Universe Today Podcast

Latest Episodes:

[Q&A] Space Junk Blocking Orbit, Fine-Tuning Problem, State of Media | Q&A 294 Feb 11, 2025

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Will space debris prevent us from accessing orbit and when could it happen? Is the Universe with all its rules just a lucky accident? What does "The Publisher of Universe Today" even do? Answering all these questions and more in this Q&A show.

[NIAC 2025] Our Best Venus Map Is 36 Years Old. NASA Wants to Fix it With Balloons Feb 10, 2025

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Venus has a thick layer of clouds that obscures our view of the surface. To tackle that, this NIAC project suggests launching a balloon with a tether that will go below the cloud layer and help us image Venus surface.

🟣 Guest: Dr Benjamin Hockman
https://www-robotics.jpl.nasa.gov/who-we-are/people/benjamin_hockman/

[Space Bites] Potential City-Killer Asteroid // Largest Structure in The Universe // Moon Canyons Feb 07, 2025

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A new asteroid with a 1% chance of hitting Earth in 2032, the European Space Agency is building a Lunar Lander platform, the largest structure in the Universe has been discovered, and how far away could we detect ourselves?

[Q&A] China VS USA Mars Sample Return, Who Controls JWST, Science VS AI Feb 07, 2025

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Who will get sample from Mars first? Who controls the James Webb Space Telescope? Does space radiation rule out panspermia? Answering all these questions and more in this Q&A show.

[NIAC 2025] Using Metamaterials to Build A Starshade in Space Feb 05, 2025

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We all want to see potentially habitable exoplanets around Sun-like stars. But to do that you need a starshade. Something to cover the star and reveal the faint planets around it. What can we build these structures from to make them rigid and strong enough? Finding out in this interview.

🟣 Guest: Christine Gregg
Dynamically Stable Large Space Structures via Architected Metamaterials
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/stmd/niac/dynamically-stable-large-space-structures-via-architected-metamaterials/

[Q&A] Shape of Craters, Max Size for a Telescope, Atmospheres of Black Holes Feb 04, 2025

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Why are most craters circular, no matter which angle the meteor falls? Is there a size limit for a telescope before diminishing returns take place? Can black holes have atmospheres? Answering all these questions and more in this Q&A show.

[NIAC 2025] NASA Just Funded This Project. Assembling Large Structures in Space Feb 03, 2025

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Space Docks are everywhere in science fiction. It's the most logical way to build big constructions in space. So, NASA funded a futuristic project that studies the possibility of assembling structures in space.

🟣 Guest: Dr Vojtech Holub
https://thinkorbital.com/

[NIAC 2025] NASA’s First Step To A Cloud City on Venus Feb 02, 2025

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The MOXIE experiment on the Perseverance rover showed that creating oxygen on other planets is possible. Now, we can apply the same logic to Venus. This could allow the creation of constantly floating balloons, leading to cloud cities in the future.

[Interview] Here's Why We Need A Venus Exploration Program Feb 01, 2025

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Venus is closer than Mars. It's more Earth-like. We can bring back samples from it. But it's chronically underexlored. This is why we need a Venus Exploration Program!

🟣 Guest: Dr Paul Byrne
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2412.06830

[Space Bites] Building Blocks of Life // Giant Volcanic Activity of Io // Bacteria Outside the ISS Jan 31, 2025

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The building blocks of life have been found in asteroid samples, the most volcanic activity ever seen on Io, astronauts are searching for bacteria on the outside of the space station, and Ingenuity found surprisingly fast wind speeds on Mars.

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