Science
Landing the Moon
Artemis II just brought four astronauts home from the Moon. Now NASA has two years to land humans on the surface.
Episodes
The archive
17 episodes, newest first.
- LC 41: Artemis III's 90 Days and the Dec 11 CROctober 14, 2026: NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman told employees Artemis III is running about 90 days behind schedule. Max and Blake work through what that memo does and does not say, including the valves and thrust vector control actuators it names, the open Orion helium leak, and the Blue Origin pad rebuild. They also cover the money side: a continuing resolution (CR) that runs through December 11, 2026, past the midterms, and a White House request of $18.8 billion. The hosts disagree about whether any of the lost days can be recovered and about how much the midterms matter for Artemis funding. Watch for any further word on which items make up the 90 days, and for the SLS tanking test the memo recap says is planned before year end.
- LC 40: Blue Moon After the New Glenn ExplosionSeptember 30, 2026: Blue Origin's New Glenn exploded during a May 28 hotfire test, and the company says it will fly again before the end of 2026 from a rebuilt Launch Complex 36. Max and Blake work through what that means for Blue Moon MK1 Endurance, the uncrewed pathfinder now reported no earlier than early 2027, and for the crewed MK2 lander that Artemis planning leans on. They cover the BE-4 valve cause, the pad rebuild, and the lander hardware progress that continues separately from the rocket. The hosts disagree. Max asks whether a pad rebuild targeted for the end of 2026 is credible engineering or optimism. Blake asks whether NASA and Congress have a real backup to SpaceX or only a hedge that looks good on paper. Watch next for any New Glenn return-to-flight date and updated MK1 timing.
- LC 39: Inside the AxEMU Spacesuit Reality CheckSeptember 22, 2026. A new NASA Inspector General report says Axiom's AxEMU lunar spacesuit has little to no schedule margin left to support a 2028 landing, and Max and Blake spend this episode stress-testing that finding. They walk through the report's own math — a 3.4-year development schedule versus an 8.7-year historical average — and the resulting warning that suit demonstrations could slip to 2031 if history repeats. They also dig into NASA's reported restructuring of the mission plan around earlier earth-orbital testing, a 'simplified suit' fallback NASA and Axiom are reportedly exploring, and Axiom's public pushback citing hundreds of testing hours and hardware milestones. Max leans into what the hardware numbers actually mean; Blake keeps pressing on whether any of it survives contact with the historical base rate. They disagree on whether the simplified suit is a smart hedge or an admission of trouble. Watch for Axiom and NASA statements on the simplified suit concept in the coming weeks.
- LC 38: Heat Shield Fixed, Helium Leak Still OpenSeptember 16, 2026. NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel has confirmed Orion's reworked reentry profile slashed Avcoat char loss to under 10 percent of what Artemis I saw — but the same report quietly surfaces a helium leak in the propulsion system that still needs a redesign. This episode covers three threads: the heat shield fix and the NASA engineering explanation behind the original Artemis I char loss, the propulsion flaw and program restructuring (including the canceled Exploration Upper Stage and an added 2027 docking flight), and the FY2027 continuing resolution that funds the government only through December 11 with no appropriations bills passed. The engineering host argues the helium leak reopens a story everyone assumed was closed; the money host pushes back on whether stacking hardware in the VAB means anything if the budget and propulsion fixes aren't locked down. Watch next month for whether the valve redesign timeline holds and whether Congress moves past the CR before December 11.
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- LC 37: Starship's First Real Orbital ShotSeptember 15, 2026: an FCC filing confirms SpaceX is targeting a genuine orbital insertion for Starship Flight 14, the first time this vehicle has aimed for actual orbit instead of a suborbital arc into the Indian Ocean. Max and Blake break down what changes in risk and mission profile now that Booster 21 and Ship 41 are flying an orbital second stage, why the tower-catch attempt keeps sliding (Musk's latest line is 'a few months' out), and why this flight is the real hardware gate for the ship-to-ship propellant-transfer demo NASA needs before Artemis III. Blake pushes back on treating the ~20 Starlink V3 deployment as low-risk just because Flight 13 already proved the mechanism suborbitally; Max argues the orbital variable is the only thing that actually matters this time. They close with predictions on what a clean insertion versus another Booster loss does to the HLS timeline, and what to watch for heading into the September 15 window.
- LC 36: Flight 14's Real Orbital ShotSeptember 2, 2026. SpaceX rolled Booster 21 and Ship 41 toward a Starship Flight 14 attempt after Booster 21 completed a 33-engine static fire on August 28, and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman is now pointing to early September for launch. But the tower-catch attempt has slipped to 'a few months' out from its earlier late-August target. Max and Blake separate the two static fires on Ship 41 and Booster 21, dig into reports of a September 15 FCC filing target for the first operational Starlink V3 satellites, and ask whether an orbital Flight 14 actually narrows the HLS schedule gap that GAO and NASA's Inspector General have flagged. Max leans toward the catch delay being sober risk management; Blake isn't convinced it isn't just runway-buying before Artemis IV math gets real. Watch for whether Flight 14 launches in its claimed window and whether the catch attempt slips again.
- LC 35: Flight 14's Ship-Catch Gets ShelvedAugust 26, 2026. SpaceX has quietly scaled back plans for Starship Flight 14, and the ship-catch attempt that Tech Times reported as 'cleared' just weeks ago is now off the table. Max and Blake dig into what that reversal says about hardware readiness, walking through Ship 41's late-August static fires and Booster 21's extended stay in Mega Bay 1. They then turn to a GAO report finding SpaceX 'more than a year behind' on HLS milestones, and pressure-test NASA Administrator Isaacman's public promise of Starship flights 'every couple of weeks.' Blake pushes back hard on why the administrator is out front selling SpaceX's timeline instead of NASA's own oversight findings, while Max argues the engineering data just doesn't support that cadence yet. The two disagree on whether a September 15 launch is realistic at all. Watch for whether Flight 14 actually flies in September, and whether the ship-catch attempt reappears on a later flight.
- LC 34: Ship 40 Towed Home From the Indian OceanSpaceX spent 24 days salvaging a Starship it never planned to recover. Max and Blake argue over what a floating, towed Ship 40 actually proves about Starship HLS structural margins and the Artemis lander timeline.
- LC 31: Flight 13 Flies, Booster 20 Doesn't Come HomeStarship Flight 13 launched July 24, deployed the first Starlink V3 satellites, and nailed the in-space Raptor relight NASA needs for the lunar architecture. Then Booster 20 hit the Gulf hard, and Max and Blake finally settle the reliability argument they started two episodes ago.
- LC 30: Starship Flight 13's T-0 Abort and Artemis IVMax and Blake break down Starship Flight 13's unprecedented ignition abort, when four Raptor 3 engines refused to light at T-0, and argue over whether the fix ahead of this week's relaunch attempt is routine turbulence or a real warning sign for Artemis IV.
Talent
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About
What the show is
Landing the Moontracks every step of that countdown, from heat shield fixes and lander tests to budget battles on Capitol Hill. Each week, two hosts break down what happened, what almost went wrong, and what the Artemis program needs to pull off next. One host comes at it from the engineering side, the other from the money-and-politics side, and the friction between those perspectives is where the show gets interesting. Built for space fans who want more than press releases and hype, the show digs into SLS performance data, SpaceX Starship HLS and Blue Origin Blue Moon development, spacesuit testing, and the question of whether a permanent lunar base is actually achievable on the current timeline. If you followed Artemis II and want to stay locked in through Artemis III, IV, and beyond, this is the show.
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