Even as the first rockets were launched into space decades ago, aerospace knew it was a wasteful process. Rocket stages, motors, and complex equipment crashed into the ocean or burned up in the Earth’s atmosphere. Could spaceplanes bring the costs down? Flying to orbit with a combination of jet engines and rockets and then safely re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere again. Single-stage to orbit spacecraft and spaceplanes have always seemed out of reach, and actually not that practical. But what about...
Oct 15, 2019•13 min
While we’re all waiting for James Webb to launch - which it will - the Extremely Large Telescope to be constructed, and LUVOIR to get approved. (Please get approved, please get approved.) We’re going to need a way to pass the time. So let’s have our imaginations take flight, out into the Universe, and consider some of the most incredible ideas suggested for telescopes. Unless you’ve been crawling through scientific journals like me, I guarantee you’ve never heard of any of them. But when I’m don...
Oct 11, 2019•13 min
In this week's questions show, I explain why Starship probably won't contribute to human carbon emissions, if there's a galactic Prime Directive, and if SpaceX has finally perfected the single-stage to orbit. Featuring Tony Darnell from Deep Astronomy and the Space Junk Podcast https://www.youtube.com/user/tdarnell https://optcorp.com/blogs/podcast 00:30 Won't Starship cause global warming? 02:33 Do we live in a Galactic Zoo? 04:45 Has SpaceX perfected SSTO? 07:17 How will Starship's thermal pro...
Oct 11, 2019•24 min
After decades of research, including multiple landers and orbiters, science can definitively say: Venus sucks. Seriously, that place is the worst, with its boiling temperature, intense pressure, sulfuric acid rain, and more. But was it always this bad? According to new research from NASA and various universities in Sweden and the US, Venus might have actually been the first habitable world in the Solar System. And it might have maintained a reasonable climate for billions of years, finally rolli...
Oct 10, 2019•10 min
This week I was joined by astronaut Ron Garan to talk about his new book "Floating in Darkness". Ron is an accomplished F-16 pilot, flying combat missions during Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He flew to space twice, first aboard STS-124, and then a six-month stay on board the International Space Station as part of Expedition 27. Learn more about his new book: https://publishizer.com/floating-in-darkness-/ Follow Ron on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/Astro_Ron Our Book is out! https://www.am...
Oct 10, 2019•1 hr 1 min
In 2017, Elon Musk laid out his grand sweeping plans for the future of SpaceX, the company that would take humanity to Mars. Over decades, tens of thousands of Starship flights would carry a million human beings to the surface of the Red Planet, the minimum Musk expects it’ll take to create a self-sustaining civilization. The number of details in an effort like this is mind-boggling. What about the reduced gravity, radiation exposure, and space madness? What about return flights? Replacement par...
Oct 01, 2019•10 min
My guest this week was Professor Sean Carroll from Caltech. Sean's a theoretical physicist, author of many books, and podcaster. His newest book, "Something Deeply Hidden" has just been released, presenting his ideas about the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. Learn more about Sean Carroll here: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/ Subscribe to his podcast: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/ Follow Sean on Twitter: https://twitter.com/seanmcarroll Our Book is out! http...
Oct 01, 2019•1 hr 3 min
On Saturday, September 28th, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk stood in front of an audience in Boca Chica, Texas, and presented the fully assembled SpaceX Starship, 50 meters tall and made from shiny stainless steel. As part of his presentation, Musk showed off the history of the company’s developments so far and gave us an updated view of what Starship and its first stage Superheavy booster will look like when they’re fully operational. It was actually a pretty short presentation, and there weren’t a lot o...
Oct 01, 2019•12 min
One of my most requested guests is Dr. Robert Zubrin, engineer and founder of the Mars Society. It was Dr. Zubrin's "Case for Mars" that helped inspire me to get into space journalism in the first place. We had a wide-ranging interview that updated the Case for Mars, looked at what comes next, and how current efforts are stumbling in their efforts to return humans to the Moon, and then on to Mars. Visit the Mars Society here: https://www.marssociety.org/ https://twitter.com/robert_zubrin Case fo...
Sep 27, 2019•1 hr 2 min
In this week's questions show, I explain how scientists know that meteorites came from Mars, is it dangerous to look for alien civilizations, what citizen science projects to get involved in, and more. Featuring Professor Nick Cowan from McGill University. 00:20 How do we know a meteorite came from Mars 02:27 Why look for aliens? 05:20 Observational bias finding big planets? 08:03 What projects can software engineers get involved in? 09:50 Why bother thinking about superhabitable worlds? 11:31 S...
