Dive into the complete episode list for Off-Nominal. Each episode is cataloged with detailed descriptions, making it easy to find and explore specific topics. Keep track of all episodes from your favorite podcast and never miss a moment of insightful content.
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Title
Pub. Date
Duration
259 - Overhead (with Chris Kemp)
02 oct. 2026
01:00:34
Jake and Anthony are joined by Astra founder and CEO Chris Kemp to talk about the company’s road back from the brink, Rocket 4, and why he still sees a path for it today.
Jake and Anthony are joined by Daniel Drew of the University of Hawaiʻi to talk about SPARK, his concept for exploring Titan’s caves with aerobots powered by solid-state atmospheric ion thrusters. Seriously.
Jake and Anthony are joined by Nick Cialdella, CTO of Varda Space Industries, to talk about manufacturing pharmaceuticals in space, the reentry technology that brings them back to Earth, Varda’s hypersonic testbed, and the business case for making things in orbit.
Jake and Anthony talk about Blue Origin building the Mars Telecommunications Network, Stoke splashing the cash and talking up Nova Block 2, and Anthony has a weird theory about Jared Isaacman.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman on X: “@NASAWatch Few thoughts in response: 1) NASA has not given up on LEO. Within weeks of being on the job, I publicly addressed the Starliner situation and the role NASA played in it, and we have since taken a very active role with Boeing in implementing the investigation recommendations and…”
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman on X: “NASA is heading to the @NFL. @NASA operates a fleet of aircraft for astronaut training and cutting-edge high-speed and high-altitude research. In celebration of America’s 250th birthday, to showcase our technology and inspire the next generation, we are taking some of those…”
Jake and Anthony are joined by Matt Gjertsen, Founder of BUILT, to talk about his book, Minimum Viable Manager: Three Essential Skills for Leading Technical Teams That Solve Big Problems, the recovery of Starship at Christmas Island, and Starbase Louisiana.
254 - An Advocate of Crazy (with Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen)
27 août 2026
01:00:57
Jake and Anthony are joined by Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen, Former Associate Administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate and leader of ETH Zurich Space, to talk about the state of science missions at NASA.
252 - Paying Now and Later (with Eric Berger and Joe Barnard)
13 août 2026
01:03:43
Anthony is joined by Eric Berger, Senior Space Editor at Ars Technica, and Joe Barnard to talk about crewed spaceflight in the 2030s, what options exist if and when Dragon stops flying, and what we should do about it.
SpaceX on X: “View of Starship in space from a Starlink V3 satellite on Flight 13. This composite is made of imagery from four separate cameras on a single satellite. Six of the satellites were equipped with cameras to scan Starship’s heat shield and transmit imagery down to operators…”
251 - Yada Yada Yada (with Dan Rasky, Charles Miller, and Charlie Camarda)
06 août 2026
00:59:51
Jake and Anthony are joined by Dan Rasky, Charles Miller, and Charlie Camarda—the sources of the heat shield discourse!—to talk about Starship Flight 13 and thermal protection systems overall.
Jake and Anthony talk about Starship Flight 13, the heat shield discourse, Dragon beyond 2030, and shockingly, Jake was the one to say “Let’s talk about the National Security Space Launch program.”
Jake and Anthony are joined by Outpost Co-Founder and CEO Jason Dunn to talk about their Earth return vehicles across national security, in-space manufacturing, and other industries.
Jake and Anthony talk about the PROMISE rover, the state of decisions in NASA’s Isaacman era, Rocket Lab buying Iridium, and they give Jeremy Hansen a clap out.
245 - Polar Bears and Penguins (with Jonathan Goff and Mike Loucks)
12 juin 2026
01:03:01
Jake and Anthony are joined by Jonathan Goff, Director of Advanced Concepts at Gravitics, and Mike Loucks, CEO at SEE, to talk about where to put orbital depots, trajectories from there to the Moon and Mars, and to otherwise set the record straight on their papers after Anthony’s poorly-remembered-and-even-more-poorly-explained mention.
244 - Helen from Everywhere (with Lindy Elkins-Tanton)
05 juin 2026
01:06:15
Lindy Elkins-Tanton, Principal Investigator of Psyche, joins Jake and Anthony to talk about Leadership on big NASA missions in her new book Mission Ready.
