Ep. 694 – Mission Roll Call Part 3: Sun, Mercury, and Venus

Ep. 694 – Mission Roll Call Part 3: Sun, Mercury, and Venus

Our journey through space missions continues. Now we move away from the Earth to the rest of the solar system. What’s out there orbiting, roving and flying on other worlds and in interplanetary space. Today we look inward and we’ll talk about the missions studying the Sun, Mercury and Venus.

Ep. 693 – Mission Roll Call Part 2: Looking Outward from Earth

Ep. 693 – Mission Roll Call Part 2: Looking Outward from Earth

Last week, we brought you up to speed on the spacecraft which are helping to study Earth from above. Many of our missions are in Earth orbit but looking outward to study the Universe. Today, we’ll talk about the missions close to home, helping us understand our place in the cosmos.

Ep. 691: Jupiter’s Changing Red Spot

Ep. 691: Jupiter’s Changing Red Spot

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is one of its most iconic features, first seen hundreds of years ago. Although it’s certainly long-lasting, it’s been changing in size over the last few decades, shrinking and changing in color. Is it fading away? And what can the changes tell us about storms on giant planets?

Ep. 690: Climate on Mars – From Ice Caps to Dust Storms

Ep. 690: Climate on Mars – From Ice Caps to Dust Storms

We’ve looked at Earth’s changing climate, now let’s see what it’s like for another world: Mars. Much looks familiar, but some of it is totally alien, from ice caps of frozen carbon dioxide to planetary dust storms that can obscure the entire world from view.

Ep. 687: Prepping for the Moon

Ep. 687: Prepping for the Moon

We’re going back to the Moon. In the next few years humans will set foot on the Moon again, ideally this time to stay. But this will be different than the Apollo era, going to the scientifically fascinating, and difficult southern pole of the Moon. What needs to be done to prepare the way back to the Moon?

Ep. 686: Ice in the Shadows

Ep. 686: Ice in the Shadows

The permanently shadowed craters on the Moon are the focus of so much research. That’s because they seem to contain vast reserves of water ice. Water we could use for oxygen, propellant and so much more, but also, to help us understand where the Earth’s water came from.

Ep. 676: Other Things with Rings

Ep. 676: Other Things with Rings

We’ve spent a lot of time gushing about Saturn’s rings, but there are other places with ring systems. And not just Jupiter and the ice giants, but asteroids, dwarf planets, centaurs and even exoplanets. Today we’ll gush about them.

Ep. 675: Exotic Forms of Ice

Ep. 675: Exotic Forms of Ice

Ice is ice, right? You know, what you get when water freezes. Well, maybe here on Earth. But across the Universe, water can be squeezed together at different temperatures and pressures, leading to very different structures. Today we’ll talk about the different forms that ice can take.

Ep. 674: Asteroid Early Warning Systems

Ep. 674: Asteroid Early Warning Systems

The asteroid apocalypse is one of those existential crises that keep astronomers up at night. But the DART mission showed us that we can push an asteroid off its trajectory if we have enough warning. Today we’ll talk about how humanity is building early warning systems to give us time to respond to a dangerous asteroid.

Ep. 672: Space Debris Removal

Ep. 672: Space Debris Removal

We’ve talked about the rising problem of space junk. Okay, we know it’s an issue. So what can be done about it? Today we’ll talk about ideas to remove space junk, making sure space is open to use for the centuries to come.

Ep. 666: Solar System References to the Underworld

Ep. 666: Solar System References to the Underworld

Well, we did it. We made it to episode 666, an auspicious number to be sure. What can we do to celebrate this accomplishment? An episode all about things in the Universe that have been named after mythological people and places in the underworld?

Ep. 663: End of Year Observing Events

Ep. 663: End of Year Observing Events

We generally save our stargazing suggestions for the summer, when it’s warmer in the northern hemisphere. But you’re tough, you can handle a little cold. And it’s worth it because there are some wonderful things you can see in the night sky this time of year.

Ep. 661: Looking Back on the Missions That Ended

Ep. 661: Looking Back on the Missions That Ended

It’s always sad to say goodbye, but when we send our robotic emissaries out into the cosmos, it’s just a matter of time before they shut down. Today we’re going to say goodbye to a few missions which have reached the end of their lives. But they were very good robots.

Ep. 657: Astronomical Naming Schemes

Ep. 657: Astronomical Naming Schemes

Space is a big place, with a lot of galaxies, stars, planets and moons, and that means a lot of names. How do astronomers name stuff, like comets, asteroids, exoplanets, craters?

Ep. 656: Smashing Asteroids for Science!

Ep. 656: Smashing Asteroids for Science!

This week we saw the incredible image of DART smashing into asteroid Dimorphos. Beyond avenging the dinosaurs, what can we learn scientifically from this and other asteroid/comet impact missions?

Ep. 653: Climate Change: Looking at the Variables

Ep. 653: Climate Change: Looking at the Variables

Climate change is on our minds these days, with increasing wildfires, droughts and floods. What are the variables that play into a planet’s changing climate, and what can this teach us about the search for habitable planets across the Milky Way?

Ep. 644: Is Earth… Normal?

Ep. 644: Is Earth… Normal?

Now that we’ve discovered thousands of exoplanets, we’re learning more and more about what kinds of planetary systems there are out there across the Universe. Are planets like Earth unique or totally rare?

Ep. 642: Is the Sun… Normal?

Ep. 642: Is the Sun… Normal?

We’ve always assumed that we lived in a perfectly normal system with a normal star and normal planets. It’s all… normal. But with our modern understanding of billions of stars, just how normal is our Sun, anyway?

Ep. 641: Are Planets Alive?

Ep. 641: Are Planets Alive?

The Earth is teeming with life, both in the upper atmosphere to kilometers underground. There’s no question that our planet has life. But is our planet itself alive? This is a question posed back in the 1970s as the Gaia hypothesis, and it got its share of criticism. Some new ideas have been proposed to bring this hypothesis to the modern era.

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