T+148: Gerst to SpaceX, and Why Landing is Part of Mission Success

Long-time head of human spaceflight at NASA, Bill Gerstenmaier, has joined SpaceX as a consultant, but everyone is excited for the wrong reasons. And SpaceX missed a booster landing on their most recent Starlink launch, which prompted a new round of debates over whether booster recovery is part of mission success or not.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 37 executive producers—Brandon, Kris, Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, Ryan, Nadim, Peter, Donald, Lee, Chris, Warren, Bob, Russell, John, Moritz, Joel, Jan, Grant, Mike, David, Mints, Joonas, Robb, Tim Dodd the Everyday Astronaut, Frank, Julian and Lars from Agile Space, Tommy, Adam, and six anonymous—and 335 other supporters.

Topics

• SpaceX hires former NASA official William Gerstenmaier
• Gerst the Politician, Gerst the Engineer - Main Engine Cut Off
• Starlink Mission - YouTube
• SpaceX launches fifth batch of Starlink satellites, misses booster landing - SpaceNews.com

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