Talking Space

On this episode, we are not only joined by guest panelist Tavi Greiner from Astronomy. FM, but we invite on special guest Scott Maxwell, one of the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) "drivers". He discusses his experiences at the Jet Propulsions Laboratory and his work playing around with robots on another world. Frankenstein, anybody? For more info on Scott, check out his blog "Mars and Me" at http://m...

On this episode, we discuss a very busy week in space news. We talk about the Ariane 5 returning to flight, as well as Japan's (JAXA) H-II A launch of a probe to Venus. We then visit Opportunity setting a longevity record, SpaceX adding more delays, and honor PROP officer Lonnie Schmitt on his 100th shuttle mission behind the doors of mission control. For more info on Lonnie's accomplishment, chec...

On this very special episode, we are joined by special guests Geoffrey Notkin and Steve Arnold of the Science Channel show, "Meteorite Men". We discuss their show, how they both got their start as meteorite hunters, some of their favorite moments from their television program, along with some science and some friendly poking fun.  Gina Herlihy's batteries needed recharging after the STS-132 Tweet-...

On this episode, we discuss the STS-132 mission set to launch on May 14th. As well, we get into the tweetup which is accompanying it, as our very own Gina Herlihy and Gene Mikulka will be there participating. Stay tuned as they will be giving updates on the field and we will post them. We then discuss the successful test of the Pad Abort system for Ares/Orion, and then finally remember the late Gu...

On this episode, we discuss everything to do with the shuttle somehow. We start off with the recent STS-131 mission, along with the final three missions and the rotation of the final two flights and their order. We then go on to discuss the launch of the US government's own mini-shuttle, which was originally designed in cooperation with NASA and nothing to do with the military. We also discuss the...

On this episode, we discuss the major announcement made by President Barrack Obama, who on Thursday, April 15, 2010, announced his future plan for NASA, which included a budget increase, a new Heavy Lift Vehicle to be ready by 2015, and the goal to land on an asteroid and then get into orbit around Mars with humans by the 2030s. Quite an interesting conversation. Also thanks to Alex Shimp ( @shimp...

In this episode, we discuss the recent launch of STS-131 and Discovery, and it seems that no matter what we talk about, we keep coming back to that beautiful bird. We then go on to discuss Spirit who will hopefully have the spirit to survive the Martian winter, as well as NASA helping out Toyota, and president Obama's visit to Florida. But, is it all about space, or is it just a secondary thought?...

On this episode,we have special guest Brian Shiro with us, who is an geophysicist who is currently stationed at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) in ʻEwa Beach, Hawaii. He discusses his role in the recent earthquakes and tsunami potentials that have come out of that. Then, it's on to his time on FMARS 2009 (Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station) and MDRS Crew 89 (Mars Desert Research Stat...

On this episode, the crew discusses the potential delay for the space shuttle Discovery, which is scheduled to launch on April 5th on STS-131 to the ISS. We then also discuss the successful test firing of the Falcon 9 and what it means for the future of commercial space industry. We finally go on to discuss the extension of the ISS, Obama's speech on the space coast coming up, and the Legends of A...

On this episode, we welcome back friend of the show Miles O'Brien, who currently is the host of "This Week in Space", an online video podcast, as well as a commentator for shuttle launch coverage for SpaceFlightNow. Recently, Miles went in front of the US Congress to testify regarding the NASA 2011 Fiscal Year budget. We talk about his testimony as well as his thoughts on the future of manned spac...

In this episode, we talk about the recent meeting between the two US Chambers of Congress to discuss NASA and its fiscal year 2011 budget which includes the cancellation of the new Constellation program. We discuss how with the congress and its current view of the proposed cuts, NASA's budget may not pass. We then go on to discuss SpaceUp Sand Diego, the unconference, and announce the passing of a...

On this episode, we talk a lot about the future of NASA. We start off discussing NASA's possible watch-over role in the future for the US manned space program. We then discuss President Obama's call to the International Space Station and his comment regarding his "unwaivering support" of space. Is he telling the truth? Listen to our opinions and tell us what you think: Message us on Twitter: @talk...

