A podcast exploring the life arcs of smart, creative, driven people who helped Elon Musk and SpaceX revolutionize the space industry. How did they get there? What was it like? What world are they creating now?
It's Not Rocket Science
Claim This Podcastby Jeff Ward
5.0(19 reviews)
10 episodes
Updated Weekly
Accepts GuestsHas SponsorsLocation 🇺🇸
Podcast Overview
A podcast exploring the life arcs of smart, creative, driven people who helped Elon Musk and SpaceX revolutionize the space industry. How did they get there? What was it like? What world are they creating now?
Language
🇺🇲
Publishing Since
8/5/2020
3 verified contact emails on file for It's Not Rocket Science
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Recent Episodes
June 16, 2026
Tom Mueller - Employee Number One
<p>Tom Mueller became SpaceX employee number one through a quirk of paperwork, and went on to design every SpaceX rocket engine from Merlin to Raptor, all because a high school math teacher asked him if he'd rather design airplanes than maintain them. In this episode, Tom and I discuss the role of optimism in project scheduling, the birth and evolution of Starship, and how Tom founded Impulse Space to create in-orbit mobility for the space economy.<br> <br></p><ul><li>(00:00) - IPO Hot Take</li> <li>(00:59) - Becoming Employee One</li> <li>(03:42) - Betting on SpaceX when others failed</li> <li>(06:06) - The math teacher who changed everything</li> <li>(15:01) - Building Starship: simplification, methane & the last test flight</li> <li>(19:47) - Quintessential Elon moment: schedules</li> <li>(24:36) - Leaving SpaceX and starting Impulse Space</li> <li>(27:31) - Dragon & flying humans</li> <li>(29:37) - Building Impulse & the "true space age"</li> <li>(35:05) - Outside the rocket: the raise, racing & the magic lesson</li> <li>(40:34) - Making the world a better place: the space economy & philanthropy</li> </ul>
June 2, 2026
Bulent Altan - The Right Type of Challenging
<p>Bulent Altan started his career at SpaceX in 2004, fresh out of Bob Twiggs' CubeSat lab at Stanford, joining the small team working on Falcon 1. He stayed long enough to put his technical fingerprints on every major SpaceX development. Now he's the founding partner at Alpine Space Ventures, a venture capital fund making hands-on investments in European space startups. Even as a VC, he "gets to do engineering every day." Listen in as we discuss everything from surviving the hot seat on Elon's jet to advice for angel investors.</p>
May 19, 2026
Krishna Pribadi - From Merlin to VO2 Max
<p>Krishna Pribadi spent six years on the test stand at SpaceX in McGregor, Texas — Merlin 1D, the first OctaWeb, F9R Dev1, the first booster recovery, and finally Raptor. He left in 2019 and has since worked on cargo drones, traveled back to Indonesia to trace his family history, race-engineered in the Moto America Superbike paddock, and started a stealth-mode human-performance coaching practice called Tanaga Labs.</p><p>We talk about all of it.</p>
10 total episodes available
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Frequently asked questions
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- What is It's Not Rocket Science?
- How often does this podcast release new episodes?
This podcast updates weekly.
- Where can I listen to this podcast?
This podcast is available on 7 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
- Does this podcast accept guests?
Yes, this podcast regularly features guests.
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