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.
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Episodes
The archive
11 episodes, newest first.
- 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.
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- LC 28: SpaceX's IPO Meets the Moon Landing DeadlineSpaceX just became a $2 trillion public company and joined the Nasdaq-100, but the ship-to-ship propellant transfer demo NASA needs for Artemis still hasn't flown. Max and Blake argue over whether a real shareholder base will actually speed up the HLS schedule or just give SpaceX one more audience to disappoint.
- LC 26: Starship's Orbital Refueling Demo Is Running Out of RunwayShip-to-ship propellant transfer is the single biggest technical prerequisite for Artemis IV, it was supposed to start in March 2025, and it still hasn't happened. Max and Blake work through what SpaceX has to pull off, what the fresh $25 billion bond sale reveals about the company's priorities, and what Congress just locked into the FY2027 HLS budget.
- LC 25: Blue Moon Has No RocketThree weeks after New Glenn's pad explosion, NASA is hunting for a replacement launcher for the Blue Moon Mk.1 cargo lander. Max and Blake dig into the fairing problem nobody is talking about, the ugly math on alternative rockets, and what this means for a 2028 crewed landing.
- LC 24: New Glenn Explodes and Blue Moon Has Nowhere to GoOn May 28, New Glenn blew up on the pad at LC-36, taking out Blue Origin's only orbital launch complex and threatening every Blue Moon mission NASA had just contracted. Max and Blake dig into what the pad damage actually means for the Mk.1 cargo lander, the Artemis III test flight, and the crewed Mk.2 expected for the first Moon landing.
- LC 23: The AxEMU Spacesuit Crisis Nobody Is Talking AboutNASA's Inspector General just said the Artemis lunar spacesuit might not be ready until 2031. Axiom Space says they'll be ready. Max and Blake tear apart the OIG report, the contract that made this mess possible, and what happens to Artemis IV if both sides are wrong.
- LC 23: The FY2027 Budget Fight That Could Break ArtemisThe White House proposed slashing NASA's overall budget by 23% while boosting Artemis exploration funding, Congress pushed back fast, and now ESA's Director General is publicly asking whether Europe is a pilot or a passenger. Max and Blake map who wins, who loses, and what the money fight means for actually landing on the Moon.
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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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