Loren Grush of The Verge joins me to talk about a whole host of current topics—SpaceX’s in-flight abort test, Starliner’s shaky first test and its fallout, space traffic, Starlink, the NASA Authorization bill, and why ”Space is hard” is the worst mantra.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 37 executive producers—Brandon, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, Mike, David, Mints, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd the Everyday Astronaut, Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Adam, and six anonymous—and 329 other supporters.

Topics

Loren Grush (@lorengrush) | Twitter
Loren Grush Profile and Activity - The Verge
Verge Science - YouTube
SpaceX successfully tests escape system on new spacecraft — while destroying a rocket - The Verge
Boeing and NASA are forming an investigation team to figure out cause of spacecraft mishap - The Verge
Starliner’s thruster performance receiving close scrutiny from NASA | Ars Technica
Stop saying ‘space is hard’ - The Verge
The era of satellite-repairing robots is here - YouTube
LeoLabs, Inc. on Twitter: “Our latest update this morning for IRAS / GGSE 4 shows a 12m miss distance, with a Probability of Collision (Pc) back to 1 in 100.”
Mesmerizing graph shows uncomfortably close encounters between space junk - The Verge
SpaceX successfully launches its fourth batch of internet-beaming Starlink satellites - The Verge
House Draft NASA Authorization Bill is the Greatest Hits of Terrible, Dead-End Space Policy - Main Engine Cut Off
A proposed House bill is threatening to rework NASA’s Moon plans - The Verge
Christian Davenport on Twitter: “Show of force? NASA Administrator @JimBridenstine is at the House space subcommittee mark up. Says he’s here ‘because it’s open to the public.’”

The Show

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Music by Max Justus

T+146: Loren Grush on Commercial Crew, Starlink, NASA Authorization, and More

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