STP193 - Tracking Stations and Delta Launches - with Dan Kovalchik
Ever wondered what life might be like on a remote part of the world while tracking spacecraft and communicating with them? Ever considered the dangers of being in a blockhouse close to a rocket launch as it explodes? Well our guess this week has some stories for you. We speak to Dan Kovalchik who started working on tracking stations and eventually became the Systems Administrator for the Delta launches, a job he held for 21 years. He has a new book out called ‘Days of Delta Thunder’ so we caught up with him to have a chat.
Dan Kovalchik:
http://www.rangerat.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-kovalchik-43311880/
Days of Delta Thunder:
https://www.amazon.com/Days-Delta-Thunder-Dan-Kovalchik-ebook/dp/B0D1SCJ8HN
Delta II Launch Failure: 1997
Image Credits: 30th Space Wing Public Affairs
Space and Things:
X: https://www.twitter.com/spaceandthings1
Threads: https://www.threads.net/spaceandthingspodcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spaceandthingspodcast
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spaceandthingspodcast/
Merch and Info: https://www.spaceandthingspodcast.com
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Spaceandthings
Business Enquiries: info@andthingsproductions.com
Emily Carney
A veteran of the United States Navy, Carney became a freelance writer back in 2008 and started a blog called This Space Available, which is now hosted by the National Space Society. In 2022 she became an ambassador for Celestis – the first company to have successfully conducted Memorial Spaceflight Missions and currently works as the Manager of Public Engagement and Social Media at the Space 3.0 Foundation.
In 2011, Carney founded a facebook group Space Hipsters. Originally intended to be a place to share news and insights amongst friends, this community has now grown to close to 50,000 members including astronauts, engineers, scientists, historians and space flight enthusiasts from around the globe.
NSS Blog: https://space.nss.org/category/this-space-available/
Medium Blog: https://emilycarneyspace.medium.com/
X: https://www.twitter.com/EmilyLCarney
Threads: https://www.threads.net/emilycarneyspace
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EmilyCarneySpace/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emilycarneyspace/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilycarneyspace/
Dave Giles
Giles is a singer/songwriter from London, England who has always had a passion for space flight. Since his early years he’s been looking skyward and though he ended up wielding a guitar for a living, space exploration is alway on his mind and one of his most popular songs is about astronaut Gene Cernan, ‘The Last Man On The Moon’.
In 2019 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11, Giles visited all of the crewed space vehicles flown by NASA from Freedom 7 to the Space Shuttle Orbiters.
Full info: https://www.davejgiles.com
X: https://www.twitter.com/davejgiles
Threads: https://www.threads.net/davejgiles
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davejgilesmusic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davejgiles LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-giles-1286ab1a3/
