Space Boffins, from the Naked Scientists

This is a Space Boffins podcast to blow your minds. Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Moon landings, it features the only woman in launch control for Apollo 11, JoAnn Morgan, talking about her work as an instrumentation controller and coping with sexism on the job. Former Apollo engineer David Baker joins Richard Hollingham and Sue Nelson in the British Interplanetary Society library with co...

As mankind celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Moon landings, Space Boffins Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham are joined by bestselling Apollo 11 author David Whitehouse at the British Interplanetary Society. Universal Pictures' highly anticipated documentary film, Apollo 11, is out in UK cinemas on June 28 and, with a sneak preview, Sue meets the film's director Todd Miller and archivist Steph...

Space Boffin Sue Nelson interviews two remarkable women for this podcast: Hidden Figure Christine Darden and Mercury 13 legend and astronaut wannabe, Wally Funk.  Darden, who featured in the book Hidden Figures, worked at NASA for 40 years as a mathematician, computer programmer and sonic boom expert.  Sue's book, Wally Funk's Race for Space, is out in paperback in June. To celeb...

The Space Boffins get to see inside the NASA's famous Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Centre - a building so large that it has its own weather system. It's being adapted so that NASA's Saturn V replacement the new SLS or Space Launch System rocket will be built. The senior NASA engineer who's overseeing the project, Ken Tenbusch, gives Richard Hollingham a personal tour. Back in the...

This month Space Boffins contemplates the missing universe, the nature of humanity and reunites astronaut Nicole Stott with her Space Shuttle Atlantis. Richard Hollingham is joined by theoretical physicist and comedian Dr Fran Day to discuss a new European mission, Euclid, which will be investigating dark matter. He also chats to NASA's new chief flight director in mission control Houston, Holly R...

Space Boffins are live on stage at Astrofest 2019 in London with a stellar line-up of guests to discuss landing on Phobos, weirdly-shaped space rocks and Europe's mission to Mercury. They're joined by science writer Stuart Clark, the Japanese Space Agency's Elizabeth Tasker, New Horizons scientist Simon Porter and Suzie Imber, who's working on the BepiColombo mission. Also featuring live audience...

Mice and flying hotdogs on the podcast as we report from NASA on how to save Apollo's famous mission control and discuss China's landing on the far side of the Moon. Space Boffins Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham are in Milton Keynes where they are joined by Dave Rothery, professor of planetary geosciences at the Open University. Richard hits the jackpot, however, with a tour of a threatened, nic...

Apollo 8 commander, Frank Borman, joins Space Boffins Richard Hollingham and Sue Nelson in this month's podcast. Fifty years ago Apollo 8 became the first manned mission to orbit the Moon and so the podcast has a lunar theme. Recorded at the Royal Astronomical Society in London, guests include Dr Robert Massey and art historian Dr Alexandra Loske, authors of Moon: Art, Science, Culture. There's al...

The Space Boffins podcast is in New York with NASA astronaut, engineer and Big Bang Theory star Mike Massimino. Recorded on the Hudson River from the flight deck of the USS Intrepid - where Massimino works once a week - Space Boffins Richard Hollingham and Sue Nelson are also joined by the Sea, Air Space Museum's curator of aviation, Eric Boehm. Add a report on archiving space missions with NASA T...

Astronaut Paolo Nespoli joins Space Boffins Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham for a podcast special recorded at the European Space Agency's ESTEC facility in The Netherlands during their Open Day. Thousands of people travel from across Europe and beyond to see where the European Space Agency tests its spacecraft before launch and the birthplace of many of its science missions. Joining the ever ent...

In a special edition of Space Boffins, Richard Hollingham meets a man rarer than a Moonwalker - a spy satellite engineer. Phil Pressel led the team that built the camera for the Hexagon spy satellite system - the most complicated satellite ever launched. Hexagon took pictures on 30 miles of film and returned it to Earth in cannisters, which were captured by aircraft. The interview includes revelat...

It's a rocket special on this month's Space Boffins with Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham. As the UK's plans for a Spaceport forge ahead, two microlauncher companies are at the forefront of a commercial space race for launching small satellites from the UK. Sue hears from Orbex's Chris Larmour and Skyrora's Daniel Smith to find out what they have planned. Richard reports from the European spacepo...

