@amyshirateitel.bsky.social
Author, historian, streamer, YouTuber, writer.
Perhaps one of the most interesting elements of a lunar landing mission to think through: when and how do you launch?
30.09.2025 19:07 — 👍 66 🔁 11 💬 2 📌 2
Diving into the atom, I learned that it's possible to take X-rays with a roll of tape! And a vacuum chamber, but still! Some researchers have ever looked at this as a cheap way to bring medical imaging to developing nations to help local doctors.
11.09.2025 18:17 — 👍 52 🔁 4 💬 1 📌 0
This one was entirely new to me when I found it the other day: a picture of Apollo 8 reentering the atmosphere, and what is likely the Service Module burning up! New Short has the details!
09.09.2025 17:07 — 👍 57 🔁 5 💬 3 📌 1
Fraunhofer lines are super cool, and such an important step on our journey into the atom!
24.08.2025 18:16 — 👍 56 🔁 6 💬 3 📌 0
The Mobile Launcher (during Apollo, renamed the Mobile Launch Platform during the Shuttle era) is such a cool piece of engineering. The Saturn V's journey was amazing from the moment it left the VAB!
21.08.2025 21:45 — 👍 61 🔁 4 💬 2 📌 1
One of the funnest parts of my latest long form video was animating all the different atomic models! So I threw them all together in a quick little short.
20.08.2025 16:08 — 👍 49 🔁 6 💬 3 📌 0
There's a really interesting parallel between Wernher von Braun and Werner Heisenberg during the war. As I dive into the atomic bomb for my new book -- the specifics of which I'm not sharing for the moment -- I'm excited to share some research tidbits!
18.08.2025 16:36 — 👍 50 🔁 3 💬 3 📌 0
Jim Lovell also did a seaworthiness test, checking that the Apollo command module could survive at sea for three days in an emergency. I got to ask him about it once. He said it was horrible!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLyu...
A quick look at Jim Lovell's incredible missions -- the first dual spacecraft mission, the final Gemini mission that rounded out the program, the first human mission to the Moon, and Apollo 13.
youtube.com/shorts/zC_0e...
I started wanting to really understand how the atomic bomb was built. I ended up wanting to learn how we found the atom, so I made a massive video about it!
Huge thanks to @drskyskull.bsky.social for going over some physics with me!
youtu.be/BUV8XYaZ4EU
After a super nerdy friend of mine was excited to learn Apollo 10's spacecraft were named Snoopy and Charlie Brown, I thought it'd be fun to tell the story!
youtube.com/shorts/zFC5D...
An incredibly rare view: Earth orbit but you're inside the fuel tank! Just some awesome Apollo history to share.
youtube.com/shorts/Ocl33...
Came across Carl von Ossietzky in some research last week and kinda felt like more people ought to know about him.
youtube.com/shorts/8zIMR...
Just wanted to highlight that the Voyager missions -- which, according to NASA, cost each taxpayer just 8 cents -- returned a wealth of science and inspiration to boot.
youtube.com/shorts/xr5oy...
It took me a while, but I finally have The Vintage Space merch! Tantrum is an excellent, small company -- not one of the major print-on-demand vendors -- with great quality and colour options. Also each of these four designs was hand drawn by yours truly!
06.07.2025 18:16 — 👍 75 🔁 5 💬 1 📌 0Throwback to the time I met Apollo 12's Dick Gordon and had a very serious, important question to ask about the mission...
youtube.com/shorts/-8okt...
Reading some post-WWII scientists memoirs I came across this bit that felt far too important not to share.
03.07.2025 16:45 — 👍 68 🔁 13 💬 1 📌 0
I think my favourite part about the whole conspiracy thing is conspiracy theorists are really convinced they've found some evidence Soviet intelligence experts missed. Apparently.
27.06.2025 20:14 — 👍 62 🔁 8 💬 4 📌 1
NASA's Ranger 7 A Camera pictures put together to show the first time we crashed into the Moon. Another from the "this is super cool and I wanted to share it" files!
26.06.2025 21:05 — 👍 54 🔁 7 💬 2 📌 0Another from the fun files! This was the era where there was, obviously, no 3D modeling. You had an idea, you did the math to design it, then you built a tiny one and flew it to see how it'd work. Just love old videos like this so wanted to share!
youtube.com/shorts/nC6Eu...
Just another fun one today from the "I've been sorting my video archive" files! Playing around on Skylab.
youtube.com/shorts/Xk085...
Sometimes I zone out watching footage like this and it's super calming, so here's a calm moment for your weekend!
21.06.2025 18:55 — 👍 45 🔁 3 💬 2 📌 1Also @philplait.bsky.social has the best breakdown of this with all the math, highly recommend reading his piece if you want more details: www.badastronomy.com/bad/tv/foxap...
20.06.2025 17:35 — 👍 20 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
With pretty much everything that looks "wrong" on the Moon, the key thing people insist on ignoring is that the Moon is not the Earth. And the lack of craters under the LM is the top thing people point to, so let's go over it!
youtube.com/shorts/5izWZ...
People bring up the shot of Apollo 17 leaving the moon as clear proof it was in a soundstage, so let me explain how it wasn't.
19.06.2025 17:45 — 👍 47 🔁 8 💬 7 📌 0
It's such a good shot of ullage motors I had to talk about them. Also the space for gas and expansion in the tank is called ullage... hence ullage motors. I realize I didn't expressly say that so I'm saying it now!
17.06.2025 17:36 — 👍 30 🔁 2 💬 4 📌 0
You can't see stars on the Moon... but that doesn't meant they aren't there! I've done this many times but I still get comments like this so I guess we're doing it again!
16.06.2025 17:36 — 👍 41 🔁 1 💬 2 📌 0
Imagine having to reject relativity as a physicist in the 1930s. Imagine rejecting Nobel-winning, world-changing science. That's so crazy, right?
Also Hitler thought space was made of ice and that's what caused weather.
For some reason a deep space EVA (or transEarth EVA if you want to be specific) freaks me out more than just being in the spacecraft on the way home. But I love them. I even have a pic from Al Worden's on Apollo 15 signed on my wall!
13.06.2025 17:35 — 👍 37 🔁 4 💬 3 📌 0
Yes, rockets can fly in a vacuum. It kind of blows my mind that in a country where no one denies firearms exist and have recoil people also deny that action/reaction exists. This one's been coming up a lot in my comments lately so trying to make it more accessible!
12.06.2025 17:07 — 👍 54 🔁 3 💬 4 📌 0