Sep 26, 2019•27 min
This week I was joined in a livestream with Dr. David Kipping from Columbia University. We had a great interview about his research into exomoons, what new observatories will do for this field. We also talked about his idea of the Terrascope, using the Earth's atmosphere as a lens to study the Universe. And we talked about how scientists can better use the internet to communicate directly with the public about their research. Subscribe to Dr. Kipping's YouTube Channel here: https://www.youtube.c...
Sep 24, 2019•59 min
I’ve said many times in the past that the Earth is the best planet in the Universe. No matter where we go, we’ll never find a planet that’s a better home to Earth life than Earth. Of course, that’s because we, and all other Earth life evolved in this environment. Evolution adapted us to this planet, and it’s unlikely we could ever find another planet this good for us. However, is it the best planet? Are there places in the Universe which might have the conditions for more diversity of life? Our ...
Sep 23, 2019•10 min
In this week's questions show, I explain that life on Earth has less time than you think, if there could be multiple supermassive black holes inside the Milky Way, and what would we see if Mars replaced the Moon. Featuring Anton Petrov from WhatDaMath. Check out his channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCciQ8wFcVoIIMi-lfu8-cjQ 00:29 When will the Earth be unlivable? 03:00 Are there more supermassive black holes inside the Milky Way? 04:48 What if Mars replaces the Moon? 06:32 Can bed bu...
Sep 19, 2019•23 min
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Sep 19, 2019•58 min
Humans to Mars. That’s the plan right? The problem is that sending humans down to the surface of Mars is one of the most complicated and ambitious goals that we can attempt. It’s a huge step to go from low Earth orbit, then lunar landings, and then all the way to Mars, a journey of hundreds of millions of kilometers and 2 years at the least. But there are two places humans can go which are a stepping stone between Earth and Mars. Base camps that would let us gather our resources in relative safe...
Sep 17, 2019•12 min
This week I was joined by Dylan O'Donnell, an incredible astrophotographer and amateur astronomer from Australia. Dylan's photography has been featured in exhibits and websites around the world, and he's the organizer of the Starstuff Conference in Byron Bay ( https://starstuff.com.au/ ) and has a website featuring all his astrophotography ( https://deography.com/ ) Check out his channel at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgOf4wBnoGg8WHHHr_h4otQ Our Book is out! https://www.amazon.com/Universe...
Sep 17, 2019•58 min
We’re learning more and more about extrasolar planets, and for the first time, astronomers have discovered water vapor in the atmosphere of a planet orbiting another star. The planet is located in the habitable zone of its star, so this might even be rain. Of course, it’s not all good news, it’s much more massive than Earth, with higher gravity, and is probably bathed in radiation from its red dwarf star. But, it’s a good start in the search for habitable places in the Universe, places where the...
Sep 14, 2019•8 min
In this week's questions show, I talk about searching for life on Venus, trying to get to orbit with a jet, and why NASA probably shouldn't hire me. This episode features special guest SciManDan. Check out his channel at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRtsZ5Iak9wSLsQLQ3XOAeA 00:20 Could there be life on Venus? 03:30 Could you get into orbit with a jet? 06:31 Should NASA hire me? 08:57 Will junk get trapped in the Lagrange points 10:57 Kerbal 2? 12:23 Are Earth and the planets drifting away fr...
Sep 12, 2019•28 min
Welcome back to Season 2 of my weekly live QA. Your chance to ask me your questions about space and astronomy... live. Sometimes I'll have guests, and sometimes I won't. This week... I didn't. You wanted to know about recent news about astronauts mixing concrete in space, the formation of craters on Titan, and what might be the difficulties of people going to the Moon or Mars? 04:22 Mixing concrete on ISS? 07:44 Could you make shotcrete from regolith? 09:50 Why do some planets spin backwards? 12...
Sep 10, 2019•1 hr
We’ve reached the third part of our series on Lagrange Points, those stable spots in the Solar System, where you can sort of hover with the minimum amount of fuel. This episode we’re going to look at the L4 and L5 points which share the orbit with a more massive object. Part 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WN7lS9bpB4 Part 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgIZgrOZElo Building an artificial magnetosphere https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjFTke8E1jA Our Book is out! https://www.amazon.com/Un...
