Gravity Assist

Latest Episodes:

Season 4, Episode 8: There’s Life Under Ice in Antarctica. May 29, 2020

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From diving in Antarctica’s ice-covered lakes to exploring Mexico’s Cave of the Crystals, NASA astrobiologist Chris McKay has been searching for life in a wide variety of extreme environments on Earth.

Season 4, Episode 7: Deep Oceans in Deep Space, with Morgan Cable May 22, 2020

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Some of the most fascinating targets in the search for life in our solar system are moons of giant planets. Morgan Cable, an astrobiologist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, discusses these wondrous worlds, the exotic locations where she has done fieldwork, and the research she has done on the chemistry of life that could thrive on Titan.

Season 4, Episode 6: Life’s Building Blocks, with Jason Dworkin May 15, 2020

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When Earth was just a baby, meteors and asteroids rained down, delivering all sorts of chemicals to our developing planet. These small objects could have delivered the chemicals needed to spark life on Earth for the first time.

Season 4, Episode 5: What If We Found Life On Mars? May 08, 2020

Show notes

Imagine a future where the Perseverance Rover actually found definitive evidence of life on Mars. What would happen next? The Explore Mars Society recently held a virtual discussion on this topic with NASA’s chief scientist Jim Green and astrobiologist Penelope Boston from NASA’s Ames Research Center.

Season 4, Episode 4: Persevering on Mars, with Mitch Schulte May 01, 2020

Show notes

NASA’s upcoming Mars Perseverance rover, scheduled to launch in July, is bringing a set of technologies to explore the Red Planet in new ways. Mitch Schulte of NASA Headquarters discusses this mission and the effort to explore whether Mars had life in the past, or even now

Season 4, Episode 3: Could We Find Billion-Year-Old Cholesterol? Apr 24, 2020

Show notes

Could we find lipids beyond Earth? NASA astrobiologist Lindsay Hays explores this and other topics in her research. She also discusses places interesting for the search for life in our solar system and beyond.

Season 4, Episode 2: Life on the Rocks, with Heather Graham Apr 17, 2020

Show notes

To study the history of life on Earth and look for it beyond our planet, scientists in the field of astrobiology look for signs called “biosignatures.” NASA Goddard researcher Heather Graham discusses some of the oldest evidence of life on Earth and what scientists are searching for when they look for biosignatures in ancient rocks. By looking at w

Season 4, Episode 1: What is Astrobiology? With Mary Voytek Apr 17, 2020

Show notes

How did life originate and evolve here on Earth? What form could life take elsewhere – and where else could life survive beyond our planet? These are questions that scientists called astrobiologists tackle every day. By using space telescopes, doing laboratory experiments and studying extreme environments on Earth, astrobiologists hope to uncover n

Introducing Gravity Assist Season 4: Searching for Life Apr 15, 2020

Show notes

Is there life beyond Earth? How did life get started on Earth anyway? This season of NASA’s Gravity Assist podcast is about the origins of life on Earth and the search for life elsewhere.[scald=338003:full_width][scald=338003:full_width]

Season 3, Episode 15 — Astronauts Go Back to Moon School, with Kelsey Dec 19, 2019

Show notes

Besides learning how to live in space, astronauts training for Artemis missions to the Moon will need to become experts in geology, so they know what to look for when they're scoping out rocks and other features. Kelsey Young of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center describes her experience of teaching astronauts through analog sites, places on Earth

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