This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest of the episode and unlock more bonus content, support Failure To Launch on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/failuretolaunch) at any tier.
I do not much like the Federation of Central Usea (FCU). They’ve done some bad things.
This week, Quinn, Chris, and Other Chris cover Ulysses from discovery to impact to the decades of fallout we still live with today. How humanity faced a possible extinction event, how we came together to defend ourselves, and how every Shield against Ulysses was turned into a Sword for war.
[This is an in-character episode covering the Ulysses Impact Event from the video game series Ace Combat. A big thank you to all the fans who contributed to the Journey Home singalong and Kilian Croghan for the episode art!]
SOURCES:
- Encyclopedia Strangereal
- Last Christmas (https://acecombat.wiki.gg/wiki/Last_Christmas), Gaze Magazine (Jan 1, 1999)
- Asteroid On Collision Course With Earth (https://acecombat.wiki.gg/wiki/Asteroid_On_Collision_Course_With_Earth), Usea Today (Apr 21, 1996)
- Titan Guns (https://acecombat.wiki.gg/wiki/Titan_Guns), Our Science (Sept 20, 1998)
- The Twelve Colors of the Sky, Kei Nagase
- Lines in the Sand: A Memoir, L. Foulke
FTL theme song by DJ Danarchy (https://www.youtube.com/@djdanarchy/featured)
23 Sept 2026
Technofascism & Space
What with all the history talk, we haven't really yet tackled the space elephant in the room: that the space industry is increasingly run by billionaires and open fascists. So today, we're chatting with Ziggy (https://bsky.app/profile/thebigzeo.bsky.social), a post-graduate student studying fascist movements and their ties to scifi, on how reactionary movements in the past and present have co-opted space for their political ends.
Find our merch store here (https://failuretolaunch.bigcartel.com/)
Support FTL on Patreon to unlock bonus content and join our Discord community (http://www.patreon.com/failuretolaunch)
FTL theme song by DJ Danarchy (https://www.youtube.com/@djdanarchy/featured)
16 Sept 2026
*PREVIEW* The USSA Mars Shot Project (Fallout)
This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest of the episode and unlock more bonus content, support Failure To Launch on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/failuretolaunch) at any tier.
In the months before the Bombs Fell, the American space program was preparing for its greatest challenge yet: reaching the Red Planet. But the program wasn't as innocent as it seemed. This week, Scribe Quintus is taking Chris and Other Chris through the history of the USSA's Mars Shot Project and the XMB Booster developed by ArcJet Systems.
A big thanks to Alex the OK (https://bsky.app/profile/alexander-the-ok.bsky.social), Nicholas Slayton (https://bsky.app/profile/nslayton.bsky.social), Angry Scooter (https://bsky.app/profile/angryscooter77.bsky.social), and Kelly of CIAS (https://bsky.app/profile/canuckisaslur.preg4pay.biz) for contributing audiologs to this episode.
FTL theme song by DJ Danarchy (https://www.youtube.com/@djdanarchy/featured)
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
62,053
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
4.2 / 5
5 ratings
Spotify
4.9 / 5
188 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 72 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
76
Social presence
0
YouTube
76
Engagement
93
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