The Weekly Space Hangout is recorded every Friday on the Cosmoquest G+ page. Journalists and astronomers discuss the top stories of the week in space and science, and answer audience questions. These are the audio files of those recordings.
Weekly Space Hangout: December 16, 2020 – John Powell Tells Us About PongSats and Airship to Orbit
Dec 17, 2020
Please welcome our guest tonight, John Powell, President of JP Aerospace, a nonprofit that launches student designed Pongsats (i.e., experiments that fit inside of a ping pong ball,) and other experiments to the edge of space using balloons. To date, over 80,000 students have participated in this program with plans to expand it even further.
John Powell, or JP as he is known, is a man in the middle. To the space community he’s “That crazy balloon guy”; to the balloon community he’s “That crazy space guy”. The reality is that he is both.
For the past 42 years JP has been the President of JP Aerospace, America’s OTHER Space Program. JPA specializes in high altitude airships, balloons and manned artificial intelligence submarines. All of this is part of their principle project, the airship to Orbit program.
JPA has flown nearly two hundred missions from rockets to airships. John holds the patent for the Airship to Orbit concept airship and has designed, built and tested one of the very few propellers that function at 100,000 feet. He started the PongSat student flight program, now having flown over 18,000 student experiments to 100,000 feet involving more than 80,000 students. He is the recipient of the 2006 Benjamin Franklin Award.
JP is a father, pilot, and rides unicycles and plays violin when not building spaceships.
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We record the Weekly Space Hangout every Wednesday at 5:00 PM Pacific/8:00 PM Eastern. You can watch us live on Universe Today or the Weekly Space Hangout YouTube page. Please subscribe!
Weekly Space Hangout: December 9, 2020 – Casey Dreier: Are Changes Coming to NASA/US Space Policy?
Dec 10, 2020
We are pleased to once again welcome Casey Dreier from the Planetary Society to the WSH. Casey will update us (as much as possible) about Space Policy changes that may occur once the new American Presidential administration takes office on January 20, 2021.
As Chief Advocate, Casey is the public face of The Planetary Society’s efforts to advance planetary exploration, planetary defense, and the search for life. He educates and empowers the organization’s members to take political action. He writes, teaches, and speaks to The Society’s members, the public, and policymakers to impress upon them the importance, relevancy, and excitement of space exploration.
Casey is committed to demystifying the politics and policy process behind space exploration for all audiences. He is a trusted source for journalists and has been featured in many publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Scientific American, Vox, and The Verge, to name a few. He also has appeared as an expert on BBC News and both seasons of National Geographic’s MARS series as a “MARS Big Thinker”.
As Senior Space Policy Adviser Casey helps lead the strategic planning of The Society’s policy and advocacy efforts. He works closely with The Society’s leadership, its Board of Directors, and other policy experts to craft the organizational positions and goals regarding the future of space exploration. He provides trusted analysis of the budgetary, political, and policy decisions relating to space, pursues original research, and works collaboratively to generate policy ideas and guidance for the U.S. space program.
Casey is a regular contributor to The Planetary Report, co-hosts the monthly Space Policy Edition podcast of Planetary Radio, and regularly publishes space policy analysis and insights on planetary.org.
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If you would like to join the Weekly Space Hangout Crew, visit their site and sign up. They’re a great team who can help you join our online discussions.
We record the Weekly Space Hangout every Wednesday at 5:00 PM Pacific/8:00 PM Eastern. You can watch us live on Universe Today or the Weekly Space Hangout YouTube page. Please subscribe!
Weekly Space Hangout: December 2, 2020 – Dr. Ingrid Daubar, Planetary Scientist, Brown University
Dec 03, 2020
This week we are joined by Dr. Ingrid Daubar, Planetary Scientist from Brown University studying impact cratering within our solar system. Dr. Daubar is part of a team that has been using a new AI classification tool to identify geologic features on planetary surfaces, such as Mars.
Ingrid has been involved in planetary science for more than two decades. Her research interests include impact craters and other time-varying phenomena on terrestrial planets. She has participated in science and operations on multiple missions including MRO, InSight, Europa Clipper, and Juno.
Dr. Daubar’s research on small, recent impact craters on Mars and the Moon has allowed us to better understand the impact flux in the inner solar system, the chronology of recent events and timescales of geologic processes on these bodies, and the processes involved in modern-day cratering and modification over time of planetary surfaces.
