In this final episode of 2020, we welcome author Phil Stamper onto the show for a discussion of adapting space history into fiction for a modern young adult audience, the literary inspirations for his book The Gravity of Us, and the realities LGBTQ+ astronauts faced throughout NASA history from Sally Ride all the way back to the days of Project Mercury.
Welcome to the
Flight Deck Podcast
Listen to all of the Museum’s best aviation and aerospace stories on the Flight Deck Podcast, a podcast that makes history personal. Episodes released every other Tuesday. We hope you enjoy it!!
Phil Stamper and The Gravity of Us
December 22, 2020 / Podcast, Space, NASA, Storytelling, aerospace, LGBTQ+
Another Space Toilet Episode
October 6, 2020 / Podcast, FlightDeck, History, Space, NASA, Storytelling, Space Shuttle, Exhibits, aerospace
It’s common to hear a visitor to The Museum of Flight wonder how astronauts go to the bathroom in space. Today is the continuation of a conversation with Museum of Flight staff member Brenda Mandt, who spearheads the tours of the Museum’s NASA Space Shuttle Full Fuselage Trainer, where she talks about modern space toilets on the Space Shuttle and on the ISS. She also talks about what did and didn’t about toilet and personal care needs when women joined the US space program. As with the previous episode (which you can listen to here), this is a frank and honest conversation about toilets and what goes in them, so listen to learn more but maybe not while you’re snacking.
The Space Toilet Episode
September 15, 2020 / Podcast, FlightDeck, History, Space, NASA, Storytelling, Space Shuttle, Exhibits, aerospace
“How do astronauts go to the bathroom in space?” This is a question we hear often at the Museum, asked by people young and old from all around the world. Host Sean Mobley enlisted Museum of Flight expert Brenda Mandt, one of the masterminds behind the Museum’s NASA Space Shuttle Full Fuselage Trainer Tours, to investigate how humans carry out this universal body function in space. In this first of two episodes, Brenda shares about the early tests and solutions developed for the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions. They were messy and uncomfortable!
Youngest
June 30, 2020 / Podcast, FlightDeck, History, NASA, Storytelling, Blue Origin, Exhibits, aerospace
Located in the Charles Simonyi Space Gallery, an exhibit space dedicated to modern space exploration, you’ll find the youngest artifact in our collection: An American flag flown to space on the historic Blue Origin New Shepard NS-3 Launch. In today’s episode of the Flight Deck, we’ll take a look at the flag and it’s story, and also learn why stories are at the heart of any museum…and how the stories told in museums have changed over time.
Riding Rockets
June 2, 2020 / Podcast, FlightDeck, History, NASA, Storytelling, Exhibits, aerospace, rockets
As we continue to prepare for the Museum’s re-opening, and as we simultaneously ramp-up our digital education offerings for students, our podcast team is sad to announce a delay in our “Collections” miniseries, but thrilled to share this interview with retired NASA Astronaut Mike Mullane instead.
A Needle at the Bottom of the Sea
January 28, 2020 / NASA, Apollo, Space Shuttle, Apollo 11, Engines, Ocean
Undoubtedly one of the greatest achievements of man has been stepping foot on the Moon. In 1969, the famous Apollo 11 mission fulfilled this dream. Fast forward to 2013, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos commences an expedition to find the powerful Saturn V F-1 rocket engines that propelled Neil Armstrong into space for the imperative Moon landing. The expedition presented many challenges, for example: with the remains from eight other Apollo missions in the same area, how do you know what part corresponds to which mission?
The Astronaut Image
November 21, 2019 / NASA, astronaut, Pete Conrad
Apollo 12 Astronaut Pete Conrad has a lot to live up to. NASA’s idea of the astronaut image meant that the astronauts needed to conform to specific ideas of the ideal American.
After the Apollo 11 astronauts landed on the Moon, they embarked on an equally fascinating journey: a global goodwill press tour in Air Force One. Dr. Teasel Muir-Harmony explains the importance of the tour and how the astronauts’ lives changed post-Moon landing.
Failure is Not An Option: An Interview with Buzz Aldrin
July 20, 2019 / NASA, Apollo, Moon, Apollo 11, Buzz Aldrin
Buzz Aldrin, the second human to set foot on the Moon, recalls the Apollo 11 mission and how one felt tip pen helped the astronauts successfully return to Earth.
Failure is Not an Option: Jerrie Cobb and the First Women Astronaut Trainees, Part 2
July 10, 2019 / NASA, astronaut, Failure is not an Option, Jerrie Cobb
Jerrie Cobb and the women behind the Women in Space program unsuccessfully lobbied Congress in 1962 to include women in astronaut training, but they still led the way for women’s inclusion in the aerospace industry.