Artwork

Content provided by Antica & Telltale Studios and Telltale Studios. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Antica & Telltale Studios and Telltale Studios or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://ppacc.player.fm/legal.
Player FM - Podcast App
Go offline with the Player FM app!

Anatomy of a Firecracker

1:01:50
 
Share
 

Manage episode 463952273 series 3612211
Content provided by Antica & Telltale Studios and Telltale Studios. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Antica & Telltale Studios and Telltale Studios or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://ppacc.player.fm/legal.

Getting the 100 tonne space shuttle orbiter from the pad to orbit demanded a launch system like no other before it. A huge external fuel tank containing hundreds of tonnes of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen fed the orbiter’s three powerful main engines. But that wasn’t enough to lift the fully fuelled shuttle off the launch pad. Two towering booster rockets, bolted to the fuel tank, were needed for most of the necessary thrust. Compared to the Apollo Saturn vehicles, this was a novel and complex configuration of rocketry. Designing and building the shuttle launch system required multiple engineering frontiers to be advanced, and some challenging and controversial decisions to be made.


Ever wondered how the Space Shuttle came to be? Welcome to a new podcast series, 16 Sunsets. In this episode, Host Kevin Fong explores the awesome and explosive anatomy of the space shuttle launch system - and its vulnerabilities - with former NASA engineers who built its component parts. The podcast takes you through the violent journey from final countdown to orbit in the company of shuttle engineers and some of the astronauts who rode on their handiwork.


Featuring: Mark Mullane, Lowell Zoller, Craig Sumner, Mark Craig, Jeffrey Hoffman, Gerald Smith, Warren Wiley, Matthew Hersch, Jennifer Lavasseur, Robert Stewart, Robert Crippen, Ivy Hooks, Barney Roberts and David Mindell.


Credits:

Written and presented by Dr Kevin Fong

Producers: Andrew Luck-Baker and Rami Tzabar with additional production by Dave Giles.

Assistant Producer: Kate Arkless Gray

Sound Design and Mixing: Richard Courtice

Music: Christian Lundberg, part of Hans Zimmer’s Bleeding Fingers Composer Collective

With special thanks to Sandra Johnson and Nasa’s Johnson Space Centre Oral History Project

Executive Producers: Stuart Coxe, Kevin Fong, Jago Lee and Rami Tzabar


16 Sunsets is an Antica and TellTale Production 2024.


Check out our website at https://sixteensunsets.com

Instagram: @sixteen_sunsets

X: @16sunsets


Want more 16 Sunsets? Become a premium member of our community and unlock exclusive content, including early and ad-free episodes, by subscribing to 16 Sunsets on Supercast. Learn more at https://16sunsets.supercast.com


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  continue reading

15 episodes

Artwork

Anatomy of a Firecracker

16 Sunsets

28 subscribers

published

iconShare
 
Manage episode 463952273 series 3612211
Content provided by Antica & Telltale Studios and Telltale Studios. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Antica & Telltale Studios and Telltale Studios or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://ppacc.player.fm/legal.

Getting the 100 tonne space shuttle orbiter from the pad to orbit demanded a launch system like no other before it. A huge external fuel tank containing hundreds of tonnes of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen fed the orbiter’s three powerful main engines. But that wasn’t enough to lift the fully fuelled shuttle off the launch pad. Two towering booster rockets, bolted to the fuel tank, were needed for most of the necessary thrust. Compared to the Apollo Saturn vehicles, this was a novel and complex configuration of rocketry. Designing and building the shuttle launch system required multiple engineering frontiers to be advanced, and some challenging and controversial decisions to be made.


Ever wondered how the Space Shuttle came to be? Welcome to a new podcast series, 16 Sunsets. In this episode, Host Kevin Fong explores the awesome and explosive anatomy of the space shuttle launch system - and its vulnerabilities - with former NASA engineers who built its component parts. The podcast takes you through the violent journey from final countdown to orbit in the company of shuttle engineers and some of the astronauts who rode on their handiwork.


Featuring: Mark Mullane, Lowell Zoller, Craig Sumner, Mark Craig, Jeffrey Hoffman, Gerald Smith, Warren Wiley, Matthew Hersch, Jennifer Lavasseur, Robert Stewart, Robert Crippen, Ivy Hooks, Barney Roberts and David Mindell.


Credits:

Written and presented by Dr Kevin Fong

Producers: Andrew Luck-Baker and Rami Tzabar with additional production by Dave Giles.

Assistant Producer: Kate Arkless Gray

Sound Design and Mixing: Richard Courtice

Music: Christian Lundberg, part of Hans Zimmer’s Bleeding Fingers Composer Collective

With special thanks to Sandra Johnson and Nasa’s Johnson Space Centre Oral History Project

Executive Producers: Stuart Coxe, Kevin Fong, Jago Lee and Rami Tzabar


16 Sunsets is an Antica and TellTale Production 2024.


Check out our website at https://sixteensunsets.com

Instagram: @sixteen_sunsets

X: @16sunsets


Want more 16 Sunsets? Become a premium member of our community and unlock exclusive content, including early and ad-free episodes, by subscribing to 16 Sunsets on Supercast. Learn more at https://16sunsets.supercast.com


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  continue reading

15 episodes

All episodes

×
 
Loading …

Welcome to Player FM!

Player FM is scanning the web for high-quality podcasts for you to enjoy right now. It's the best podcast app and works on Android, iPhone, and the web. Signup to sync subscriptions across devices.

 

Quick Reference Guide

Copyright 2025 | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | | Copyright
Listen to this show while you explore
Play