You can learn more about Ingrid by visiting her website.
Don’t forget to like and subscribe! Plus we love being shared out to new people, so tweet, comment, review us… all the free things you can do to help bring science into people’s lives.
If you would like to join the Weekly Space Hangout Crew, visit their site and sign up. They’re a great team who can help you join our online discussions.
We record the Weekly Space Hangout every Wednesday at 5:00 PM Pacific/8:00 PM Eastern. You can watch us live on Universe Today or the Weekly Space Hangout YouTube page. Please subscribe!
Weekly Space Hangout: November 25, 2020, Dr. Olivier Witasse, Project Scientist, the JUICE Mission
Nov 26, 2020
This week we are aired Fraser’s pre-recorded interview with Dr. Olivier Witasse, Project Scientist on the JUICE mission.
Olivier studied fundamental physics and astrophysics at the universities of Paris XI (Orsay) and Lyon between 1990 and 1996. He obtained a PhD at the University of Grenoble in 2000.
In 1995, he successfully completed the exams to become a teacher of Physics and Chemistry. He taught physics during his military service, and during his PhD at the university.
He joined ESA as a staff member in 2003, after a two-year research fellowship at ESTEC and a four-month post doc at the Royal Observatory of Belgium. In 2015, Olivier joined the JUICE project.
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If you would like to join the Weekly Space Hangout Crew, visit their site and sign up. They’re a great team who can help you join our online discussions.
We record the Weekly Space Hangout every Wednesday at 5:00 PM Pacific/8:00 PM Eastern. You can watch us live on Universe Today or the Weekly Space Hangout YouTube page. Please subscribe!
Weekly Space Hangout: November 18, 2020 – Dr. Ralph Lorenz, Planetary Scientist and Dragonfly Mission Architect
Nov 19, 2020
This week we are airing Fraser’s pre-recorded interview with Dr. Ralph Lorenz, planetary scientist and aerospace engineer from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. Ralph is the Mission Architect of the upcoming Dragonfly Mission to Titan, and the author of the new book, Saturn’s Moon Titan Owners’ Workshop Manual.
Ralph was a member of the Cassini Radar team, and helped to develop the Huygens Surface Science Package. He has played a major role in the definition of a range of US and European Titan mission concepts, from airships and hot-air balloons, through airplanes, landers and even a submarine. Thomson–Reuters Sciencewatch in 2011 named Ralph Lorenz as one of the world’s top planetary scientists by impact. He is currently working on a design study adopted by NASA for a quadcopter probe named ‘Dragonfly’, designed to explore Titan.
Ralph’s latest book is Saturn’s Moon Titan Owners’ Workshop Manual (Haynes, 2020) which is available on Amazon and directly through Haynes.
Complete information about Dragonfly is available on the Mission Website.
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If you would like to join the Weekly Space Hangout Crew, visit their site and sign up. They’re a great team who can help you join our online discussions.
We record the Weekly Space Hangout every Wednesday at 5:00 PM Pacific/8:00 PM Eastern. You can watch us live on Universe Today or the Weekly Space Hangout YouTube page. Please subscribe!
Weekly Space Hangout: November 11, 2020 – Amy Ross, NASA Engineer and Space Suit Designer
Nov 12, 2020
This week we are excited to welcome Amy Ross, NASA Space Suit Engineer, to the WSH. Amy is the team lead for the Exploration Extra-vehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) Pressure Garment Subsystem (PGS) as well as Space Suit Pressure Garment Technology Development. The team’s primary focus is the design, fabrication, qualification testing, and flight hardware delivery of the xEMU PGS in 2023.
As part of her duties with NASA, Amy has, among other things, qualified suits in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab, flown on the Vomit Comet (experiencing zero, Lunar, and Mars gravities), been trained in Space Shuttle Launch pad mode II/IV egress procedures, and served as a Space suit test subject for 12 different space suit design configurations. In 2013, she underwent an Astronaut interview.
Amy earned her Bachelors and Masters degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University. She went on to earn a Masters in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota.
Trivia tidbit: Amy is the daughter of astronaut Jerry Ross, who has flown in space seven times and conducted nine spacewalks, setting two U.S. records.
