Landing the Moon

About Landing the Moon

Artemis II just brought four astronauts home from the Moon. Now NASA has two years to land humans on the surface. Landing the Moontracks every step of that countdown, from heat shield fixes and lander tests to budget battles on Capitol Hill. Each week, two hosts break down what happened, what almost went wrong, and what the Artemis program needs to pull off next. One host comes at it from the engineering side, the other from the money-and-politics side, and the friction between those perspectives is where the show gets interesting. Built for space fans who want more than press releases and hype, the show digs into SLS performance data, SpaceX Starship HLS and Blue Origin Blue Moon development, spacesuit testing, and the question of whether a permanent lunar base is actually achievable on the current timeline. If you followed Artemis II and want to stay locked in through Artemis III, IV, and beyond, this is the show.

Publisher

Landing the Moon

Category

science

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

28 May 2026

Latest episode

30 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

16 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   30 Sept 2026

   LC 40: Blue Moon After the New Glenn Explosion

   September 30, 2026: This episode examines the May 28 New Glenn explosion during a hotfire test at Launch Complex 36, attributed to a BE-4 valve, and what it means for NASA's Artemis plans. LC-36 is Blue Origin's only pad, so downtime delays proving the rocket. - Pad rebuild: Blue Origin targets a return to flight by the end of 2026. Max sees the early start as a sign of credibility, while Blake presses on the unstated assumptions. - MK1 Endurance and MK2: MK1 has finished thermal vacuum testing at NASA's Johnson Space Center, but its launch is now reported as no earlier than early 2027 and depends on New Glenn. MK2 is tied to Artemis 3, which NASA targets for 2027. - Backup or hedge: Neither Starship nor Blue Moon is certified for astronauts. The hosts land on Blue Moon being a hedge, not yet a true backup, but disagree on how far SpaceX is ahead. In the coming week, watch for updates on LC-36 rebuild progress, any change to the MK1 early-2027 timing, and NASA comments on decoupling Blue Moon from New Glenn.

2. 

   23 Sept 2026

   LC 39: Inside the AxEMU Spacesuit Reality Check

   On September 23, 2026, Landing the Moon breaks down a new NASA inspector general report (IG-26-006) warning that the AxEMU spacesuit has little to no schedule margin left before Artemis III's 2028 target. Hosts Max and Blake weigh Axiom's claim of over 700 crewed pressurized testing hours in the NBL pool against the IG's historical-average data, which suggests comparable suit programs typically take 8.7 years versus AxEMU's promised 3.4 years. The episode covers the reported restructuring of Artemis III into a 2027 earth-orbital test of AxEMU and the landers ahead of two 2028 lunar landings, the inspector general's list of three alternate suit vendors, and a simplified spacesuit design NASA and Axiom are reportedly developing as a hedge. Max and Blake also unpack Axiom's public rebuttal on X, which cited over 950 hours of testing, a completed thermal vacuum test, and more than 1,300 delivered products, alongside CEO Jonathan Cirtain's direct response to the audit. Max and Blake don't fully agree on whether the testing hours or the historical delay math should carry more weight, and they leave open whether a simplified suit means the full-capability version slips to a later mission. Listeners should watch for further Axiom updates and any NASA announcements clarifying the Artemis III mission timeline in the weeks ahead.

3. 

   16 Sept 2026

   LC 38: Heat Shield Fixed, Helium Leak Still Open

   On September 16, 2026, Landing the Moon reviews a new safety report on Orion's propulsion system, revealing a helium leak that requires a redesign before Artemis III can fly. Hosts Max and Blake break down NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel findings, starting with confirmation that Orion's heat shield fix worked as intended, then turning to the more troubling news: an in-flight helium leak running far above ground-test predictions, with NASA's Kshatriya targeting a fix for Artemis IV rather than Artemis III. The episode also covers SLS booster stacking at Kennedy Space Center, the cancellation of the four-engine Exploration Upper Stage, and a new 2027 low-Earth-orbit docking test added to the Artemis III timeline. Max and Blake disagree over whether hardware progress like stacking says anything meaningful about launch dates, and whether budget uncertainty or engineering risk poses the bigger threat to the program. Listeners should watch for movement on FY2027 appropriations before the December 11 funding deadline, and whether the helium valve fix shifts back onto the Artemis III schedule.

