Space Disasters & Daring Missions

OBOMEDIA ENTERTAINMENT

Space has swallowed careers, missions, and men whole, leaving behind bolts, checklists, and a few surviving voices who know exactly how close the silence came. This show digs through NASA archives, mission transcripts, and the quiet testimony of astronauts to rebuild what actually happened when the plan fell apart forty miles above Earth or a quarter million miles toward the Moon. Each episode is one complete, reconstructed story, told without a host standing between you and the record. A skull rides shotgun on Hubble's highest orbit. A 121-pound cap gets bolted onto a spacecraft that still won't reveal where it's leaking. A navigator with no instruments steers by starlight to bring Apollo 13 home. A surgeon performs emergency repairs on a live solar array with no operating room and no second attempt. These are not summaries — they are minute-by-minute accounts built from flight logs, radio chatter, and the private memories of the people who lived through space disasters that never made the headlines they deserved. The show moves through the full arc of American spaceflight: the astronauts denied their missions for reasons buried in politics, the men who crossed space three times and still never got their wings, the geologists who proved the Moon itself had lied about a mountain's identity. It is NASA history told through the human cost of ambition — the near-misses, the improvised fixes, the decisions made in seconds that took decades to fully explain. If you want space history that reads like a thriller because it actually was one, subscribe now. New episodes arrive weekly, each one a self-contained descent into a mission that almost didn't make it back.

  1. 1 hr ago

    The Day Snoopy Teetered Above the Moon: Eight Seconds That Could've Changed History

    A lunar module named Snoopy dips to 14.4 km above the Moon-could the Apollo 10 crew complete the dress rehearsal without landing? The Day Snoopy Teetered Above the Moon: Eight Seconds That Could've Changed History In this episode, we follow Apollo Ten’s dress rehearsal mission and the decisions, hardware limits, and split-second piloting that defined its most dangerous moment. What did the crew face when Snoopy swung and tumbled just above the lunar surface, and how did those eight seconds reshape the countdown to the Moon? Mission: Apollo Ten Crew: Thomas Stafford, John Young, Gene Cernan Launch Date: May 18, 1969 Location: Launch Complex 39B; lunar orbit 14.4 km above surface Spacecraft Names: Charlie Brown (CM), Snoopy (LM) - The mission was a full dress rehearsal: every landing procedure except the actual touchdown would be tested in lunar orbit. - Snoopy’s ascent stage was fueled to roughly 50% capacity, a deliberate limit that made an unauthorized landing physically impossible. - Stafford and Cernan brought the lunar module down to 14.4 kilometers-close enough to identify craters and pick a landing site without touching down. - During ascent, unpredictable lunar mascons and untested rendezvous procedures were core mission risks NASA intended to quantify. - For eight seconds the lunar module began violent tumbling while Young waited alone in the command module above, forcing split-second decisions under extreme conditions. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.

    The Day Snoopy Teetered Above the Moon: Eight Seconds That Could've Changed History
  2. 1 day ago

    The rocketcam caught foam slamming the tank - did they make it?

    A rocketcam shows a chunk of foam slam into Atlantis’s external tank during ascent - did NASA act in time to protect the crew? The rocketcam caught foam slamming the tank - did they make it? In this episode, we follow the ascent of STS-112 and the new rocketcam footage that recorded a foam strike on Atlantis’s external tank. We trace the shuttle’s recent technical scares, the crew’s mission objectives for the S1 truss, and the decisions made once controllers saw the dent - but did those choices change anything? Person: Commander Jeffrey Ashby Person: Pilot Pamela Melroy Event: Foam impact recorded at 82 seconds after liftoff Date: October 7, 2002 Location: Atlantis (STS-112) ascent, visible via external tank rocketcam - A dictionary-size foam piece struck solid metal at several hundred miles per hour, leaving a four-inch by three-inch dent. - For 116 days the dent sat in a NASA report while another shuttle remained on the pad. - Atlantis had faced earlier issues in 2002: cracked liquid hydrogen feed line liners and a Hurricane Lili delay. - The rocketcam, mounted on the external tank for the first time, transmitted live ascent video to controllers on the ground. - At about two minutes the SRB separation obscured the camera’s view, closing the window of direct observation. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.

