Twitter: @NASA • @PadiBoyd
Site: www.nasa.gov/curiousuniverse
51 episodes
2020 to present
Open in Apple Podcasts • RSS
Categories: Astronomy • Story-Style
Podcaster's summary: Our universe is a wild and wonderful place. Join NASA astronauts, scientists and engineers on a new adventure each week — all you need is your curiosity. First-time space explorers welcome.
| Episodes |
| 2023-Apr-11 To the Stars with Astronaut Jessica Watkins In this special season five finale episode, join NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins, self-proclaimed “rock nerd” on a journey to the stars. |
| 2023-Apr-04 Suiting up for Space Spacesuits are more than just garments – in the airless vacuum of space or on the freezing surface of the moon, they keep astronauts alive. Explore how NASA engineers like Amy Ross and Paromita Mitra have contributed to the development of the next generation of spacesuits. |
| 2023-Mar-28 Field Notes: Nhulunbuy, Australia Tropical rainforests, snowy mountain peaks, even the Australian outback – NASA experts travel to a wide range of environments right here on Earth to better understand our universe. Miles Hatfield, NASA heliophysics science writer, recaps a recent reporting trip to cover a sounding rocket launch in Australia’s remote Northern Territories. |
| 2023-Mar-21 How to Build A Spacecraft Spacecraft go through a lot - exploring dangerous worlds across the cold expanse of space. Not to mention the chaos of a launch! So how do we build a mission that can take on dangerous environments and the harrowing trip to reach them? Explore the world of mission-building with scientists from Venus’ DAVINCI mission. |
| 2023-Mar-14 Stargazers Welcome The night sky isn’t just for experts, it belongs to all of us! And we here at NASA love to encourage people to go out and take a look. Amateur astronomer Kevin Hartnett, Hubble Social Media Lead Elizabeth Tammi, and the Astronomical Society of Greenbelt take us on a tour of the stars and share how you can join from your own backyard. |
| 2023-Mar-07 Wildfires from Space Wherever you live on Earth, wildfires touch your life. Explore how NASA scientist Doug Morton and Canadian firefighter-turned-researcher Josh Johnston use satellites to track the changing landscape of wildfires from space. |
| 2023-Feb-28 The Invisible World of Gravitational Waves Information about the universe is all around us. But there’s more than meets the eye! Gravitational waves are the invisible ripples in spacetime caused by supermassive interstellar activity. Join astrophysicists Ira Thorpe and Judy Racusin on an exploration of how NASA studies these unseen bends in time and space. |
| 2023-Feb-21 Defending the Planet from Asteroids Our solar system contains millions of asteroids, orbiting our sun and rocketing through the night sky! Join scientists Kelly Fast, Tom Statler, and Davide Farnocchia as we discover what we can learn from these building blocks of the universe, and how NASA would respond if one were ever headed our way. |
| 2023-Feb-13 Introducing Season Five In season five, join us as we fight wildfires, defend the Earth from asteroids, and explore the invisible world of gravitational waves! New episodes every Tuesday. |
| 2022-Dec-12 Bonus: Happy Holidays from NASA! Before we return with season five in 2023, celebrate the holidays with us! Join Goddard news chief Rob Garner, NASA social media lead Stephanie L. Smith, and astronaut Shannon Walker on this special, holiday-themed bonus episode. |
| 2022-Jul-12 Webb’s First Images On July 12, 2022, a fundamentally new era of exploring our universe begins. This special season finale episode features an overview of the James Webb Space Telescope’s first detailed cosmic images. Learn what this historic moment means from astronomer Michelle Thaller. |
| 2022-Jul-05 Field Notes: Astronaut Shannon Walker From dusty deserts to icy mountain tops, NASA experts visit incredible places along their career path. But what about our explorers who take their work off the Earth? Join astronaut Shannon Walker on a look back at her excursions into space. |
| 2022-Jun-28 Up and Away with Sounding Rockets Explore sounding rockets, and the experiments they take to the skies, with space physicist Alexa Halford and sounding rocket program assistant chief Cathy Hesh. |
| 2022-Jun-21 The Search For Life: Are We Alone? Are we alone in the universe? It's a question studied in science fiction, but also by teams here at NASA. Join us as we search for signs of life outside of Earth with scientists Aki Roberge, Ravi Kopparapu, and Shawn Domagal-Goldman. |
| 2022-Jun-14 How to Grow Plants in Space As humanity sets its sights on longer-term life in space, we’re going to need ways to sustain ourselves. That’s where plants come into play! Take a tour of Kennedy Space Center’s lush Plant Processing Area with Ray Wheeler, Ralph Fritsche, and Gioia Massa - the scientists studying how to grow food in space! |
| 2022-Jun-07 Going Supersonic! When a plane flies faster than the speed of sound, you get a sonic boom! But what if we could change those physics? Join NASA test pilot Nils Larson and aerospace engineer Lori Ozoroski to hear how we’re flying faster than the speed of sound, and making that supersonic flight quieter, too. |