4. 

   9 Sept 2026

   LC 37: Starship's First Real Orbital Shot

   Recorded September 9, 2026, this episode of Landing the Moon breaks down SpaceX's push for Starship's first real orbital insertion on Flight 14, targeting a September 15 launch with Booster 21 and Ship 41. Max and Blake dig into why this attempt matters more than previous suborbital hops, and how it connects directly to NASA's Artemis III timeline through the HLS lunar lander's propellant transfer requirements. The hosts disagree on how much confidence to place in the September 15 date, with Blake citing a long history of slipped Starship schedules while Max argues the shift to a true orbital target changes the stakes. They also cover the delayed tower-catch attempt, the roughly twenty Starlink V3 satellites riding along, and what a successful orbit or another booster loss would mean for NASA's lunar plans. Listeners should watch for FAA flight clearance news and whether the September 15 launch attempt holds as the date approaches.

5. 

   2 Sept 2026

   LC 36: Flight 14's Real Orbital Shot

   Recorded September 2, 2026, this episode of Landing the Moon covers the newly announced early-September target for Starship Flight 14, following Jared Isaacman's remarks at Kennedy Space Center and completed static fires on Ship 41 and Booster 21. Max and Blake dig into what actually changed since the last episode: two separate static-fire tests, an FCC filing pointing to Starlink V3 satellites as the real payload, and the confirmed removal of the tower-catch attempt from this flight. The hosts disagree on timing, with Max predicting an on-schedule launch and Blake expecting roughly a ten-day slip, though both agree the catch attempt won't return this year. They also unpack why a successful orbital flight wouldn't close the propellant-transfer and uncrewed-landing gaps flagged by GAO and NASA's Inspector General for the HLS lander. - Ship 41 and Booster 21 static-fire results and what they confirm - Starlink V3 as Flight 14's likely payload, per FCC filings - Why the tower catch was dropped and what it means for Artemis IV risk Watch for confirmation of the static-fire-to-launch timeline and any updated FCC filings on Starlink V3 satellite counts in the coming week.

6. 

   26 Aug 2026

   LC 35: Flight 14's Ship-Catch Gets Shelved

   August 26, 2026 — This episode breaks down why SpaceX quietly dropped the plan to try a Starship ship catch on Flight 14 and what that means for Artemis III timing. The hosts unpack how the September 15th Starship Flight 14 date emerged from FAA filings and airspace closures, then walk through the current status of Ship 41 and Booster 21, including recent static fires and extended preflight work in the Mega Bay. They also examine the GAO’s finding that SpaceX is more than a year behind on key HLS milestones and how that squares with NASA Administrator Bill Nelson’s public confidence in a 2027 Artemis III landing. - How Flight 14’s “not-earlier-than” window was inferred from public documents - Why the planned tower ship catch was shelved despite earlier optimism - Tension between Max and Blake over how seriously to take Isaacman’s rapid-cadence claims Listeners should watch this week for updated FAA licensing activity, any visible rollout of Booster 21, and changes to Starship test windows from South Texas.

7. 