It's the 7th anniversary of Space Boffins and Sue and Richard are joined by BBC Science Correspondent, Jonathan Amos - a guest on the very first podcast. Meanwhile, Richard reports from the new Ariane 6 launchpad being built at the European spaceport in French Guiana, and we meet the European Space Agency astronaut training with the Chinese. The team also get to the bottom of some mysterious Skyla...

Magnificent Mercury is in full focus. Space Boffins Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham are at the National Space Centre in Leicester with BepiColombo mission scientists Professor Emma Bunce and Dr Suzie Imber. They also visit London's Science Museum to see the newly installed thermal spacecraft model for Europe's first mission to Mercury in October. Expect to hear from ESA's chief scientific adviso...

Asteroid expert Professor Simon Green joins the Space Boffins to discuss missions to collect samples from space rocks and return them to Earth, and the perils of re-directing asteroids heading our way. Richard and Sue also chat to Romanian astronaut Dumitru-Dorin Prunariu about life on the first international space station, Salyut 6, and Europe's ambitious Mercury mission gets packed-up ready for...

After 2000 days on Mars, NASA's Curiosity rover is still going strong. In this month's Space Boffins Richard visits Imperial College London to talk to one of the lead scientists on the mission, Sanjeev Gupta, about water on Mars, life and future astronaut missions. Meanwhile, in Liverpool, Sue discovers the connection between the Beatles and space science, author Vix Southgate chats to Richard abo...

Could life on Earth be wiped out by a killer asteroid? The short answer is yes. This month the Space Boffins hear about a new European telescope to spot the threat before it's too late. Richard Hollingham and Sue Nelson are joined at the Royal Astronomical Society in London by Robert Massey and Helen Klus to discuss how astronomy could save the world. Richard also chats to NASA astronaut Steve Bow...

Queen guitarist, rock star and astronomer Brian May adds some celebrity stardust and big hair on this month's podcast for the launch of the 2019 Starmus Festival. May talks about the essential humanity of a science, arts and music overlap and reveals that he's been quietly contributing to not one, but two space missions. Also on the podcast, Britain's first astronaut Helen Sharman discusses the fu...

Sue bags a flight on Europe's 'Zero G' aircraft to experience microgravity. Back in the studio, Richard and Sue are joined by Libby Jackson from the UK Space Agency to discuss her new book on women in space. And the Boffins celebrate the era when Britain led the space race with the Skylark rocket. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Richard Hollingham and Sue Nelson are joined by space journalist Sarah Cruddas and rocket insurer, David Wade, to discuss 2017 and look ahead to 2018 in space. Featuring genetically engineered astronauts, Cassini and giant private rockets, it also includes the second part of our interview with Apollo 15 astronaut, Al Worden. He talks about his pioneering spacewalk, difficult homecoming, life after...

This month, TV science presenter Dallas Campbell joins Sue and Richard to discuss how to leave the planet. The Space Boffins also hear from Apollo 15 legend Al Worden, who spent 3 days isolated in his space capsule around the Moon. And what better way to celebrate the film Contact than by following in the footsteps of Jodie Foster at the Very Large Array radio telescope in New Mexico? Like this po...

Two astronauts and an Imperial Storm Trooper join the Space Boffins podcast from The Netherlands at the European Space Agency's ESTEC Open Day - where thousands of people can see the Agency's spacecraft testing facilities and meet the scientists and engineers involved in ESA space missions. Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham catch up with ESTEC head Franco Ongaro; Europe's first woman on the Intern...

Space Boffins Sue Nelson, Richard Hollingham and studio guest Sarah Cruddas talk rockets, total eclipses and Cassini's final days at Saturn. Apollo, Mercury and Shuttle propulsions engineer John Tribe reminisces about his incredible career - beginning in Britain and ending up in Cape Canaveral - including his final moments with astronaut Gus Grissom and the crew of Apollo 1 before its fatal fire....

This month, European astronaut Luca Parmitano suggests a future for genetically engineered space travellers, the Space Boffins celebrate 40 years of the Voyager mission and look forward to the demise of Cassini, shortly to plunge into Saturn. Space scientist Carl Murray joins Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham with some perfume, a mug and an unusual memento from the Voyager spacecraft. Like this po...

Space Boffins Sue Nelson and the Guardian's Stuart Clark are at the European Space Agency's ESTEC facility in The Netherlands to see the BepiColombo spacecraft - Europe's mission to Mercury. As the LISA Pathfinder mission comes to a successful end, we meet Paul McNamara who's developing the LISA mission for detecting gravitational waves in space. And is Earth really a planet? A new exhibition capt...