Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ NASA space exploration conversations • James Webb/Hubble imaging, galaxies, exoplanets • Mars rovers/helicopters, surface audio • Moon/Mars habitation: power, food growth, mission control • asteroids/icy moons/Venus missions • space weather, black holes, X-ray astronomy • astrobiology/technosignatures, planetary protection • Earth climate science, Antarctica ice change
This podcast is a NASA-hosted interview series that uses conversations with scientists, engineers, astronauts, and other space professionals to explain how space exploration and space science work in practice. Guided by former NASA Chief Scientist Jim Green, it blends big-picture questions—about how the universe formed, whether life exists beyond Earth, and what makes planets habitable—with the day-to-day realities of building missions, operating spacecraft, and turning raw measurements into usable science.
A major thread throughout the show is astronomy and astrophysics, including how space telescopes observe the cosmos across different kinds of light and how researchers interpret those observations to study galaxies, black holes, and extreme high-energy phenomena. Related discussions address how iconic observatories produce images and other public-facing data products, and how upcoming observations are planned and simulated in advance.
The podcast also spends substantial time on planetary science and solar system exploration. Topics include robotic missions to Mars, asteroids, Venus, and icy moons; what meteorites can reveal about planetary origins; and how engineers communicate with and navigate distant spacecraft. Several conversations focus on technologies and operational challenges that enable exploration, such as power systems, mission control decision-making, and preparing for contingencies in human spaceflight.
Human exploration and living off Earth is another theme, with attention to the International Space Station as a platform for research and a testbed for future missions. Episodes explore microgravity physics experiments and practical questions such as how to grow food beyond Earth and what it would take to support long-duration crews on the Moon or Mars.
Earth science and climate research also appear as part of NASA’s broader mission, including monitoring glaciers, sea level rise, and other indicators of climate change. Across all these areas, the show emphasizes the people behind the work, often touching on career paths, interdisciplinary collaboration, and how scientific goals translate into mission design and exploration strategy.
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Episodes:
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Season 5, Episode 32: Finale: Thanks for All the Gravity Assists
2022-Aug-12
24 minutes
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Season 5, Episode 31: Meet a Webb Scientist Who Looks Back in Time
2022-Jul-29
27 minutes
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Season 5, Ep. 30: Gravity Assist: How We Make Webb (and Hubble) Images
2022-Jul-08
17 minutes
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Gravity Assist: It’s Raining Diamonds on These Planets
2022-Jul-01
21 minutes
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Season 5, Episode 28: This is What Mars Sounds Like, with Nina Lanza
2022-Jun-17
22 minutes
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Season 5, Episode 27: What Will We Eat on Mars?
2022-May-20
25 minutes
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Season 5, Episode 26: How to Grow Food on the Moon
2022-May-13
20 minutes
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Season 5,Episode 25: Walking on Broken Ice, with Catherine Walker
2022-Apr-22
23 minutes
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Season 5, Episode 24: Do Other Planets Make Pollution?
2022-Apr-08
21 minutes
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Season 5, Episode 23: These Space Rocks Have Seen It All
2022-Mar-18
25 minutes
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Season 5, Episode 22: Using Webb to Trace Galactic Histories
2022-Mar-04
22 minutes
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Season 5, Episode 21: In Case of Space Station Emergency
2022-Feb-18
24 minutes
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Gravity Assist: Meet NASA’s New Chief Scientist, Kate Calvin
2022-Jan-28
19 minutes
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Season 5, Episode 19: A New Set of X-Ray Eyes is Launching
2021-Dec-03
22 minutes
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Season 5, Episode 18: How to Move an Asteroid, with Nancy Chabot
2021-Nov-19
25 minutes
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Season 5, Episode 17: Solar Power for the Moon
2021-Oct-29
19 minutes
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Season 5, Episode 16:Meet a Space Weather Scientist
2021-Oct-22
25 minutes
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Season 5, Episode 15: Lucy and the Space Fossils, with Hal Levison
2021-Oct-08
26 minutes
