Fraser Cain
Universe Today
Dr. Pamela Gay
CosmoQuest
We’ve sent robots to other worlds, but the amount of science we can deploy to another planet can’t compare with the vast science labs we have on Earth. That’s why more and more missions are for a sample return, bringing pieces of alien worlds back to Earth, were we study them with proper equipment.
We’re so familiar with NASA’s exploration efforts in space, but you might be surprised to learn that China launches almost as many rockets as the US. They’ve got their own space exploration program that could soon bring humans to the surface of the Moon. Let’s give a brief overview of China’s space exploration plans.
Wherever we find liquid water on Earth, we find life, so it makes sense to search for water across the Universe, and hopefully we can find evidence of life. But what about worlds which are completely covered in water, oceans hundreds of kilometers deep. Can there be too much water?
NASA’s Juno spacecraft has completed dozens of flybys of Jupiter, seeing the planet from many angles and delivering some of the most beautiful images we’ve ever seen of the Jovian world. Now it’s focusing in on Io, sending home images of the tiny volcanic world from just 1,500 km away. And the best is yet to come.
Recent Episodes
Finally, a big update. Have there been news in the realm of exoplanets? More news that we can possibly cover. But we'll try our best. We usually record Astronomy Cast every Friday at 3:00 pm EDT / 12:00 pm PDT / 19:00 UTC. You can watch us live on here on...
Time for another update, this time we're going to look at what's new with supernovae. And once again, we've got good news, lots of new stuff to report. We usually record Astronomy Cast every Friday at 3:00 pm EDT / 12:00 pm PDT / 19:00 UTC. You can watch us live on...
Another update episode, this time we look at what's new and changed in the research of black holes. And it's here that we find a lot of substantial new discoveries in the field, so much has been discovered since we first covered black holes a decade ago. We usually...
The updates continue. Last week we talked about dark matter, and this week we continue with its partner dark energy. Of course, they're not really partners, unless you consider mysteriousness to be an attribute. Dark energy, that force that's accelerating the...
Last week, we gave you an update in particle physics. This week it's time to see what's new in the world of dark matter. Spoiler alert, we still have no idea what it is, but maybe a few more ideas for what it isn't. We usually record Astronomy Cast every Friday at...
It's time for a news update. This time from the field of particle physics. It turns out there have been all kinds of new and interesting particles discovered by the Large Hadron Collider and others. Let's get an update from Pamela. We usually record Astronomy Cast...
This episode was recorded on Wednesday, March 21 at 6:30 pm EDT / 3:3 pm PDT / 22:30 UTC. It's one thing to get to space. But once you've made it there, what do you want to do? You'll probably want to dock with another space ship, deliver cargo, refuel. Today we'll...
This episode was recorded on Tuesday, March 20 at 8 pm EDT / 5 pm PDT / 0:00 UTC Wednesday. If you want to get around in the Solar System, you'll want to take advantage of natural gravitational speed boosts and transfer orbits. Whether you're heading to the outer...
You can now enable the Amazon Astronomy Cast skill on your Alexa enabled device (in the US now, Canada soon)! You just log into your Alexa dashboard, go to the Skills, and look for "Astronomy Cast." Or, even easier than that, just say "Alexa, enable Astronomy Cast!"...
This episode was recorded on 3/8/2018 at 4:00 pm EST/ 1:00 PST/ 21:00 UTC! It's one thing to get from Earth to space, but sometimes you want to do the opposite. You want to get into orbit or touch down gently on the surface of a planet and explore it. How do...
Getting to space is all about rockets, but people are trying to figure out other methods that could carry payloads to orbit and beyond. Railguns, airplanes, tethers and more. Today we'll talk about alternative methods of spaceflight. We usually record Astronomy Cast...
We've seen rockets blast off from here on Earth. But that's only half the story. Rockets have additional stages to push them into trajectories, like transfer orbits and various orbital maneuvers. Let's talk about what happens after the rocket is long gone, beyond our...
The vast majority of rockets are multi-staged affairs. Why is this? What makes this kind of rocket so successful? Today we look at the ins and outs of multi-stage rockets. We usually record Astronomy Cast every Friday at 3:00 pm EST / 12:00 pm PST / 20:00 UTC. You can...
To celebrate the launch of the Falcon Heavy, we figured it was time for an all new series, this time on the rockets that carry us to space. Today we're going to talk about why single stage to orbit rockets are so difficult to carry out. We usually record Astronomy...
Pamela will be on to answer your space and astronomy questions live, as Fraser enjoys auroras in Iceland this week! And please check out how you can help us by answering some surveys for CosmoQuest here. We usually record Astronomy Cast every Friday at 3:00 pm EST /...
On Christmas Day, 1968 Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders became the first human being to see the far side of the Moon. Their mission, of course, was Apollo 8, the first time human beings had ever left Earth orbit and seen the far side of the Moon. Today we...
It's been decades since humans set foot on the Moon. Well, it's time to go back, in theory. Of course, we've heard this all before. What are the plans afoot to send humans back to the Moon this time. What hardware will we use, and what other strategies are in the...
If you got the previous version of Ep. 475 with bad audio, here's the fixed version! You know what's fun? Mysteries. Here's one: fast radio bursts. Astronomers have been detecting mysterious one-time signals from across the sky. What's causing them? Nobody knows for...
After they've been to space, many astronauts report that seeing the world from above has given them a totally new perspective on humanity and the state of our planet. It's called the Overview Effect. Today we'll talk about this, and what this perspective can teach us...
Hey Astronomy Cast listeners, As you know, Pamela is the director of CosmoQuest, which does citizen science projects. We are asking for your input through a series of three surveys, each of which is targeting a specific aspect of CosmoQuest and what we do: We are once...