   20 Aug 2026

   LC 34: Ship 40 Towed Home From the Indian Ocean

   On this episode, published August 19, 2026, Max and Blake cover the restructuring of Artemis III into a Blue Moon MK2 docking demonstration rather than a lunar landing, a change that reshapes the mission's near-term goals. They also examine SpaceX's 24-day ocean tow of Starship Ship 40 to Christmas Island, the split results of Flight 13 (a clean 33-engine liftoff paired with Booster 20's rough 10-of-13 engine relight and hard splashdown), and the orbital propellant transfer milestone still gating the HLS lander per GAO data. The hosts disagree over whether the Ship 40 salvage produced usable engineering data or just an expensive photo op, and Blake challenges Isaacman's public confidence in a 2027 Artemis III timeline given SLS and Orion's history. They close by grading their episode 31 predictions and staking new claims on Ship 41's static fire and a possible Flight 14 tower catch. - Artemis III now targets a docking demo, not a landing - Flight 13 results split between ship success and booster failure - Orbital propellant transfer remains the key unproven HLS milestone - Blue Origin emerges as a real competitor for the lunar landing contract Watch for updates on Ship 41's static fire schedule and whether Flight 14 attempts a tower catch.

8. 

   29 Jul 2026

   LC 31: Flight 13 Flies, Booster 20 Doesn't Come Home

   Recorded July 29, 2026, this episode of Landing the Moon breaks down Starship Flight 13, which launched July 24 on its third attempt and deployed 20 Starlink V3 satellites in the vehicle's first operational payload drop. Booster 20 nailed its boostback burn but lost the landing burn and crashed into the Gulf, and Max and Blake dig into conflicting engine-count reports on that failure and why the FAA seems to be treating it differently than the 52-day grounding after Flight 12. The hosts also examine Ship 40's single Raptor relight in space and what it means for NASA's Human Landing System timeline, plus CSIS reporting on NASA's restructured Artemis schedule, including a possible Blue Origin backup lander. Max and Blake disagree sharply on whether a second lander provider reduces or increases schedule risk, and they grade their own predictions about the July 16 LC 30 abort against new turbopump details. - Booster 20 landing burn failure and FAA review timeline - Ship 40's in-space Raptor relight and HLS implications - Artemis III/IV schedule changes and the Blue Moon Mark 2 debate Watch for whether SpaceX attempts a tower catch on Flight 14 and how long the FAA review of Booster 20 takes to close.

9. 

   22 Jul 2026

   LC 30: Starship Flight 13's T-0 Abort and Artemis IV

   On July 22, 2026, Max and Blake cover Starship Flight 13's T-0 abort, where four of thirty-three Raptor 3 engines failed to ignite, prompting SpaceX to swap two engines before a July 23 relaunch attempt. The hosts break down the ignition physics behind the failure, the skipped in-space Raptor relight and its direct link to Artemis IV's 2028 crewed lunar landing timeline through HLS propellant transfer, and the market fallout after SpaceX stock closed below its IPO price for the first time. Max and Blake disagree on whether the engine issues represent routine hardware churn or a real reliability pattern, with Blake citing Techtimes reporting that Raptor 3 has less flight data under full pad loading than Raptor 2 had at the same stage. They also clash on how much risk Artemis IV should stack on an unflown relight test. - Raptor 3 ignition failure and the engine-swap decision - HLS orbital refueling chain and Artemis IV's 2028 target - SPCX stock drop and political pressure on Starlink V3 delays Both hosts lock in dated predictions for the July 23 relaunch. Listeners should watch whether the in-space relight succeeds and whether Raptor 3's engine-out pattern continues.

10. 

    8 Jul 2026

    LC 28: SpaceX's IPO Meets the Moon Landing Deadline

    On July 8, 2026, Max and Blake examine NASA's ship-to-ship propellant transfer demo, the hardware milestone that must fly before design certification review can begin for Starship HLS. They also unpack SpaceX's Nasdaq-100 inclusion, which briefly pushed Elon Musk's fortune into trillionaire territory, and question whether the tiny tradeable float behind that surge has any real connection to Starship progress. The hosts dig into SPCX's price swing from its June peak through a crash by inclusion day, and preview August 6, when earnings and the first insider lockup release could offer a genuine test of market pressure on SpaceX's timeline. They disagree on whether that pressure is meaningful: Blake argues quarterly scrutiny matters, while Max calls it theater given how little stock actually trades. They also cover SpaceX's xAI acquisition and Musk's investor pitch, noting HLS and Artemis are never mentioned. - Ship-to-ship propellant transfer demo and its role in NASA's HLS certification path - SPCX stock volatility versus Starship hardware progress - xAI acquisition and what Musk's capital priorities reveal about Artemis Watch for August 6 earnings and whether HLS or Artemis get any mention at all.

