Program Archives

THE MILKY WAY: A NEW GALACTIC SELF-PORTRAIT
June 23, 2008
Guests: Bob Benjamin, Thomas Dame
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Astronomers have just announced findings that have reshaped understanding of our home galaxy. Bob Benjamin and Thomas Dame join us to explain. Emily Lakdawalla provides a Phoenix Mars mission...  more »

RALPH LORENZ AND TITAN UNVEILED
June 16, 2008
Guests: Ralph Lorenz
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Planetary scientist Ralph Lorenz has co-authored a great new book about Saturn's moon and the Cassini-Huygens mission that has revealed its amazingly Earth-like surface. Emily Lakdawalla reaches for...  more »

LANDING ON MARS: HOW HARD CAN IT BE?
June 9, 2008
Guests: Rob Manning
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JPL's Rob Manning explores just a few of the challenges of landing a spacecraft on another planet. We also get a Phoenix mission update from Emily Lakdawalla, who says not everything is going well. ...  more »

PHOENIX ON ICE: ONE WEEK IN THE MARTIAN ARCTIC CIRCLE
June 2, 2008
Guests: Peter Smith, Emily Lakdawalla, Bill Nye, Mike Griffin
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We continue special coverage of the Phoenix mission with an update from Emily Lakdawalla, and excerpts from the Planetary Society's Planetfest celebration during the May 25 landing, featuring Bill...  more »

SEVEN MINUTES OF TERROR AND TRIUMPH: PHOENIX LANDS ON MARS
May 26, 2008
Guests: Peter Smith
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Special coverage of the Phoenix mission continues following the thrilling touchdown of the spacecraft in the Arctic Circle of Mars. You'll hear exclusive conversations with Principal Investigator...  more »

COUNTDOWN TO TOUCHDOWN ON MARS
May 19, 2008
Guests: Peter Smith, Edward Weiler, Barry Goldstein
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We begin special coverage of the Phoenix mission, landing in the Martian Arctic Circle on May 25. A media briefing featured Principal Investigator Peter Smith, Project Manager Barry Goldstein, NASA...  more »

XCOR'S LYNX: ANOTHER RIDE INTO SPACE
May 12, 2008
Guests: Douglas Graham
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XCOR Aerospace, a neighbor of Scaled Composites in the California desert, has announced plans for the Lynx two-seater spaceplane. XCOR's Douglas Graham talks about this and other projects. Bill Nye...  more »

TURNING MOONDUST INTO AIR AND WATER
May 5, 2008
Guests: Gerry Sanders
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NASA is learning how future Moon colonists will mine and refine lunar regolith, turning it into the oxygen and water they'll need to survive without constant resupply by Earth. Gerry Sanders heads...  more »

THE BRIGHTEST LIGHT IN THE UNIVERSE
April 28, 2008
Guests: Neil Gehrels
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The Swift spacecraft found the biggest explosion ever witnessed by humans just last month. This Gamma Ray Burst was halfway across the universe. Principal Investigator Neil Gehrels tells us about...  more »

BILLIONS AND BILLIONS OF EARTHLIKE PLANETS?
April 21, 2008
Guests: Michael Meyer
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What if many or even most of the stars in our galaxy have rocky planets? Now there's evidence of just that from the team of scientists led by University of Arizona astronomer Michael Meyer. He...  more »