On this episode, we all have plenty of new experiences to bring to the table. We discuss a letter written by congress fighting against the cancellation of constellation, along with the possibility of a shuttle extension. Following that, we talk with @MelissaOx about her adventures at the tweetup for the launch of SDO (Solar Dynamics Observatory). We then talk with Sawyer and Mark who saw the launc...

On this very special episode, the Talking Space team is joined by a few special guests. The first is Neal Wiser from the website SaveNASA, which is located at http://savenasa.ning.com. We are also joined by special guest listeners from Twitter via a service called Twalk.in which is at http://twalk.in. We discuss the recent release of NASA's Fiscal Year 2011 budget and whether we agree with or disa...

On this episode of the Talking Space Podcast, the crew discusses the recent rumors surrounding what is to come of NASA's budget. Just a reminder, this was recorded on Sunday, Jan 31 and the budget was just released the day after we recorded on February 1. We go over the pros and cons to canceling Constellation as well as turning human spaceflight over to private entities and many other subjects re...

On this very special episode, we invite Rebecca and Jeff Setzer on our show from "Astronomy Out and About" which airs Tuesdays at 9pm EST/8pm CST on http://astronomy.fm. We talk with them about the live show that they do every week, how they got started, and some of the challenges they face. Afterward, we discuss some topics currently floating around the space industry including budget cuts to NAS...

In this episode, we discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly of what has happened this week in space. We talk about some comments NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden said at a safety meeting. also discussed is a Rasmussen poll released showing a decline in public interested in NASA and funding its programs. We also discuss the fallout of the bag of cocaine discovered inside Discovery's hangar at the...

In this first round-table discussion of 2010, we discuss a large amount of topics going around in the short time that the new year has been with us. We discuss Charlie Bolden's speech at the AAS, and that's not meant as a dirty word, that is the American Astronomical Society. We also talk about the launch of STS-130 which probably won't be February 7th anymore. We then lead in to the possibility o...

To kick off our 2nd season of shows, we invite 5-time shuttle astronaut and the only astronaut to summit Mount Everest Dr. Scott Parazynski on the show. We discuss with Dr. Parazynski his climb to the summit along with his spaceflights including STS-120, in which he performed an unplanned spacewalk to repair a damaged solar array which was the difference in the continuation of the ISS construction...

In our last interview of the inaugural season of Talking Space, we welcome on a person who is celebrating the release of the inaugural episode of their video podcast. We welcome on Miles O'Brien, former CNN reporter, who now does launch commentary for http://spaceflightnow.com and also now has his own video podcast titled "This Week in Space". We discuss his new show with him along with his goal o...

In this final episode of 2009, the panel discusses the recent rumors regarding a meeting with NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and President Barack Obama about the future of NASA, and the possible scrapping of the Ares-1 for a Heavy Lift Vehicle, or HLV. We also discuss some comments made by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D. California) regarding her dislike for human space flight. Warning, i...

In this very special episode of the Talking Space Podcast, we have author and four-time space shuttle astronaut Dr. Tom Jones. With Dr. Jones we discuss his books Sky Walking, Planetology: Unlocking The Secrets of the Solar System, and Hell Hawks! along with his view on where NASA is going and much more! A special thank you to Dr. Jones also for coming on to participate in this interview and givin...

In this exciting episode, special guest @CraftLass joins us on our panel as we discuss plenty of public involvement in space. We talk about the Ares I-X test flight results congress talking about Cosntellation in a discussion of safety, and some probe and rover difficulties happening on Mars. We then interview @CraftLass who wrote a song titled "Bake Sale for NASA" discussing saving NASA and getti...

In this episode, the panel discusses the very successful mission of Space Shuttle Atlantis on STS-129, especially since our very own Gene Mikulka and Mark Ratterman were at the launch of the shuttle before its almost 11 day mission. We then discuss congress and their letter-writing campaign to persuade US Presiden Barak Obama to support NASA. We then discuss ways of preserving and saving NASA as t...

In this episode, we devote the entire episode to the STS-129 NASA Launch Tweet-up, and took a look at a different aspect than most people that viewed the tweetup...at the actual event. Our very own Gene Mikulka and Mark Ratterman were one of the lucky 100 that were able to get in to the event. We discuss some of the guest speakers and the times that we had, as well as major thank yous and acknowle...