11. 

    24 Jun 2026

    LC 26: Starship's Orbital Refueling Demo Is Running Out of Runway

    June 24, 2026. The single most important Artemis development covered today: NASA's Starship HLS ship-to-ship propellant transfer demo has slipped roughly 15 months, with no confirmed launch date and Wikipedia's own Starship HLS article still listing the test as only optimistically scheduled for 2026. Without this demo, the design certification review cannot clear, and the $2.28 billion HLS congressional appropriation stays locked. This episode covers three specific areas: the engineering difficulty of cryogenic ship-to-ship propellant transfer versus the single-vehicle intertank test flown on Flight 3; SpaceX's Starfall capsule flight on June 23 and why it does nothing to advance the HLS milestone; and SpaceX's twelve-day capital sprint from a $75 billion IPO to a $25 billion bond sale used to retire xAI debt. - 14 or more tanker flights are required before Starship HLS can attempt a lunar landing — zero transfer demos have been completed - The hosts disagree on timing: one predicts first demo launch before December 31, 2026; the other argues FAA sequential licensing pushes full certification well past Q1 2027 Watch for an FAA license filing for a long-duration orbital Starship mission — both hosts identify that filing as the concrete signal the demo clock has started.

12. 

    17 Jun 2026

    LC 25: Blue Moon Has No Rocket

    June 17, 2026. The May 28 static-fire explosion that destroyed Blue Origin's NG-4 vehicle and gutted LC-36 — the company's only orbital launch pad — now threatens the entire Artemis lunar landing sequence. Max and Blake examine three specific problems the disaster created: the physical incompatibility between the Blue Moon Mk.1 lander and any available replacement rocket, the missing liquid hydrogen infrastructure that makes Falcon Heavy a non-starter as an alternative, and the two-year gap between CEO Dave Limp's end-of-2026 pad restoration pledge and NASA Administrator Isaacman's 2028 estimate. The hosts disagree on Blue Origin's near-term posture — Max argues the surviving flight hardware signals confidence in a New Glenn return; Blake reads Isaacman's de-coupling language as a contract modification arriving before July 17. - Blue Moon Mk.1 was designed around New Glenn's 7-meter fairing — no current alternative launcher fits - LC-36 rebuild has no backup pad, unlike SpaceX's SLC-40 recovery in 2016 - Missing the Mk.1 cargo demo collapses the path to a 2028 crewed landing Watch for whether Blue Origin names an alternative launcher or NASA issues a formal contract modification before July 17.

13. 

    10 Jun 2026

    LC 24: New Glenn Explodes and Blue Moon Has Nowhere to Go

    June 10, 2026. Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket exploded during a static fire test at LC-36 on May 28th, destroying the transporter-erector and raising serious questions about the Artemis III timeline. Max and Blake dig into what that means for the Blue Moon Mk.1 lander, including why moving it to Falcon Heavy isn't a simple fix — the BE-7 engine's liquid hydrogen requirement makes LC-39A a non-starter without major infrastructure work. They also examine NASA Administrator Isaacman's directive to decouple the lander from New Glenn, debating whether it reflects a genuine engineering plan or political pressure on a contractor relationship under strain. The hosts disagree on how seriously to take Blue Origin's end-of-2026 return-to-flight claim, with Blake pointing to SpaceX's 15-month SLC-40 rebuild as the relevant benchmark. They also break down the Artemis III crew announcement — Randy Bresnik, Luca Parmitano, Frank Rubio, and Andre Douglas, targeting late 2027 — and flag the AxEMU spacesuit program as a second unresolved variable converging on the same mission window. Watch for two things in the coming week: whether the FAA publishes a root cause finding on the NG-4 explosion, and whether NASA takes any formal contract action on an alternative launcher for Blue Moon.

