meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The John Batchelor Show

S8 Ep256: THE TRIUMPH OF LANDING AND THE MYSTERY OF AMOS-6 Colleague Eric Berger. In December 2015, SpaceX achieved a historic milestone by landing a Falcon 9 booster at Cape Canaveral, a feat made possible by Air Force support despite fears that the sonic booms mi

The John Batchelor Show

John Batchelor

Books, Society & Culture, News, Arts

4.52.8K Ratings

🗓️ 29 December 2025

⏱️ 12 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

THE TRIUMPH OF LANDING AND THE MYSTERY OF AMOS-6 Colleague Eric Berger. In December 2015, SpaceX achieved a historic milestone by landing a Falcon 9 booster at Cape Canaveral, a feat made possible by Air Force support despite fears that the sonic booms might damage nearby spy satellites. The rocket utilized autonomous avionics to execute the landing, which looked deceptively fast until the final seconds. However, this success was followed by the confusing explosion of the Amos-6 satellite on the pad in 2016. The incident occurred so quickly that Musk briefly entertained a "sniper theory" involving a competitor before the technical cause was found. NUMBER 5
NOVEMBER 1956

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

In the casino, something as small as the roll of the dice or the spin of the slots holds the thrill of the unknown.

0:09.1

Sign up with Bet Victor, and when you wager 10 euro, you'll get 50 euro in bonuses on selected games, plus 100 free spins on Big Bass Splash.

0:18.3

Place your best bet at Bed Victor.

0:23.1

18 plus new customers only offer expires within seven days of sign-up 40 times wagering requirement. Visit bedvictor.com, for Teas &Case,

0:27.5

gambling care.com. Please gamble responsibly.

0:35.0

This is CBS Eye on the World.

0:38.4

Here's John Batchelor.

0:40.2

Continuing with the senior space writer for Ars Technica, Eric Berger, his new book is re-entry.

0:49.0

This is Volume 2 in the Chronicles of Elon Musk and SpaceX.

0:53.3

That doesn't say that yet, but that's how I imagine Eric's books standing up for the next 100 years.

0:59.9

This is what actually happened on our way to Mars.

1:03.6

SpaceX, Elon Musk, and the reusable rockets that launched a second space age.

1:08.6

Where we are right now is December 2015.

1:12.2

There is a Falcon 9 on a pad in Florida, and it's launching into low Earth orbit in order

1:18.9

to demonstrate reusability.

1:21.9

That's everything.

1:23.6

Reusability not only means landing the booster, but refurbishing it and getting it ready to move as fast as possible.

1:31.3

Not once a month, not once a week, not even at this point every nine days or six days, but every two days is what they eventually get to.

1:43.3

That's right. This reminded me,

1:45.3

Eric, of building Liberty ships in the Second War. We started with a month, and you got it down,

1:50.8

they could do it in 24 hours to get a ship out to sea. We come to that day of the launch from,

1:58.3

it used to be called Pad 13. No, it used to be called, where do they launch

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from John Batchelor, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of John Batchelor and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.