This Week in Space (Audio)

You may not have heard of Charles Miller, but you should have. He was an early proponent of commercial spaceflight and was instrumental in making it part of NASA's mandate in 1998. He was a senior advisor to NASA on the topic for three years and, both before and after, a powerful proponent as a private citizen, starting a number of space advocacy groups. He recently founded Lynk, a company that connects cell phones to satellites worldwide with their own proprietary satellites. In short, he's one of the original Space Buccaneers and one of the few non-billionaires instrumental in creating the new space age.

Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik

Guest: Charles Miller

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The sun brings light and heat to Earth, but it can also blast our planet with stormy weather, flares, and massive coronal mass ejections that can impact our power grids, satellites, and even endanger astronauts in space and, eventually, back on the moon. And it's heating up as the sun approaches Solar Maximum of its latest Solar Cycle 25. NASA solar astrophysicist Dr. C. Alex Young of the Helioscience Division of the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland joins us to dish on the latest from the sun and what it means for us on Earth.        

Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik

Guest: C. Alex Young

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Jupiter is the king of the solar system, yet it has only been visited by a handful of probes. Juno is the most recent, and has redefined how we understand the giant planet. Since 2016, Juno has explored Jupiter's intense and mysterious magnetic field, changed how we look at giant planet formation, made critical observations of the complex movements of Jupiter's atmosphere, flow through the planet's nearly invisible rings, and probed the intricacies of the Jovian core. Add to that the Junocam project, which allowed citizen scientists to request specific targets for imaging, and you have one heck of a successful mission, now in its 22nd year! Join us as we talk to Juno's chief scientist, Scott Bolton.

Image credit: NASA

Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik

Guest: Scott Bolton

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Today we're talking to Robert Pearlman, the king of space collectors! Robert runs the CollectSpace website, the premiere go-to for collecting space hardware and paraphernalia. Need to know what that space helmet is worth? Robert has your back. Oh, you don't have a space helmet and want one? Robert's your man. You'll be amazed at what people will buy, and for how much. 

Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik

Guest: Robert Pearlman

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This week, Jeff Greason, our favorite interstellar propulsion advocate and resident genius, talks about how humanity will eventually travel (and live) beyond our solar system, and why it is imperative that we one day do so. The technologies may be closer than you think!

Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik

Guest: Jeff Greason

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There's no middle ground on SpaceX's Starship, it seems. You love it, or you hate it; you're an Elon fanboy or a grizzled OldSpace curmudgeon. The battle rages over the outcomes from the truncated Starship launch test last week, and we're going to jump right in, punch through the noise, unwind the arguments, and shine the light. Or not. You decide. If nothing else, we'll kick the bear called Starship!

Image credit: SpaceX

Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik

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We've been anxiously awaiting the first flight of SpaceX's fully stacked Starship and Super Heavy booster since 2016, and last Thursday, we finally saw it in action. While the flight did not go as planned, it exceeded SpaceX's expectations--and another should follow within a matter of weeks. Join Rod as he talks with Mike Wall of Space.com, who has been a keen observer of Starship since its earliest days.

Image credit: SpaceX

Host: Rod Pyle

Guest: Mike Wall

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Finding water on Mars could be a boon for human explorers there, as it provides drinking water, oxygen, and rocket fuel. Dr. Pascal Lee of the Mars Institute and SETI, with his colleagues, has spotted the remains of what appears to be an ancient glacier—which may still contain ice–close to the Martian equator, where it would be most accessible to future astronauts.

Image credit: NASA MRO HiRISE and CRISM false color composite. Lee et al. 2023

Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik

Guest: Pascal Lee

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Students for the Exploration and Development of Space has been preparing young people for space careers since its founding in 1980. With chapters in 14 countries and countless universities, the organization has expanded exponentially since then. Join us as we talk to Sara Alvarado and Audrey Scott about this dynamic, youth-empowering group!

Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik

Guests: Sara Alvarado and Audrey Scott

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Col. Eileen Collins was the first woman to pilot the space shuttle and command a NASA mission, but the journey was not easy. She was the second woman to go through the Air Force's test pilot school and was selected as an astronaut in 1990. In 1995 she piloted the shuttle Discovery in a mission to rendezvous with the Russian space station Mir, and in 1999 she commanded the STS-93 mission--the first woman to do so--and STS 114 in 2005, the shuttle's return to flight after the Columbia accident; in all, she flew four shuttle missions. Eileen retired from NASA in 2006 and co-authored "Through the Glass Ceiling to the Stars" with Jonathan Ward. She continues to inspire young women worldwide. 

Host: Tariq Malik

Guest: Eileen Collins

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