We continue our series with countries around the world in this episode as we feature the European Space Agency (ESA). Joining us for this interview is Günther Hasinger, the director of science for ESA. Günther was born in Germany and earned his PhD in astronomy, later becoming a professor, researcher and author. He is the author of an award-winning book called Astronomy’s Limitless Journey: A Guide to Understanding the Universe, and the winner of the Wilhelm Foerster Prize for public disseminati...
Aug 11, 2020•29 min
In this episode our panel discusses NASA's upcoming Perseverance mission, including its passenger Ingenuity, the first ever helicopter designed to fly on Mars. Targeted for launch in July 2020, the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover will seek signs of past life, set aside a returnable cache with the most compelling rock core and soil samples, and demonstrate technology needed for the future exploration of Mars. MEET OUR PANEL Joining us for this panel are Jenna Foertsch (https://www.jennafoertsch.com/...
Jul 27, 2020•41 min
We continue our series with countries around the world in this episode as we feature JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Joining us to discuss JAXA is astronaut Dr. Koichi Wakata. Dr. Wakata has accumulated 347 days in space spanning four missions, setting a record in Japanese human space flight history for the longest stay in space. He has flown on three space shuttle missions, and a Soyuz mission, and became the first Japanese Commander of the International Space Station. Dr. Wakata ...
Jul 21, 2020•20 min
The United Arab Emirates are just a few days away (July 15, 2020) from launching the Hope Probe to Mars. The Emirates Mars Mission (EMM) - Hope Probe will be the first probe to provide a complete picture of the Martian atmosphere and its layers when it reaches the red planet’s orbit in February 2021. The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, based in Dubai, is managing, developing and executing all stages of the program. Joining us from the Space Centre are Ayesha Al Sharafi, the EMM Lead for the Sp...
Jul 07, 2020•23 min
Over the next few episodes, we're embarking on a new space journey; a short series highlighting various countries and their efforts for the future of space exploration. In upcoming episodes we'll be featuring interviews with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), the Canadian Space Agency, and more. Be sure to subscribe today (it's free!) so you don't miss a single episode! The Rocket & Satellite Company, Pakistan's first private space company In this episode we interview Sami Ullah Khan...
Jul 01, 2020•14 min
We interview Bob Balaram, Chief Engineer of the Mars Helicopter INGENUITY project at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in this episode to discuss this first-ever helicopter designed to fly on Mars. The Mars Helicopter, Ingenuity, is a technology demonstration to test powered flight on another world for the first time. It hitched a ride on the NASA Perseverance rover, which landed on Mars in February 2021 and is now taking its first flights. About Bob Balaram, Chief Engineer, JPL Bob Balaram is...
Jun 17, 2020•22 min
In this episode we first briefly recap the successful launch of SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavor, with NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley. Then we dive into our conversation with Dave Eicher to talk all about Galaxies! Dave Eicher is one of the most widely recognized astronomy enthusiasts in the world. He has been with Astronomy magazine for 34 years, beginning as an assistant editor and working through associate, senior, and managing positions. He has been the magazine’s chief editor since ...
May 31, 2020•27 min
For the first time since 2011, astronauts are set to once again launch from U.S. soil aboard SpaceX Crew Dragon. The Demo-2 mission is set to launch from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 4:33 pm EDT Wednesday, May 27, 2020 (with a backup launch date of May 30th). Veteran astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will be on this mission to the International Space Station. In this episode we present our Zoom meeting with NASA Social Alumni Danielle Spinola, Jason Fields, Jorda...
May 23, 2020•45 min
Eli Naffah is Chief of NASA's Space Communications and Spectrum Management Office. In this interview, conducted onsite at NASA's Glenn Research Center, Eli discusses NASA's new Communications Services Program (CSP). NASA has long been a leader in space communications services, but the agency is now looking to U.S. industry to develop healthy commercially-provided satellite communications (SATCOM) capabilities, using radio frequency and optical systems, for near-Earth operations. The agency will ...
May 21, 2020•19 min
In this episode we welcome Tory Bruno, the president & CEO of United Launch Alliance. Tory joins us by phone to discuss how his interest in model rockets at the age of nine years old let to him pursuing a career in aerospace engineering, beginning at Lockheed Martin until he joined ULA in 2014. Tory discusses how ULA has achieved an incredible (and unsurpassed) 100% mission success rate, as well as the development of the new Vulcan Centaur rocket, which is set to launch in 2021 on its first ...
May 17, 2020•30 min
Sylvia France is the President of OrbitsEdge, Inc., a startup company on Florida’s Space Coast that helps companies collect and process huge amounts of data in space. This amazing company is working to create robust data centers in space--above the cloud, helping to reduce bottlenecks in data processing. Commercializing space needs more than launch capabilities and satellite communications. Today’s satellites are not designed to handle the huge amounts of space-born data. An in-orbit data infras...
May 07, 2020•15 min
Backstage with Martha Davis of The Motels! In this episode we go backstage with Martha Davis & The Motels before her Valentine’s Day concert where she talks about performing (and her nunchi philosophy for reading the crowd), her upcoming SPACE-themed two-album set called “Escape From Planet Earth”. Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! Start for FREE Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you....
Apr 23, 2020•17 min
Interview with astronaut Fred Haise, the lunar module pilot of Apollo 13! 50 years ago the world witnessed the amazing story of Apollo 13, launched on April 11, 1970. Two days into the mission, an explosion in one of the oxygen tanks prevented the three astronauts, Commander Jim Lovell, Command Module Pilot Jack Swigert and Lunar Module Pilot Fred Haise, from landing on the Moon. The entire world awaited the safe return of the crew for four days, as the three astronauts used the Lunar Module Aqu...