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Season 5, Episode 14: Goodbye Saturn, Hello Earth
2021-Aug-27
26 minutes
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Season 5, Episode 13: Freaky Physics on the Space Station
2021-Aug-06
23 minutes
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Season 5, Episode 12: Diving Into NASA History
2021-Jul-30
21 minutes
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Season 5, Episode 11: Onward to Venus, with Lori Glaze
2021-Jul-23
25 minutes
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Season 5, Episode 10: A Chance to Fly on Mars, with MiMi Aung
2021-Jul-09
27 minutes
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Season 5, Episode 9: This Asteroid Is Metal
2021-Jul-02
25 minutes
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Season 5, Episode 8: Let’s Talk About Climate Change
2021-Jun-18
25 minutes
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Season 5, Episode 7: From Space Camp to Mission Control
2021-Jun-11
23 minutes
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Season 5, Episode 6: Before You Launch: Practice, Practice, Practice
2021-Jun-04
20 minutes
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Season 5, Episode 5:Listening to the Universe, with Kim Arcand
2021-May-21
19 minutes
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Season 5, Episode 4: Always an Astronaut, with Ken Bowersox
2021-May-14
24 minutes
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Season 5, Episode 3: Breaking Barriers, with Dana Bolles
2021-Apr-30
21 minutes
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Season 5, Episode 2: Talking to Ingenuity and Other Space Robots
2021-Apr-23
17 minutes
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Season 5, Episode 1: Black Hole Mysteries, with Jeremy Schnittman
2021-Apr-16
23 minutes
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Season 5 Trailer – What’s Your Gravity Assist?
2021-Apr-09
2 minutes
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Season 4, Episode 25: Driving on Mars, with Sophia Mitchell
2021-Feb-12
21 minutes
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Season 4, Episode 24: Your Questions About Life Out There & Down Here
2020-Dec-23
33 minutes
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Season 4, Episode 23: The Bright Spot of the Asteroid Belt
2020-Dec-18
19 minutes
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Season 4, Episode 22: Set Sail for Europa, with Bob Pappalardo
2020-Dec-04
16 minutes
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Season 4, Episode 21: Mars Takes a Breath, with Jen Eigenbrode
2020-Nov-13
19 minutes
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Season 4, Episode 20: The History of the Future, with Steven Dick
2020-Oct-30
21 minutes
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Season 4, Episode 19: Life in the Clouds, with David J. Smith
2020-Oct-09
23 minutes
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Season 4, Episode 18: Why Icy Moons are So Juicy
2020-Sep-25
22 minutes
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Season 4, Episode 17: Is Artificial Intelligence the Future of Life?
2020-Sep-11
16 minutes
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Season 4, Episode 16: Our Sun, Our Life, with Vladimir Airapetian
2020-Aug-21
15 minutes
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Season 4, Episode 15 Looking For Life in Ancient Lakes
2020-Aug-14
17 minutes
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Season 4, Episode 14: Gardens at the Bottom of the Sea
2020-Aug-07
17 minutes
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Season 4, Episode 13: She Protects Other Planets from Our Germs
2020-Jul-17
27 minutes
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Season 4, Episode 12: The Search for Technosignatures
2020-Jun-26
23 minutes
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Season 4, Episode 11: Where are the Goldilocks Stars? With Giada Arney
2020-Jun-18
22 minutes
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Season 4, Episode 10: Puffy Planets, Powerful Telescopes
2020-Jun-12
23 minutes
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Season 4, Episode 9: Is Our Solar System Weird?
2020-Jun-05
28 minutes
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Season 4, Episode 8: There’s Life Under Ice in Antarctica.
2020-May-29
24 minutes
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Season 4, Episode 7: Deep Oceans in Deep Space, with Morgan Cable
2020-May-22
23 minutes
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Season 4, Episode 6: Life’s Building Blocks, with Jason Dworkin
2020-May-15
24 minutes
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Season 4, Episode 5: What If We Found Life On Mars?
2020-May-08
43 minutes
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Season 4, Episode 4: Persevering on Mars, with Mitch Schulte
2020-May-01
23 minutes
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Season 4, Episode 3: Could We Find Billion-Year-Old Cholesterol?
