Episode Details

In this episode, Will and Richard Easton, a historian of GPS and son of one of the inventors of GPS, discuss the history of the Space Race and Apollo missions. They go over the impetus for Eisenhower committing America to launching a satellite, the reasons for the Gemini and Mercury missions, why Kennedy settled on the moon mission, and how the Apollo program progressed. They discuss the technical advancements required to make Apollo happen, the characters and competence of the men involved, the scientific legacy of Apollo, and why the missions were ended. They discuss also why space exploration slowed to a crawl after Apollo 17, the challenges NASA faces, and the incredible technical competence shown by SpaceX, along with GPS and Richard's book about its history.

Note: the Apollo 16 CapCom whose name Richard could not remember is Charlie Duke

Get Richard's Book here: GPS Declassified: From Smart Bombs to Smartphones

Get Michael Collins's Book here: Carrying the Fire

Get Charles Murray's book about Apollo here: Apollo: The Race to the Moon