| 2022-May-31 Earth’s Weather Watchers Planets throughout the universe are full of fascinating weather, including Earth! Hear how NASA and NOAA work together to predict, monitor, and respond to Earth’s ever-changing weather. Explore Earth’s weather with Dalia Kirschbaum, Marangelly Fuentes, and Dan Lindsey. |
| 2022-May-24 Mysteries of the Moon The Moon is our constant cosmic companion and the only planetary body outside of Earth where humans have set foot. As we prepare to head back to the Moon with the Artemis program, let's take a look at what we know about this wonderful and mysterious natural satellite. |
| 2022-May-17 Introducing Season Four In season four, explore the lifesaving systems of space suits, break through the sound barrier, and search for life among the stars. First-time space explorers welcome. |
| 2022-Mar-29 Bonus: Still Curious? At NASA, we are driven by curiosity, and we know you are too! Join us as we hear from our previous episode experts about what they’re interested in and answer some questions from listeners like you. What are you still curious about? |
| 2021-Dec-14 Webb Space Telescope: Go for Launch with ESA’s Ariane 5 Expert After years of preparation and anticipation, it’s time to send the world’s most powerful telescope to space. Ariane 5 rocket expert Rudi Albat (ESA) takes you through launch day and describes why the launcher that will carry Webb to its final destination is one of a kind. |
| 2021-Dec-07 Webb Space Telescope: The Global Village A scientist from Italy who studies baby stars. A Californian spacecraft refrigeration pioneer. A Dominican-American engineer who saw space as her refuge from a tough life at home. Meet three people who represent a small slice of the thousands who have worked on Webb worldwide. |
| 2021-Nov-30 Webb Space Telescope: Building the Next Discovery Machine Webb is preparing for a million-mile journey to its lookout point over the universe. Engineers have been hard at work designing, installing, and testing the world’s next discovery machine that will change astronomy for years to come. Join Kenneth Harris, Joe Sprofera, and Rene Doyon as they explain what it took to engineer Webb |
| 2021-Nov-23 Webb Space Telescope: Into the Unknown The James Webb Space Telescope is going to open a new window into the universe. It will show us stars, galaxies, planets, and other objects as we’ve never seen them before. In the first of four episodes of our mini-series, we focus on the great science that Webb will do. |
| 2021-Nov-16 Introducing the Webb Space Telescope Mini-Series NASA is preparing to launch the largest and most powerful space telescope ever constructed. Join us for a special James Webb Space Telescope mini-series as we explore the science, engineering, people, and launch of this historic mission. |
| 2021-Aug-30 A Day in Space Have you ever dreamed of spending a day in space? Join astronauts Shane Kimbrough, Megan McArthur, and Thomas Pesquet throughout their day living and working on the International Space Station. |
| 2021-Aug-23 Journey to Venus Let’s go to Venus! This year, two NASA missions were chosen to explore Earth’s “twin” planet, Venus. But with extreme temperatures and toxic clouds, these missions have to prepare for a difficult journey. Join Venus experts Jim Garvin, Sue Smrekar, and Giada Arney on a tour of Earth’s “twisted sister”. |
| 2021-Aug-16 Rocket Assembly Required Twenty-four American astronauts went to the moon between 1968 and 1972. In the next few years, we are going back. To get there, we’ll need a dedicated team, and a powerful new rocket. NASA’s Sharon Cobb and Abdiel Santos Galindo take us through the many, many steps involved in preparing for launch. |
| 2021-Aug-09 Plasma, Plasma, Everywhere! The night sky is full of planets, satellites, and cosmic objects we can see with our eyes and telescopes. In between all that material there’s a huge amount of invisible matter and the vast majority of it is called plasma. Follow along with scientists Doug Rowland and Don Gurnett, as we journey through this mysterious and electrifying substance. |
| 2021-Aug-02 Building Highways in the Sky When you think of NASA, you probably think about outer space. But the first “A” in NASA - aeronautics - means we’re busy crafting a lot closer to home. Aerospace engineers Shivanjli Sharma, David Zahn, and Mike Guminsky are hard at work inventing and testing new ways to fly. |
| 2021-Jul-26 Earth’s Expanding Oceans With Earth’s recent record-breaking temperatures, the pace of sea level rise has accelerated. NASA scientists take us on a trip into their research right here on our home planet. Join us as we fly over Antarctic ice sheets and consult with orbiting satellites on this exploration of our changing Earth. |
| 2021-Jul-19 Interpreting Our Universe You’ve probably seen beautiful images of space taken from telescopes around the world and out in orbit. But how does a bunch of intergalactic information become a vibrant photograph? And what else can we see, feel, and hear from that data? Scientists Kenneth Carpenter, Kimberly Arcand, and Denna Lambert help us translate the universe. |