    The rocketcam caught foam slamming the tank - did they make it?
  3. 2 days ago

    A backup separation cord detonated and cost them minutes of EVA time

    Separation cords detonate, ripping Discovery’s payload bay insulation-did the astronauts make it in time to save their EVA plans? A backup separation cord detonated and cost them minutes of EVA time In this episode, we follow the crew of Space Shuttle Discovery as they deal with unexpected hardware firing that punctures insulation in orbit and threatens the mission’s primary rehearsal for upcoming Hubble servicing. The episode covers the sequence of events, the mission context, and the unresolved gap in the record: what caused both explosive cords to fire at once? Mission: STS-51 Date: September 12, 1993 Location: Space Shuttle Discovery, payload bay Person: Commander Frank Culbertson; Pilot Kenneth Reightler; Mission Specialists James Newman, Carl Walz, Daniel Bursch Event: Simultaneous detonation of primary and backup explosive separation cords damaging 24 insulation blankets and a retaining ring - Thirty minutes before the first ACTS deployment window, two-way comms to ground dropped and mission rules prevented proceeding without a GO. - Engineers switched the S-Band to a lower frequency, restored comms forty-five minutes later, and scheduled a second deployment window. - ACTS was released and the Transfer Orbit Stage fired forty-five minutes after release as planned, putting the satellite on course. - Both explosive separation cords on the Airborne Support Equipment cradle detonated simultaneously, punching holes in twenty-four insulation blankets near APU-3 and damaging the retaining ring. - The flight record logs debris observed by the crew and detailed physical damage but does not identify a root cause for the dual detonation. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.

    A backup separation cord detonated and cost them minutes of EVA time
  4. 3 days ago

    The 33-minute orbital window that would buy Earth's escape

    A spacecraft slammed into Dimorphos; humanity had minutes to nudge the asteroid-did it work? The 33-minute orbital window that would buy Earth's escape In this episode, we follow the mission that deliberately struck a small moon to test whether a tiny change in velocity could translate into years of safe distance for Earth. We trace the discovery of Didymos and Dimorphos, the science behind kinetic impactors, and the tense final minutes before contact-would thirty-three minutes be enough? Person: Petr Pravec Event: DART kinetic impact test Date: September 26, 2022 Target: Dimorphos (Didymoon) Launch Date: November 24, 2021 - An eleven-point-nine-two-hour orbital rhythm in Didymos’s light revealed a previously unseen moon, found by Petr Pravec in 2003. - Radar imaging at Arecibo measured Dimorphos as roughly 170 meters across, tidally locked and orbiting Didymos. - Dimorphos’s smooth, crater-free surface indicated a rubble-pile structure, raising questions about how it would absorb an impact. - DART carried no explosives-its mission was pure momentum, using SMART Nav to autonomously steer the spacecraft in the final hours. - The mission hinged on producing about two centimeters per second of delta-v so that, accumulated over years, it could create a ~6,500 km miss distance. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.

    The 33-minute orbital window that would buy Earth's escape
  5. 4 days ago

    The sensor glitch that burned 140 kg of fuel and froze their six‑minute window

    A sensor glitch burned fuel and froze LCROSS-did the nine instruments make the only pass that would decide whether the Moon holds water? The sensor glitch that burned 140 kg of fuel and froze their six‑minute window In this episode, we follow the race against time and shrinking propellant margins on the LCROSS mission as it descended toward Cabeus crater and one last opportunity to sample a lunar impact plume. The story tracks decisions, hardware tradeoffs, and a single six‑minute sampling pass that would determine whether definitive evidence of lunar water could be captured. Mission: LCROSS Date: October 9, 2009 Location: Cabeus crater, lunar south pole Person: Dan Andrews Event: propellant anomaly on August 22, 2009 - LCROSS rode to the Moon on an Atlas V with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, launched June 18, 2009. - The mission used a spent Centaur upper stage as an impactor to excavate deeply shadowed material. - The Shepherding Spacecraft was built around an ESPA ring adapter-hardware never previously used as a spacecraft backbone. - A sensor malfunction on August 22 caused an unplanned thruster firing that burned 140 kg of propellant, eliminating margin for correction. - After separation at 04:23 PT on October 9, nine instruments had exactly six minutes to fly through the plume and sample before the spacecraft struck the surface. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.

    The sensor glitch that burned 140 kg of fuel and froze their six‑minute window
  6. 5 days ago

    The particle that stopped Giotto, 7.6 seconds from Halley

    A spacecraft speeds towards Comet Halley for humanity's first close look, but a sudden impact threatens the entire mission. The particle that stopped Giotto, 7.6 seconds from Halley This episode recounts the journey of the Giotto spacecraft as it approached Comet Halley in 1986, detailing the unexpected challenges it faced. It explores the historical context of Halley's Comet and the ambitious goal of capturing the first images of its nucleus. Event: Giotto spacecraft encounter with Comet Halley Date: March 1986 Object: Comet Halley Mission: Giotto Agency: European Space Agency - Edmond Halley first identified the comet's periodic return in 1705, predicting its 1758 appearance. - The Giotto mission aimed to photograph the comet's nucleus, a dark, frozen core never before seen. - The spacecraft was named after Giotto di Bondone, a painter who depicted a comet in a 14th-century fresco, believed to be Halley. - Giotto was equipped with a dual-layer dust shield made of aluminum and Kevlar to protect against cometary particles. - The mission relied on targeting data from two Soviet spacecraft, Vega One and Vega One, which flew past the comet days earlier. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.