Don’t forget to like and subscribe! Plus we love being shared out to new people, so tweet, comment, review us… all the free things you can do to help bring science into people’s lives.
If you would like to join the Weekly Space Hangout Crew, visit their site and sign up. They’re a great team who can help you join our online discussions.
We record the Weekly Space Hangout every Wednesday at 5:00 PM Pacific/8:00 PM Eastern. You can watch us live on Universe Today or the Weekly Space Hangout YouTube page. Please subscribe!
Weekly Space Hangout: November 4, 2020 – Pranvera Hyseni, Astronomy Outreach of Kosovo
Nov 05, 2020
This week we are excited to welcome Pranvera Hyseni (Pran) to the Weekly Space Hangout. Pran is a celebrated science popularizer and the founder of “Astronomy Outreach of Kosovo” (AOK). She completed her B.A. in geography in 2019 at the University of Pristina, and now she’s pursuing her Master’s in Planetary Science at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Pran started showing an interest in astronomy at the early age of three, while Kosovo was still entangled in the Serbian conflict of the late 90’s. She grew up on a farm with access to clear night skies, a sight that early-on drew her to astronomy.
She single-handedly brought science to her community by developing a very powerful astronomy outreach organization, “Astronomy Outreach of Kosovo.” Pran established a large, world-wide network of both professional and amateur astronomers who support her initiative with equipment and other resources. She uses this support to provide activities throughout the country of Kosovo.
AOK became internationally recognized following invitations for Pran to be a keynote speaker at some of the world’s largest astronomy conventions and gatherings. Her visits to top observatories, universities, and NASA centers have broadened her experience in both observing and in taking data. Her public education activities were further expanded when she worked in various projects with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology of Kosovo, as well as other government institutions.
Pran wishes to help rebuild her nation by leveraging the public’s interest in astronomy. The AOK team now comprises two hundred volunteers.
Pran been honored by the International Astronomical Union and the Minor Planet Center with the naming of an asteroid, 45687 Pranverahyseni. The Municipal Assembly of Vushtrri (Kosovo) named her a distinguished student, and she was also honored with the 24Under24 award by the Mars Generation as a young leader in STEM education. She received the “Master Outreach” award from the Astronomy League, and was named as Slooh’s Space Ambassador by Slooh.
Pran was selected as one of the five most influential women in Kosovo. Her current project is to develop and build the first observatory and planetarium in Kosovo.
Don’t forget to like and subscribe! Plus we love being shared out to new people, so tweet, comment, review us… all the free things you can do to help bring science into people’s lives.
If you would like to join the Weekly Space Hangout Crew, visit their site and sign up. They’re a great team who can help you join our online discussions.
We record the Weekly Space Hangout every Wednesday at 5:00 PM Pacific/8:00 PM Eastern. You can watch us live on Universe Today or the Weekly Space Hangout YouTube page. Please subscribe!
Weekly Space Hangout: October 28, 2020, Dr. Nathalie Cabrol, SETI Institute
Oct 29, 2020
This week we are pleased to welcome Dr. Natalie Cabrol, Director of the Carl Sagan Center for Research at the SETI Institute (SI), to the show.
In addition to heading the strategic vision for science and exploration at the SI, Nathalie leads research projects in planetary science and astrobiology, develops science exploration strategies for Mars, Titan, and the Outer Solar System icy moons, and designs robotic field experiments. She explores high altitude lakes in the Andes where environmental conditions are analogous to early Mars. With her team, she documents life’s adaptation to extreme environments, the effect of rapid climate change on lake ecosystems and habitats, its geobiological signatures, and relevance to planetary exploration, and explores questions relating to the origins and nature of life.
Stay up to date with the latest information by following Planetary Landscapes on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PlanetaryLandscapes
Don’t forget to like and subscribe! Plus we love being shared out to new people, so tweet, comment, review us… all the free things you can do to help bring science into people’s lives.
If you would like to join the Weekly Space Hangout Crew, visit their site and sign up. They’re a great team who can help you join our online discussions.
We record the Weekly Space Hangout every Wednesday at 5:00 PM Pacific/8:00 PM Eastern. You can watch us live on Universe Today or the Weekly Space Hangout YouTube page. Please subscribe!