Jake and Anthony are joined by Andrew Rush, Co-founder and CEO of Star Catcher, to talk about building a power grid in space, their upcoming in-space demonstration, their big fundraising round announced this week, and where they go from here.
Jake and Anthony are joined by Trevor Kjorlien of Plateau Astro to talk about making and running a mobile planetarium, his time at the Canadian Space Agency, and a whole lot more.
Jake and Anthony are joined by Chuck Deiterich, a Retrofire Officer on many Apollo missions, including Apollo 8, 11, and 13. He went on to work on Skylab, the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project, the Space Shuttle Approach and Landing Tests, among others.
Kelsey Young, Artemis Science Flight Operations Lead, joins Jake and Anthony to talk about the science of Artemis II, incorporating science into human spaceflight, and obviously, to spread Moon Joy.
Casey Dreier, Chief of Space Policy at The Planetary Society, joins Jake and Anthony to talk about the dichotomy of NASA right now: the Artemis II lunar flyby, and the FY2027 budget request.
Lori Garver, former NASA Deputy Administrator, joins Jake and Anthony to talk about NASA’s Ignition event, and the unbelievably fast-moving space policy landscape.
Lori Garver on X: “Acknowledgement of shortcomings in the current Artemis plan is healthy & a welcome change from past NASA leadership. The focus on Artemis spin over substance has been troubling since its inception. However, expressing confidence that we can add a flight in between & make two…”
Jake and Anthony are joined by Justin Cyrus, CEO and Founder of Lunar Outpost, to talk about their rovers—Eagle and MAPP—and everything else they’re working on.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman on X: “Yesterday, I had the privilege of speaking at the @a16z American Dynamism Summit with the builders, operators, and investors helping shape the next era of exploration. NASA has a clear mandate under President Trump’s national space policy: Return American astronauts to the Moon”
Jake and Anthony catch up on Starliner’s no good very bad report, Artemis II’s no good very bad fueling tests, and Vulcan’s no good very bad solid rocket boosters.
Audrey Decker on X: “Senate Commerce's reauth bill would prohibit NASA from acquiring more than 50% of launch services from one provider, according to bill text I obtained. SpaceX currently dominates the market. However, bill says the administrator can seek waivers”
Jake and Anthony are joined by Jeff Hill, Chairman of SATELLITE, to talk about their upcoming event, SATShow Week 2026, and trends in the industry that are sure to be a focus—direct-to-cell services, data centers in space, megaconstellations, and the defense market.
pat o. 🚀 on X: “Here's a treat to whet your appetite for Mid-Atlantic Rocket Lab happenings, while we wait for the launch of the HASTE VAN mission. Activity at Rocket Lab's Middle River, MD facility seems to be ramping up. The facility was recently acquired through Lockheed Martin.”
pat o. 🚀 on X: “Update on Rocket Lab's Facility in Middle River, MD. The wrapped structure from my last update is still on-site, but it now has a covering over it.”
pat o. 🚀 on X: “Rocket Lab Middle River Update January 10 The Neutron tank structure sees it's first rainfall today since being moved outside last week, but it now has a cap. I think the red and grey hardware may be for the transport trailer. Stay dry, tank buddy.”
pat o. 🚀 on X: “Rocket Lab Middle River Update January 21 The tank structure seen being worked on over the last few weeks appears to have collapsed sometime in the last 18 hours. No word on whether this was planned as part of testing or not.”
pat o. 🚀 on X: “Rocket Lab's first Neutron fairing "Hungry Hippo" has been loaded onto a barge to presumably begin the next leg of its journey. Currently alongside the barge is the tug Northstar Integrity. The next destination is currently unclear.”
Jake and Anthony are joined by Jeff Foust of SpaceNews to catch up on the news: Artemis II on the pad, Blue Origin’s upcoming first reuse of a New Glenn first stage, TeraWave, and more.
Blue Origin on X: “New Glenn’s third mission, NG-3, will send @AST_SpaceMobile’s next generation Block 2 BlueBird satellites to low Earth orbit, NET late February.”