    The particle that stopped Giotto, 7.6 seconds from Halley
  7. 6 days ago

    The telecon delayed the launch decision - did they make it?

    A senior engineer and NASA managers argue over frozen O-rings before Challenger's launch. Did they make it in time? The telecon delayed the launch decision - did they make it? In this episode, we follow the hours leading up to the night-before launch telecon about O-ring performance in extreme cold and the decisions that unfolded across Morton Thiokol and NASA. The episode traces the technical warnings, prior test flights, and the tense phone call that put the launch decision on a knife edge. Person: Ellison Onizuka Event: Challenger launch preparations and telecon Date: January 27-28, 1986 Location: Kennedy Space Center; Morton Thiokol (Utah); Marshall Space Flight Center (Huntsville) Topic: O-ring erosion and cold temperature effects - A scuffed soccer ball from Ellison Onizuka was recovered intact from the Atlantic debris field after the breakup. - In December 1982, NASA redesignated the SRB field joint from Criticality One-R (redundant) to Criticality One (single point of failure). - O-rings are rubber seals that must compress at ignition to stop 5,000°F combustion gases from leaking through SRB joints. - Engineers documented O-ring erosion on the January 1985 STS-51-C flight after launch temperatures fell to 53°F. - The telecon began at 8:30 PM on January 27, 1986, linking Morton Thiokol engineers with NASA managers to discuss forecasts below 18°F. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.

    The telecon delayed the launch decision - did they make it?
  8. 12 Sept

    The robotic arm grabbed the 28,000‑pound module and raced the clock

    A single astronaut must command a robotic arm to steady a 28,000-pound module racing above Earth - did she make it in time? The robotic arm grabbed the 28,000‑pound module and raced the clock In this episode, we follow the path that led Stephanie Wilson from a middle‑school homework call to an astronomer to operating a robotic arm in low Earth orbit. The episode covers her upbringing in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, her engineering education and NASA training, and the mission where she was tasked with moving the Multi‑Purpose Logistics Module - but could she meet the clock in space? Person: Stephanie Diana Wilson Location: Pittsfield, Massachusetts Date: September 27, 1966 (birth) Event: STS-121, launch July 4, 2006 Object: Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (28,000 pounds) - A middle‑school interview with astronomer Jay Pasachoff set Wilson on a career path toward space. - Raised in a technical household, she earned a B.S, in Engineering Science from Harvard in 1988. - She worked on Titan IV loads and dynamics, then earned an M.S. in Aerospace Engineering focused on flexible space structures. - At JPL she handled attitude and articulation control for the Galileo mission before NASA selected her as an astronaut candidate in April 1996. - Ten years after starting astronaut training, she was assigned to STS-121 on Discovery to operate the robotic arm for the MPLM rendezvous. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.

    The robotic arm grabbed the 28,000‑pound module and raced the clock

About

Space has swallowed careers, missions, and men whole, leaving behind bolts, checklists, and a few surviving voices who know exactly how close the silence came. This show digs through NASA archives, mission transcripts, and the quiet testimony of astronauts to rebuild what actually happened when the plan fell apart forty miles above Earth or a quarter million miles toward the Moon. Each episode is one complete, reconstructed story, told without a host standing between you and the record. A skull rides shotgun on Hubble's highest orbit. A 121-pound cap gets bolted onto a spacecraft that still won't reveal where it's leaking. A navigator with no instruments steers by starlight to bring Apollo 13 home. A surgeon performs emergency repairs on a live solar array with no operating room and no second attempt. These are not summaries — they are minute-by-minute accounts built from flight logs, radio chatter, and the private memories of the people who lived through space disasters that never made the headlines they deserved. The show moves through the full arc of American spaceflight: the astronauts denied their missions for reasons buried in politics, the men who crossed space three times and still never got their wings, the geologists who proved the Moon itself had lied about a mountain's identity. It is NASA history told through the human cost of ambition — the near-misses, the improvised fixes, the decisions made in seconds that took decades to fully explain. If you want space history that reads like a thriller because it actually was one, subscribe now. New episodes arrive weekly, each one a self-contained descent into a mission that almost didn't make it back.