2020-Apr-24
22 minutes
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Season 4, Episode 2: Life on the Rocks, with Heather Graham
2020-Apr-17
20 minutes
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Season 4, Episode 1: What is Astrobiology? With Mary Voytek
2020-Apr-17
27 minutes
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Introducing Gravity Assist Season 4: Searching for Life
2020-Apr-15
2 minutes
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Season 3, Episode 15 — Astronauts Go Back to Moon School, with Kelsey
2019-Dec-19
22 minutes
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Season 3, Episode 14: The Moon's Holy GRAIL
2019-Dec-10
24 minutes
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Season 3, Episode 13: The Moon Quakes! With Walter Kiefer
2019-Sep-27
22 minutes
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Season 3, Episode 12: Fire Fountains on the Moon, with Dave Draper
2019-Sep-12
23 minutes
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Season 3, Episode 11: The Moon Was Like a Magnet, with Sonia Tikoo
2019-Aug-23
20 minutes
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Season 3, Episode 10: Beyond Apollo with Jake Bleacher
2019-Jul-18
24 minutes
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Season 3, Episode 9: Your Moon Questions Answered
2019-Jun-28
31 minutes
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Season 3, Episode 8: The Moon Rocks! With Barbara Cohen
2019-Jun-21
26 minutes
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Season 3, Episode 7: Mapping the Moon, with Noah Petro
2019-Jun-13
29 minutes
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Season 3, Episode 6: Why So Many Craters on the Moon? With David Kring
2019-Jun-06
28 minutes
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Season 3, Episode 5: Where's the Water on the Moon? With Jen Heldmann
2019-May-30
21 minutes
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Season 3, Episode 4: Why Do We Have a Moon? With Robin Canup
2019-May-09
31 minutes
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Season 3, Episode 3: Where Could We Go on the Moon? Steve Mackwell
2019-May-02
27 minutes
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Season 3, Episode 2: Buying a Ride to the Moon, with Steven Clarke
2019-Apr-24
18 minutes
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Season 3, Episode 1: Meet NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine
2019-Apr-11
30 minutes
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Season 3, Trailer
2019-Apr-01
1 minute
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Season 2, Episode 10: The Sun’s Mysteries with Thomas Zurbuchen
2018-Dec-11
24 minutes
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Season 2, Episode 9: Planetary Defense and Oumuamua with Kelly Fast
2018-Sep-26
26 minutes
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Season 2, Episode 8: Sunspots and Solar Flares with Alex Young
2018-Sep-11
23 minutes
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Season 2, Episode 7: Mars Dust Storm with Melinda Kahre.
2018-Aug-15
17 minutes
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Season 2, Episode 6: Exoplanet Hunting with Jon Jenkins
2018-Aug-01
28 minutes
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Season 2, Episode 5: Asteroid Hunting with Lindley Johnson
2018-Jul-17
30 minutes
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Season 2, Episode 4: Exploring Mars with Steve Squyres
2018-Jul-03
24 minutes
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Season 2, Episode 3: Mars and InSight with Bruce Banerdt
2018-May-02
25 minutes
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Season 2, Episode 2: TESS & Exoplanets with Martin Still
2018-Apr-12
22 minutes
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Season 2, Episode 1: Explorer 1 with Jim Green
2018-Mar-01
22 minutes
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Season 1, Episode 12: Science and Science Fiction with Andy Weir
2018-Feb-07
23 minutes
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Season 1, Episode 11: The Kuiper Belt with Alan Stern
2018-Jan-31
19 minutes
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Gravity Assist Podcast, Pluto with Alan Stern
2018-Jan-24
18 minutes
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Season 1, Episode 9: Uranus and Neptune with Amy Simon
2018-Jan-17
16 minutes
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Season 1, Episode 8: Saturn with Linda Spilker
2018-Jan-10
20 minutes
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Season 1, Episode 7: Jupiter with Jared Epsley
2018-Jan-03
21 minutes
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Season 1, Episode 6: Mars with Bruce Jakosky and Michael Meyer
2017-Dec-20
22 minutes
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Season 1, Episode 5: The Moon with Sarah Noble
2017-Dec-13
21 minutes
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Season 1, Episode 4: Earth with Tom Wagner
2017-Dec-06
22 minutes
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Season 1, Episode 3: Venus with David Grinspoon
2017-Nov-29
24 minutes
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Season 1, Episode 2: Mercury with Faith Vilas
2017-Nov-22
22 minutes
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Season 1, Episode 1: The Sun with Nicky Fox
2017-Nov-15
23 minutes
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NASA’s New “Gravity Assist” Podcast Debuts Nov. 15, 2017
2017-Nov-02
1 minute
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