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ScienceAstronomy

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.
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  • 37 episodes
  • daily
  • Avg 21 min
  • English
Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.
  • Sunday · 18 min

    He Could Have Burned: The Secret Alarm That Kept John Glenn Alive

    A sensor on Friendship Seven flashes and mission control tells John Glenn to do something he doesn't understand - did they make it down safely? He Could Have Burned: The Secret Alarm That Kept John Glenn Alive In this episode, we follow John...

  • Saturday · 22 min

    The MMU's nitrogen jets drifted him away - did they get him back?

    A lone astronaut floats untethered above Earth, his MMU's nitrogen jets his only link to Challenger - did they get him back? The MMU's nitrogen jets drifted him away - did they get him back? In this episode, we follow Robert Lee Lee’s untethered...

  • Friday · 19 min

    The camera at a porthole counted down his last chance

    An astronaut at a porthole lifts a camera and counts down his last chance to capture Endeavour docked at the ISS-did he press the shutter in time? The camera at a porthole counted down his last chance In this episode, we follow Paolo Nespoli’s...

  • Thursday · 20 min

    The turnip seed that started the countdown for Columbia

    A Ukrainian astronaut plays his national anthem in orbit and carries turnip seeds aboard Columbia - did he make it into space in time? The turnip seed that started the countdown for Columbia In this episode, we follow Leonid Kadenyuk’s...

  • Wednesday · 25 min

    The X-26 sailplane bought him thirty-two hours, nineteen minutes

    A Navy test pilot races to a long-postponed shuttle flight as Columbia reshapes his chance at orbit - did he make it in time? The X-26 sailplane bought him thirty-two hours, nineteen minutes In this episode, we follow Michael Foreman’s steady,...

  • September 22 · 20 min

    The umbilical tether that kept him alive while she gave birth

    An astronaut tethered to an airlock works a six-hour spacewalk above the Pacific while his wife labors 400 km below-did he make it back in time? The umbilical tether that kept him alive while she gave birth In this episode, we follow Randy...

  • September 21 · 22 min

    The Oxygen Gauge Lost Eight Pounds and Shrunk Their Window

    An oxygen leak drains Apollo 15’s Falcon-did the crew make the extra EVA before the tank went empty? The Oxygen Gauge Lost Eight Pounds and Shrunk Their Window In this episode, we follow the Apollo 15 crew as a small, creeping loss of oxygen...

  • September 20 · 20 min

    The suit valve he radioed about that risked his launch time

    A test pilot strapped in Freedom Seven radios that a suit valve might force a launch delay - did he make it onto history's countdown? The suit valve he radioed about that risked his launch time In this episode, we follow the moments before Alan...

  • September 18 · 22 min

    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...

  • September 17 · 22 min

    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...

  • September 16 · 22 min

    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...

  • September 14 · 21 min

    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...

  • September 13 · 23 min

    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...

Showing 1–20 of 37 episodes