Apr 08, 2020•22 min
NASA has just selected a new mission to study how the Sun generates and releases giant space weather storms into space. The new mission is called SunRISE, which stands for Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment. This mission will ultimately help protect astronauts traveling to the Moon and Mars by providing better information on how the Sun’s radiation affects the space environment they must travel through. The principal investigator of SunRISE, Dr. Justin Kasper, joins us to discuss this inc...
Apr 02, 2020•20 min
Captain Scott Kelly is a veteran of four space flights, he commanded three expeditions to the International Space Station, and he’s spent 520 days living in space, including 340 consecutive days, the single longest space mission by an American astronaut. However, recently astronaut Christina Koch spend 328 days in space, just shy of Scott’s record by 12 days, but Christina did set the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman. Since Scott’s return to Earth he’s released his memoir ent...
Mar 19, 2020•16 min
How a child looking up to the stars in Switzerland became a NASA science leader In this interview we go onsite at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C. for an in-depth conversation with Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen. As NASA’s Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, Zurbuchen is tasked with helping us answer some of humanity’s biggest questions: Where did we come from? Are we alone? How does the universe work? Dr. Zurbuchen is well versed in the practice of asking difficult questions...
Mar 05, 2020•24 min
In this episode we feature Dr. Nathalie Cabrol, a French American astrobiologist specializing in planetary science. She has been a Principal Investigator (PI) at the SETI Institute since 1998 and is also the Director of the Carl Sagan Center for Research. She leads projects in planetary science and astrobiology, develops science exploration strategies for Mars, Titan, and the Outer Solar System icy moons, and designs robotic field experiments. Nathalie has received several NASA & other resea...
Feb 20, 2020•24 min
In this episode we speak with Tim Alatorre, the Senior Design Architect of the Von Braun Space Station, an incredible new space hotel underway by the Gateway Foundation. The Gateway Foundation was formed to build the first spaceport, with a three-part plan to develop a robust space construction industry, the first artificial gravity space station, and finally The Gateway—a destination hotel in space with amenities including luxurious suites, restaurant, lounge and unique gymnasium. For more info...
Feb 06, 2020•23 min
In this episode we welcome Christian Patouraux, the CEO of Kacific, a next-generation broadband satellite operator. SpaceX just launched Kacific1 aboard a Falcon 9 rocket (JCSAT18-Kacific1) on December 16, 2019. Kacific1 is a next-generation geostationary satellite that will stream high-speed, low-cost, ultra-reliable broadband to rural and suburban areas of the Pacific and South East Asia. Kacific1 will connect previously unserved or under-served populations with affordable, high-speed broadban...
Jan 23, 2020•17 min
In this episode we go behind the scenes of Boeing’s Starliner CST-100 Orbital Flight Test. As you may know, this was a milestone launch for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Boeing had previously conducted a successful pad abort test for Starliner in early November 2019. This orbital flight test, on December 20, 2019, was successful in that it launched and returned safely two days later; however the Starliner spacecraft, now named Calypso, was not able to dock with the International Space Station ...
Jan 09, 2020•31 min
Dr. Robert Zubrin is president of Pioneer Astronautics and also president of The Mars Society. He’s also the author of many critically acclaimed books, including “Mars Direct”, “How to Live on Mars” and “Entering Space”. He has appeared on major media including CNN, BBC, the Discovery Channel, & NPR. In this interview Dr. Zubrin joins us to discuss his latest book, “The Case for Space: How the revolution in spaceflight opens up a future of limitless possibility". For more information visit M...
Dec 26, 2019•21 min
Brian May is a founding member of Queen, a world-renowned guitarist, songwriter, producer and performer, also a Doctor of Astrophysics, 3-D stereoscopic photographic authority and a passionate advocate and campaigner for animal rights. In our latest episode Brian discusses his passions in music, space & photography, including his song New Horizons (created for the spacecraft which flew by Pluto, Arrokoth, and now deep into the Kuiper belt) and his book Mission Moon 3D. This interview was con...
Dec 10, 2019•20 min
In this episode we interview Peter Beck, the founder and chief executive of Rocket Lab. Since founding the business in 2006, Peter has grown Rocket Lab to become a globally recognized industry leader in space and a billion-dollar company employing world-class engineers and technicians. Peter established Rocket Lab’s Electron orbital launch program in 2013. Peter also oversaw the development of the world’s first and only private orbital launch range, located on New Zealand's Māhia Peninsula. He p...
Nov 26, 2019•19 min
In this episode, we feature my interview with NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, conducted from his office at NASA Headquarters in Washington D.C. in early November 2019. In this interview we discuss his incredible space journey, as well as the current and future missions of NASA, including plans to return humans to the Moon, then later to Mars. James Frederick “Jim” Bridenstine was nominated by President Donald Trump, confirmed by the U.S. Senate, and sworn in as NASA’s 13th administrator on A...
Nov 14, 2019•24 min
LAUNCHING NOVEMBER 14, 2019: Your Space Journey, a new series that will venture into the future of space exploration and the incredible leaders who are taking us there. Our amazing guests will include Queen guitarist & astrophysicist Brian May, NASA Associate Administrator Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen, The Mars Society’s Founder & President Dr. Robert Zubrin, SETI...
Oct 22, 2019•1 min
