquiries: info@andthingsproductions.com
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/spaceandthings.

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On 24th March of this year, George Abbey died at the age of 91. One of the most influencial people working behind the scenes at NASA for many years and someone who has come up many times during many interviews. So we wanted to spend an episode to pay tribute to his contributions. To do this we’re joined by Michael Cassutt, author of the 2018 book “The Astronaut Maker - How One Mysterious Engineer Ran Human Spaceflight for a Generation”
George Abbey NASA Obituary:
https://www.nasa.gov/people/george-w-s-abbey/
Michael Cassutt:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-cassutt-5680841/
X: https://twitter.com/MichaelCassutt 
The Astronaut Maker:
https://www.chicagoreviewpress.com/the-astronaut-maker-products-9781613737002.php?page_id=30&cid=347961
Full show notes: https://spaceandthingspodcast.com/podcast/stp189-remembering-george-abbey-with-michael-cassutt
Show notes include links to all articles mentioned and full details of our guests and links to what caught our eye this week.
Image Credits: NASA
Space and Things:
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Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Spaceandthings
Business Enquiries: info@andthingsproductions.com
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/spaceandthings.

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On April 8th there will be a total eclipse travelling across Mexico, the United States and Canada so today we talk to Stephen Wolfram, who earlier this year released a book called “Predicting the Eclipse: A Multimillennium Tale of Computation.” - we learn about the history of predicting eclipses and so much more. 
Stephen Wolfram:
https://www.stephenwolfram.com/ 
X: https://twitter.com/stephen_wolfram 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenwolfram/ 
Predicting the Eclipse:
A Multimillennium Tale of Computation
https://www.wolfram-media.com/products/predicting-the-eclipse/
Full show notes: https://spaceandthingspodcast.com/podcast/stp188-predicting-the-eclipse-a-multimillennium-tale-of-computation-with-stephen-wolfram
Show notes include links to all articles mentioned and full details of our guests and links to what caught our eye this week.
Image Credits: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani
Space and Things:
X: https://www.twitter.com/spaceandthings1
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spaceandthingspodcast
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spaceandthingspodcast/
Merch and Info: https://www.spaceandthingspodcast.com
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Spaceandthings
Business Enquiries: info@andthingsproductions.com
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/spaceandthings.

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