Star Tales and Cocktails

The commercial space industry is on the rise - both figuratively and literally! Join Sirisha and Jacki as they discuss commercializing access to space with industry expert and first President of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF) - Brett Alexander. Come for the facts, stay for the stories about the early days of CSF where Sirisha hired Jacki as an intern.

School House Rock meets Bill Nye the Science Guy. Prepare for the nerdiness topic of them all, space policy! Join Jacki and Sirisha as they discuss the politics of space, and the decision-making bodies that govern it. They are joined by space policy guru, the notorious Jim Muncy, to talk about his experience as a congressional staffer as early policies surrounding space were debated.

Pluto has captured the hearts of the public...it quite literally has a heart on it. It’s a mysterious little planet from its origin, to its history, and its geology, but is it really a planet? Sirisha and Jacki sit down with Dr. Alan Stern to talk about New Horizons and discoveries on Pluto. (Apologies for Sirisha's audio in this episode - she was broadcasting from Pluto)

Is there anything as familiar, as bright, as brilliant as our Moon in the night sky? You may think you know about the Moon...but do you? Did you know there are colors on the Moon? That the regolith is sharp? And what about moonquakes?! Jacki and Sirisha are here to tell you all you don't know about the Moon with Dr. Clive Neal.

So you're saying it's aliens? Well not exactly. Jacki and Sirisha dive into Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena or UAPs, and the U.S. government's history in investigating them. 

We love our neighbor Mars. It’s the planet that may be the next host for human civilization – granted it has the right factors for human life. Join Sirisha and Jacki as they look at the origin of Mars – what can we learn from how Earth ended up with the conditions to host life and it did not?

It’s been over 60 years since the first human travelled into space. How has human spaceflight progressed? Sirisha and Jacki sit down with former NASA astronaut - and also former boss - Michael Lopez-Alegria to discuss his experience on and off the planet, and what's next for humans in space. 

Our very first episode explores the beginnings of the universe, the Big Bang, as well as the beginnings of a podcast! Join Sirisha and Jacki as they discuss the Big Bang - what is it? How did it get its name? I mean was there even really a “bang?” They are joined by scientist and former NASA Science Mission Directorate Associate Administrator, Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen.