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This month, we're mixing things up and achieving a first for this show by reviewing an actually good space movie, Tarkovsky's 1972 classic Solaris, itself based off Stanislaw Lem's novel of the same name.
A big thanks to returning guest Nicholas Slayton for bringing his Tarkovsky expertise to the episode! And for informing us of all the crappy Solaris movies (1968 & 2002) we can inflict on you at a later date.

If you were a cosmonaut and you knew you were about to die, why wouldn't you announce your last words in a comedy Italian accent? Quinn, Chris, and Other Chris are joined by Jake Rockatansky (@RealRockatansky) of the QAA podcast to talk about the Lost Cosmonaut conspiracy theory, how it has evolved over the decades, and the Italian brothers most responsible for inventing it.

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Sources:

• Phantoms of Space, James Oberg

• http://www.svengrahn.pp.se/trackind/Torre/TorreB.html

Related viewing: the dumb conspiracy short film I made everyone watch

Music by DJ Danarchy

This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest, join our Patreon at any tier!

Big thanks to Kelly for coming on! Check out his stuff at:
https://linktr.ee/bornunderpunchs
https://patreon.com/bornunderpunchs

The first Romanian in space never set out to be a cosmonaut. He just loved to fly. Today, we're talking about Dumitru Prunariu, his unlikely path to space, and how he ran afoul of Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu, Romania's dictator duo.

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Sources:

• Interkosmos: The Eastern Bloc's Early Space Program, Bert Vis & Colin Burgess

Music by DJ Danarchy

The first man to walk on the Moon was nearly spun to death three years before Apollo 11. We're back and talking with space engineer Scott about Gemini 8, the first orbital docking between two spacecraft and how it went horribly wrong.

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Sources:

- On the Shoulders of Titans: A History of Project Gemini

- Gemini 8: The First Docking in Space, Drew LePage

Music by DJ Danarchy

This is a preview of a bonus episode. To hear the rest, join our Patreon at any tier: https://www.patreon.com/failuretolaunch

This week, we're rejoined by journalist and friend of the show @NSlayton to talk about Soyuz T-15, probably the coolest space mission ever attempted.

Read Nicholas' work at Task & Purpose and on his Newsletter!

Support FTL through Patreon and unlock bonus content

Sources:

- Mir Hardware Heritage, NASA

- The Story of Space Station Mir, David M Harland

- The work of space radio tracker Sven Grahn

Music by DJ Danarchy