14. 

    5 Jun 2026

    LC 23: The FY2027 Budget Fight That Could Break Artemis

    June 3, 2026. ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher's op-ed demanding that Europe stop being a passenger in NASA's decisions sets the tone for this episode of Landing the Moon, as Max and Blake examine how the Artemis alliance is straining under repeated unilateral architecture changes. Max and Blake work through three converging pressure points: the White House FY2027 budget request cutting NASA to $18.8 billion — the same number Congress rejected last year — the House Appropriations Committee's $24.4 billion counteroffer that still cuts science 17%, and the hardware dependencies that make those spreadsheet lines harder to separate than they appear. ESA modules 5 and 6 are still in production in Bremen. Starship HLS hasn't completed human-rating. The crewed Moon landing has slipped to Artemis IV in 2028. - Max and Blake disagree on whether Isaacman's cost-overrun argument justifies the proposed cuts - Blake raises OMB's spending-delay mechanism as the risk that could let Congress win the vote but lose the real spending battle Watch the Senate FY2027 markup closely. Blake predicts the final enacted NASA budget lands below $22 billion. Max predicts the Senate science line beats the House figure. Both predictions are on the record.

15. 

    3 Jun 2026

    LC 23: The AxEMU Spacesuit Crisis Nobody Is Talking About

    June 3, 2026. NASA's inspector general projects the Artemis lunar spacesuit may not be ready until 2031 — three years after the planned 2028 Moon landing. Max and Blake break down OIG report IG-26-006 and what it means for the AxEMU program. The episode covers three specific areas: Collins Aerospace's 2024 exit after spending $37 million of NASA's money, leaving Axiom as the sole xEVAS contractor; the airlock incompatibility between the AxEMU and Blue Origin's Blue Moon MK2 lander that NASA never required a standard to prevent; and whether NASA's firm-fixed-price service model was ever appropriate for hardware with no commercial market. The hosts disagree on whether the contract structure or the original timeline fantasies deserve more blame — and conclude both failures compounded each other. - Historical average for programs like AxEMU: 8.7 years from contract award to test flight, versus NASA's planned 3.4 years - Axiom CEO Jonathan Cirtain pledged a suit demonstration flight in 2027; the OIG published its 2031 projection four days later - NASA never established an interface standard between the AxEMU and the lunar lander airlock Watch for whether Axiom delivers hardware to orbit in 2027 and whether an independent certification assessment follows before year's end.

16. 

    28 May 2026

    LC 22: Artemis III Crew Reveal and the June 9 Mission Dump

    May 28, 2026 — Artemis III has been restructured from a lunar landing to an Earth-orbit docking test targeting late 2027, and this episode breaks down what that shift actually means ahead of NASA's June 9 crew announcement. Max and Blake cover three specific areas: the engineering logic behind flying a non-propulsive spacer in place of the ICPS, the real readiness of Starship HLS and Blue Moon against NASA's hedged contractor language, and the downstream schedule pressure on Artemis IV and V if the 2027 docking test slips. The hosts disagree on crew selection — Max argues docking experience should drive the picks, while Blake reads the crew manifest as a political document shaped by the Gateway cancellation and ESA's lost seat. - NASA's "pathfinder" framing may be contract management cover rather than genuine risk reduction - The ICPS spacer decision preserves NASA's last upper stage for Artemis IV — a significant constraint on the downstream schedule - Max predicts Andre Douglas on the crew; Blake is watching mission progress language more than the names Watch for the lander delivery schedule language in NASA's June 9 announcement — that wording will signal more about program health than any crew reveal.

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