Sep 09, 2019•12 min
In this week's questions show, I explain what I think the best uses of the Moon might be, why I'm qualified to answer questions about space, and if you could use a black hole as mirror that lets you look back in time. 00:28 What's the best use of the Moon? 03:46 What are my qualifications? 05:44 Could a black hole bend light back to us? 07:12 How can the Moon drift away? 10:18 What are black holes made of? 12:18 Could we search for aliens who have organized their stars? 15:28 Could we build grav...
Sep 05, 2019•25 min
Lagrange Points. Stable spots in space that you just can’t stop thinking about. What spacecraft work best in which places? What are some amazing ideas that could utilize these regions across the Solar System? In the last episode, I gave an overview of the Lagrange points, and then went into the details of spacecraft missions sent to L1, the perfect place to constantly observe the Sun, the Earth, or to block radiation coming from the Sun. The best place for a lunar elevator, or a spot to put a sp...
Sep 03, 2019•17 min
In this week's questions show, I introduce Ona, by request. I explain why I don't think going to space is going to fix the big challenges that humanity faces, and how do astronomers figure out how big a planet is? Talking about existential threats with Phil Torres https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKYTrKapyrs 00:00 Meet Ona 02:00 Will going to space fix our evil humanness? 04:40 Sparks under the space shuttle main engine 05:27 How do we know how big a planet is? 07:23 Can we push the Earth outward...
Aug 31, 2019•24 min
Thanks to gravity, there are places across the Solar System which are nicely balanced. They’re called Lagrange Points and they give us the perfect vantage points for a range of spacecraft missions, from observing the Sun to studying asteroids, and more. Various spacecraft have already visited Lagrange Points, used them for some or all of their missions, and there are fascinating plans in the works that could put new missions and even space colonies into these balanced places in the Solar System....
Aug 31, 2019•14 min
One of the great accomplishments of the Apollo missions was to bring home hundreds of kilograms of lunar rock. Suddenly, geologists had a lifetime’s worth of lunar samples captured from several different spots across the Moon. These rocks and dust have been under continuous analysis since the Apollo 11 astronauts came home over 50 years ago. And they’re still making discoveries. Scientists have samples of the Sun’s solar wind, particles from a comet’s tail, a few grams from an asteroid, with mor...
Aug 28, 2019•12 min
As I’ve mentioned in several episodes now, humanity is in a bit of a transition period, a time when it makes sense to launch material up and out of Earth’s gravity well into orbit, and beyond. But it’s really expensive, costing up to $10,000 per pound you want in orbit, and 10 times if you want it on the Moon. But over the coming decades, more and more of our space-based infrastructure will be built in space, manufactured out of materials that were mined in space. The only thing that’ll actually...
Aug 23, 2019•12 min
In this week's questions show, I explain why all the planets astronomers have found are so bizarre. Couldn't we use laser highways to go faster? Is the lunar gateway really a lunar tollbooth? 00:14 Why do planets orbit so quickly? 02:33 What about laser highways? 03:57 Is the Lunar Gateway a Lunar Tollbooth? 07:15 How much artificial gravity is needed for human health? 08:43 Will Titan turn into Earth as the Sun expands? 10:14 Could Mars colonists work at night? 11:41 How do we know the temperat...
Aug 22, 2019•21 min
Mars is the place that most of our spacecraft, landers and rovers are studying, searching for any evidence that life ever existed somewhere else in the Solar System. But talk to planetary scientists, and they’re just as excited about the ocean worlds of the Solar System; the moons, asteroids, dwarf planets and Kuiper Belt objects where there could be vast oceans of liquid water under thick shells of ice. The perfect environment for life to thrive. We’ve only had tantalizing hints that these ocea...
Aug 20, 2019•12 min
On Tuesday, July 30th, NASA announced 19 different partnerships with 13 different companies to use their expertise to help them develop space technologies, from advanced communications systems to new methods of entry, descent and landing. Instead of contracting out specific projects, NASA will make its employees, facilities, hardware and software available to these companies, for free. One of the most notable of these partnerships will be with SpaceX and NASA’s Glenn and Marshall Centers to help...
Aug 16, 2019•12 min
In this week's questions show, I answer if techno optimism is blinding us to the challenges of spaceflight, why there aren't spacecraft at all the planets right now, could the Great Attractor be dark matter? And more... Links to various raw images Cassini - https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/raw-images/raw-image-viewer/?order=earth_date+desc&per_page=50&page=0 Curiosity - https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/#/?slide=2496 Dawn - https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/dawn/galleries/images/?...
Aug 16, 2019•26 min