Weekly Space Hangout: October 21, 2020, Dr. Jill Tarter and the Search for Technosignatures
Oct 22, 2020
This week we are excited (and honored) to welcome Dr. Jill Tarter to the Weekly Space Hangout. Best known for her work in the field of SETI, tonight Jill will be discussing the search for technosignatures.
Dr. Jill Tarter is the Emeritus Chair for SETI Research at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California and serves as a member of the Board of Trustees for that institution.
Tarter received her Bachelor of Engineering Physics Degree with Distinction from Cornell University and her Master’s Degree and a Ph.D. in Astronomy from the University of California, Berkeley. She has spent the majority of her professional career attempting to answer the old human question “Are we alone?” by searching for evidence of technological civilizations beyond Earth.
She served as Project Scientist for NASA’s SETI program, the High Resolution Microwave Survey and has conducted numerous observational programs at radio observatories worldwide. She is a Fellow of the AAAS, the California Academy of Sciences, and the Explorers Club, she was named one of the Time 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2004, and one of the Time 25 in Space in 2012, received a TED prize in 2009, two public service awards from NASA, multiple awards for communicating science to the public, and has been honored as a woman in technology. She was the 2014 Jansky Lecturer, and received a Genius Award from Liberty Science Center in 2015. She served as President of the California Academy of Sciences 2015-16. Asteroid 74824 Tarter (1999 TJ16) has been named in her honor.
Since the termination of funding for NASA’s SETI program in 1993, she has served in a leadership role to design and build the Allen Telescope Array and to secure private funding to continue the exploratory science of SETI.
Many people are now familiar with her work as portrayed by Jodie Foster in the movie Contact. Her biography Making Contact was written by Sarah Scoles and published in 2017.
Read an excerpt from Jill’s biography Making Contact and learn how to get your own copy.
Learn more about Jill by visiting her SETI profile.
Don’t forget to like and subscribe! Plus we love being shared out to new people, so tweet, comment, review us… all the free things you can do to help bring science into people’s lives.
If you would like to join the Weekly Space Hangout Crew, visit their site and sign up. They’re a great team who can help you join our online discussions.
We record the Weekly Space Hangout every Wednesday at 5:00 PM Pacific/8:00 PM Eastern. You can watch us live on Universe Today or the Weekly Space Hangout YouTube page. Please subscribe!
Weekly Space Hangout: October 14, 2020, Drs. Jane Huang & Jonathan Williams, Protoplanetary Disks
Oct 15, 2020
This week we are joined by Dr. Jane Huang and Dr. Jonathan Willams from the Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA). Dr. Huang, Dr. Williams, and their team recently discovered some surprising information about the size and shape of some protoplanetary disks.
In their peer-reviewed paper published in The Astrophysical Journal, it was announced that the protoplanetary disk surrounding the star RU Lup (in the constellation of Lupus) is not only surprisingly large, but also has a very distinct spiral shape that extends nearly 1000 AU beyond Ru Lup.
You can read more about this exciting discovery here.
Additionally, the team’s peer-reviewed paper is available for download here.
Dr. Jane Huang
Dr. Jane Huang is a Sagan Fellow at the University of Michigan. She received her PhD in Astronomy & Astrophysics at Harvard University. Her research uses powerful radio telescopes to study the structure and chemistry of planet-forming environments in order to understand the diverse origins of planets.
You can learn more about Jane and her research by visiting her website.
Dr. Jonathan Williams
Like many academics, Jonathan Williams was a nomad. He grew up in the UK and obtained a B.A. at Cambridge University in 1988. He then moved to the US where he obtained a Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley. After postdoctoral and teaching positions around the US, he became a professor at the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii in 2002. There he balances research, teaching, and administration with a patient wife and two sons. To slow down, he escapes in a small sailboat on the calm waters of Kaneohe Bay.
To learn more about Jonathan and his research by visiting his website.
Don’t forget to like and subscribe! Plus we love being shared out to new people, so tweet, comment, review us… all the free things you can do to help bring science into people’s lives.
If you would like to join the Weekly Space Hangout Crew, visit their site and sign up. They’re a great team who can help you join our online discussions.
We record the Weekly Space Hangout every Wednesday at 5:00 PM Pacific/8:00 PM Eastern. You can watch us live on Universe Today or the Weekly Space Hangout YouTube page. Please subscribe!
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