| 2021-Jul-12 Let’s Go Planet-Hunting! What do we know about the planets outside our solar system? NASA planet hunters Jessie Christiansen and Knicole Colon take us beyond...into the exciting world of exoplanets. |
| 2021-Jul-07 Introducing Season Three Our universe is a wild and wonderful place. Join NASA astronauts, scientists and engineers on a new adventure each week — all you need is your curiosity. |
| 2021-Feb-22 Sounds of Mars On February 18, 2021, NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover completed its 300 million mile journey and landed safely on the Red Planet. Here’s what it heard. This special episode of NASA’s Curious Universe features the first-ever raw recorded sounds from Mars. Jim Green, David Gruel and Erisa Stilley explain what you're hearing. |
| 2020-Nov-23 Inside a Black Hole Don't let the name fool you: a black hole is anything but empty space. Black holes are some of the most extreme, bizarre and fascinating objects in the universe. Regina Caputo and Jeremy Schnittman describe what it might be like to go hunting for one. |
| 2020-Nov-16 The Crawlers A pair of behemoth machines called crawler-transporters have carried the load of taking rockets and spacecraft to the launchpad for more than 50 years at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. |
| 2020-Nov-09 Seasons of the Sun As Earth makes its annual trip around the Sun, we feel the impacts of its journey in the form of seasons. Our planet’s tilt in relation to the Sun determines what season we experience here on Earth. But, did you know that the Sun goes through seasons too? Delores Knipp, Dean Pesnell and Sabrina Savage explain. |
| 2020-Nov-02 From Space to Farm Farmers rely on the accuracy of a crucial NASA and USGS mission, Landsat, to make decisions about crops. Those decisions have far-reaching implications that can impact what you see on your dinner plate! |
| 2020-Oct-26 Our Cosmic Time Machine, The James Webb Space Telescope The James Webb Space Telescope will explore every phase of cosmic history: from the formation of the very first galaxies in the early universe, to our cosmic backyard of the Solar System. Webb is the largest space telescope NASA has ever built and it is almost ready to make its journey about one million miles from Earth. |
| 2020-Oct-19 Asteroid Hunting NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will attempt a daring feat: to briefly reach out its mechanical arm and grab a sample from an asteroid’s surface. Dante Lauretta, Heather Enos, and Ron Mink introduce you to NASA’s asteroid hunter and what this sample return mission means for us here on Earth. |
| 2020-Oct-12 Our Laboratory in Space Orbiting 250 miles above Earth, astronauts aboard the International Space Station explore farther into our solar system and work on thousands of studies that will help us back here on Earth. Join ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti and NASA scientist Sharmila Bhattacharya on an adventure to our “orbiting laboratory.” |
| 2020-Oct-05 Introducing NASA’s Curious Universe Season Two Our universe is a wild and wonderful place. Join NASA astronauts, scientists and engineers on a new adventure each week — all you need is your curiosity. Go asteroid hunting, explore faraway galaxies, and watch a black hole as it begins to form. First-time space explorers welcome. |
| 2020-Jul-21 We're Going to Mars! In this episode of our Curious Universe podcast, join us on a journey to the Red Planet. |
| 2020-May-17 The Star in Our Backyard Our Sun holds the solar system together and is responsible for life as we know it. Though it may seem calm and unchanging, the Sun is dynamic. Join NASA solar scientists on a trip around the Sun, our lively and mysterious neighborhood star. |
| 2020-May-11 Field Notes: Grand Mesa, Colorado Snowmobile rides. Deep-sea dives. Forest treks. NASA experts travel to some amazing environments, from the very hot to the very cold, to learn more about our planet. Jessica Merzdorf, Earth science writer, recaps a February field campaign in Grand Mesa, Colorado. |
| 2020-May-03 Sewing for Spaceflight Sewing machines, tape, scissors. Just like you might visit a tailor to get your pants hemmed or your suit fitted, NASA calls on a group of very creative problem-solvers to custom-make protective shields for our space missions. |
| 2020-Apr-27 The Astronaut Training Pool Before astronauts head to space, they have to dive into the Neutral Buoyancy Lab. Take a swim in NASA's underwater training ground with astronaut Nick Hague. |
| 2020-Apr-19 Our Window to the Stars Decades of planning. One heart-pounding setback. Over a million mesmerizing images of space. This is the story of the Hubble Space Telescope, our window to the stars. |
| 2020-Apr-12 Only on Earth When you think of NASA, you might think of all the incredible mysteries of outer space. But we’re also pretty invested in another very special place … our home. In this episode, join us as we celebrate all the ways NASA keeps an eye on our home planet. |
| 2020-Mar-31 Introducing NASA’s Curious Universe Our universe is a wild and wonderful place. Join NASA astronauts, scientists and engineers on a new adventure each week — all you need is your curiosity. First-time space explorers welcome. |