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3.19 When the Universe Attacks

3.19 When the Universe Attacks

In this episode, we celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Fermi Paradox by looking at a bunch of science capable of preventing and destroying civilizations. We also review our latest not-so-great attempts to land on the moon and launch a rocket that (if it worked)...

3.19 When the Universe Attacks

2 Tales of 2 decades: Rubin Observatory and SpaceX Starship

Join us as we look at two parallel stories - the development of the Vera Rubin Observatory and the SpaceX Starship rocket. Both projects are 20 years in the making, and both were supposed to start work in 2019. Both hit new milestones in June, and it's time to review...

3.19 When the Universe Attacks

3.18 Happy Space News

This week, we take a closer look at the weirdly twisty search for a possible planet in our outer solar system. We'll also take in the happy science of aurorae here, at Jupiter, and over Neptune, as well as a bunch of weird discoveries that has some people screaming...

3.19 When the Universe Attacks

3.17 A failing look at Earth, a first look at other worlds, and more

In this week’s closer look, we are going to look at the Earth-facing missions that are getting dragged down by our atmosphere and will be forcibly retired by physics in the next few years, again with no replacements in the works. These missions allow us to do...

3.19 When the Universe Attacks

3.16 Federal Budget Cuts: An Extinction Level Event

This week, we look at how the elimination of science programs, projects, datasets, and funding may be shaping into an extinction-level event for US Space-related sciences. Come cry with us. https://youtu.be/RzglVwly8Cs?feature=shared

3.13 The Book of Mars, Star Formation, and More

I’m recording this on March 5. At this point in time, there is no new NASA administrator and we continue to live in the liminal space where the massive layoff that have struck so many Federal Agencies are still somehow only touching the edges of Space Science. We seen...

3.12 Temperatures That Kill

Our episodes have been slightly more spaced out for a couple of months for different reasons. First, there were the holidays. Since then, I and some colleagues have been putting significant effort into a pair of tiny NASA grants as we try to get ahead on our work in...

3.11 Space stories of joy

This week I'm coming to you from Florida, where I have had the amazing opportunity to see the launch of Firefly Aerospace's blue ghost and iSpaces Mission 2. I didn’t see New Glenn launch in person due to a conflict with PodFest, but all in all, it is a week of too...

3.09 Searching for Dark Energy in Black Holes

Here in the United States, it is the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend. While I’m script writing in southern Illinois, Ally, our producer is working on her other podcast, “Big Impact Astronomy.” While I’m sure both our families would rather we took the time to relax,...

3.08 By fire and ice: mass extinctions gone wild

I’m writing and recording this on November 14. It is now 9 days after the US elections and we now know that the Republicans now control all three branches of the US government. Historically, Republican controlled administrations have been good for science and have...

Ep. 3.07 Aerospace vs Climate Change

I am currently wishing we produced a weekly show because this past week has been full of news that is surreally relevant to both Space Exploration and the elections. We’ve seen Jeff Bezos, owner of the Washington Post, Amazon, and aerospace company Blue Origin, have...

Ep. 3.05 SpaceX vs FAA and EPA and Cards Against Humanity

This week we’re doing something we’ve never done before; we’re dedicating the majority of the show to a single story: SpaceX’s recurring failure to follow the rules, regulations, and norms of international spaceflight. We have the receipts, and we hope that you will...

Ep. 3.02 NASA Budget Woes May Murder Missions

Ep. 3.02 NASA Budget Woes May Murder Missions

Putting this episode together has been a bit of a wild ride and we actually delayed the episode for one week because I was hoping to see some of the stories on our list to cover come to some kind of a resolution.   But no… 5 extra days later, we’re still not...

Ep 3.01: Found – 1 Intermediate Mass Black Hole

Ep 3.01: Found – 1 Intermediate Mass Black Hole

Let's take a fast-paced journey thru all that's new in space and astronomy, including how Jupiter's Great Red Spot went missing, Io's Lava Lake, Titan's coastal erosion, and this week's tales from the launch pad. We also look closer at the discovery of the first...

Ep. 2.24: JWST Reveals Star Formation Details

Ep. 2.24: JWST Reveals Star Formation Details

Let's take a fast-paced journey thru all that's new in space and astronomy, including Mars Perseverance Rover fords an ancient river, black holes sometimes form like baby stars, and this week's tales from the launch pad. We also look in detail at how JWST images...

Ep. 2.23: Planning to go back to the Moon

Ep. 2.23: Planning to go back to the Moon

Let's take a quick tour of the latest news, including updates on the Hubble Space Telescopes and single gyro operations, EUCLID's image release, an amazing new image of Io by LBT, and new calculations of Pluto's oceans. We also look in detail at plans to return humans...

3.19 When the Universe Attacks

S2 Ep 22: Climate in Crisis (and stars in formation)

In this episode, we bring you stories on how JWST - Not LIGO and Virgo - spotted the most distant Black Hole merge to date, why the search for life on other worlds gets more challenging the more we look, and we take a deep dive into the things we’re doing that cause...