224 - Gotta Wear the Pants (with Eric Berger and Casey Handmer)
16 janv. 2026
01:04:11
Anthony is joined by Eric Berger, Senior Space Editor at Ars Technica, and Casey Handmer, Founder of Terraform Industries, to talk about Eric’s visit to NASA HQ for a meeting on the Orion heat shield, the upcoming Artemis 2 mission, and Administrator Isaacman’s first few weeks.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman on X: “Yesterday, I met with SpaceX and Blue Origin to understand the latest plans to accelerate NASA’s Artemis timeline. The capabilities these two partners are pioneering will be essential to returning NASA astronauts to the lunar surface, establishing an enduring presence, and…”
222 - Way to Gaureau (Presenting the 2025 Off-Nominees with Brendan Byrne)
19 déc. 2025
01:06:42
Jake and Anthony are joined by Brendan Byrne, News Director at Central Florida Public Media and host of Are We There Yet?, to present the 2025 Off-Nominees: the most bizarre space news stories of the year.
Jeff Foust on X: “NASA says there could be delays in the next Cygnus mission to the ISS after its shipping container sustained damage. NASA will alter the cargo manifest for the next cargo Dragon mission to put more consumables on it.”
Air Safety #OTD by Francisco Cunha on X: “Here´s an international mess... Today, a Zambian-registered light aircraft, carrying 400 pounds of drugs with "SpaceX" labels, inbound from Colombia, crashed in Brazil, killing the pilot, who was Australian.”
Katya Pavlushchenko on X: “New photos of the damaged launch pad at Site 31 of Baikonur Kosmodrome were published in Telegram channels and on Novosti Kosmonavtiki forum. Sad to see it like this.”
220 - I Will Always Follow the Law, Senator (with Loren Grush)
05 déc. 2025
01:03:11
Jake and Anthony are joined by Loren Grush of Bloomberg to talk about Jared Isaacman’s second nomination hearing and everything else going on around the industry, like maybe Sam Altman’s foray into rockets. Also, a little side quest into AI.
Jake and Anthony are joined by Ed Ge, CEO and co-founder of Aethero, a space computing startup focused on building the best integrated hardware and software in space. Also we randomly go eBay shopping for old Russian space hardware.
Jake and Anthony are joined by space artist and illustrator Paul Fjeld to review their rocket tier list, adjust some rankings, and add some new contenders to the mix.
Jake and Anthony are joined by Eric Berger, Senior Space Editor at Ars Technica, to talk about the fight to be NASA Administrator, and to provide the lander for Artemis 3.
215 - Gainesville-on-Ocala (with Craig Baerwaldt and Sarah Freese)
17 oct. 2025
00:59:36
Jake and Anthony are joined by Craig Baerwaldt and Sarah Freese to talk about Space Happy Hour and the upcoming Sally’s Night event, honoring Sally Ride and celebrating women in aerospace.
Jake and Anthony do a good ol’ news roundup—Jared Isaacman may be back as NASA Administrator, Stoke Space raises a ton of money, New Glenn gets ready for its next launch, and we have thoughts about the communication of phasing orbits.
213 - This is Why We Playtest (with Adam Wuerl and Rob Davis)
03 oct. 2025
01:01:50
Jake and Anthony are joined by Adam Wuerl and Rob Davis, creators of Apogee Board Games (and longtime anomalies!), to talk about their new game, Scoundrels and Pirates Affiliated with Criminal Enterprises.
A guest scheduling snafu, a sickness at Anthony’s house, and a great idea from a future guest leads to an old school late night Off-Nominal where the boys have some fun making a tier list of rockets.
211 - The International Team (with Christian Davenport)
19 sept. 2025
01:00:30
Jake and Anthony are joined by Christian Davenport of The Washington Post to talk about his new book, Rocket Dreams: Musk, Bezos, and the Inside Story of the New, Trillion-Dollar Space Race.
Christian Davenport on X: “So some personal news, as they say. I’m joining the amazing team @CBSNews as a contributor. So grateful they had me on to discuss Rocket Dreams.”
COMSPOC_OPS on X: “Recent observations from @OurSkyAI and @ObservableSpace, supported by COMSPOC’s optical network, reveal several significant activities in GEO between 6–8 June 2025. SHIJIAN-25 (SJ-25) performed four maneuvers between 6 June 01:50 UTC and 7 June 16:51 UTC, using a total delta-v”