Pitch, roll, and yaw are familiar concepts to most pilots and aviation enthusiasts accustomed to flight in the earth’s atmosphere, but how do astronauts control a 250,000-lb, mach 25-traveling spacecraft when trying to dock to an equally speeding and even larger space station in low earth orbit?
On this episode, retired U.S. Marine Colonel fighter pilot and NASA astronaut Doug “Chunky” Hurley joins us to describe flying orbital vehicles from the space shuttle (two flights) to the SpaceX Dragon (first flight), including some of the actual stick & throttle mechanics of manually flying each vehicle. Chunky and guest host Flounder also take a peek at what the future of space flight may offer.
Episode artwork by Janek Krause. Bumper music by Jaime Lopez / announcements by Clint Bell.
