Today In Space

We're back in Boston from our trip to San Diego - what a time to travel...No symptoms to be concerned of yet. I am alive, and have some stories about my adventure. I talk about the strange world we live in and my thoughts as a scientist.  There's some talk about SpaceX and their Starlink 5 mission and we share our 10 Binge-worth Space Movie list (created in part by YOU the listeners!). And we expl...

This week Today In Space is on-the-road in San Diego, California. Yes, that means we dared to travel with the insanity of the COVID-19 mania. I share my thoughts and observations traveling from Boston to San Diego and how this has affected things. And of course, my thoughts on how a scientific mindset can help reduce anxiety and hysteria given the situation. It's not the end of the world, but thin...

To start of March of 2020, we are going to discuss the Balance. The balance of life as a human being, science, and making human life interplanetary. In all three of these, failure plays a major role. When you view failure through the right lens, things can change for you.  In this episode, we discuss how I had a reminder of how failure can be viewed to make you better, if you can only separate you...

Welcome to the Commercial Crew Review on Today In Space, where once a month we review the latest with SpaceX and Boeing as they continue to develop NASA's next options to send American Astronauts from American soil once again. We're closing out February with a Commercial Crew Review. Spacex and Boeing had lots going on with #crewdragon getting ready for #demo2 (their first human crewed mission) an...

Audio issues resolved - we're back for another episode to run a thought experiment on the idea of 'why a space force is necessary'. With the Space Force being created as the 6th branch of the US military, there's been a lot of jokes (I've laughed at a few). But the Space Force could very easily become a much larger part in humanities day to day. There are lots of possibilities - a Space Arms Race...

On this episode, I break down some of the major space news that happened since the last episode. We're bringing Orbital News into 2020 on some major rocket fuel! Astronaut Christina Koch returns to earth after record breaking time in space https://www.americaspace.com/2020/02/06/christina-koch-returns-to-earth-after-longest-ever-spaceflight-by-a-woman/ https://www.space.com/record-breaking-astrona...

There's a lot covered on this podcast - from the latest bill proposed for NASA's long term goals, to changing my life around my food allergies...it's all about balance. I may have found a balance to living a happy life with those allergies, but NASA has not found a balance to surviving it's relationship with politics. Unfortunate and the ultimate uncontrollable variable in the equation for success...

Welcome to our newly revamped segment for 2020 called the People of Science where we breakdown the common misconception of what someone in science is like. Let's be honest, when I say that someone is a person of science, or a scientist what do you think of? Probably someone in a lab coat, maybe holding a beaker of some neon colored liquid. Maybe safety glasses on, if you're lucky? On this week's e...

Welcome to the Commercial Crew Review on Today In Space, where once a month we review the latest with SpaceX and Boeing as they continue to develop NASA's next options to send American Astronauts from American soil once again. On this episode, we're going to review the successful Crew Dragon In-Flight Abort test for SpaceX. This test was a MAJOR milestone in the commercial crew program.  Crew Drag...

The Bachelor...in Space? So it seems, after the latest from the first commercial investor of a SpaceX Starship, Yusaku Maezawa is now planning a romantic getaway (and accompanying dating show) to go with the #dearMoon mission. Or are they not sending artists around the moon anymore? Things are confusing, and space will be weird in the near space future.  This week Alex does a thought experiment on...

First podcast of the year meets first rocket launch of the year with SpaceX's Starlink 2 launch aboard a Falcon 9 (which attempted a landing on the droneship 'Of Course I Still Love You'). During this launch hangout we talk about the details behind the launch of 60 Starlink satellite that will be part of a constellation that will later provide affordable worldwide 5G internet coverage to all. The...

Getting real on this episode to talk about my personal balance as we enter the next decade and the start of a new year. Instead of celebrating all of the things I did this past year that were awesome, I usually find myself looking back at what I can improve. It's not always in the most positive mood, but I always try to focus on what I can do to make things better. This podcast has been a huge sou...

In the intro for this episode, we start with my thoughts on the close of 2019 and the start of 2020. There's a-lot to look forward to and reflect on. Boeing's CST-100 Starliner returns to Earth safely landing in White Sands base in New Mexico after an anomaly getting into orbit to dock with the International Space Station. I also share my thoughts on some lessons I've learned from this year, speci...

On this week's episode we enter NASA's Veggie Lab and hear about their plans for growing plants in space for the ISS. This work prepares us to move forward to Cislunar space and then on to a sustainable food source at scale with Lunar and Martian Colonies. Get a sneak peak at NASA's plan to be able to grow and provide a diverse yet targeted supply of crops to sustain humans traveling the next stag...

Here is another installment from the NASA social event we went to last week for the SpaceX CRS-19 Launch. This week, we have a very special tour of the VAB, or Vehicle Assembly Building in Florida. We had the best tour guide we could ever hope for, Greg Hale, who worked at the VAB during the Space Shuttle Era and had so much knowledge and stories to share that even if you are just listening I thin...

After the SpaceX CRS19 launch to send the Dragon Spacecraft to the International Space Station, we had an impromptu podcast as soon as we got off the podcast with some of the remaining NASA Social peeps. Unfortunately, due to the nature of launching rockets, the launch on Wednesday was scrubbed for Thursday and some of the amazing people on this trip had to return home. But, with those remaining,...

Hey there Space People! Here in sunny (and warm) Florida avoiding the triple threat snow storms in Boston and getting ready for the SpaceX CRS-19 launch. Today was a nice relaxing day getting prepped for this amazing opportunity from the NASA Social program and I can't help but think back to where this all started. And I mean BACK to the origins of why I podcast. It's amazing to look back and see...

On this episode, which I have recorded for a third time, covers the latest on SpaceX's Starship testing as well as some news on the costs of the Commercial Crew Program for NASA's options on sending humans into space again, without the aid of Russia and their Soyuz capsule (which costs $87 million per Astronaut).  I also talk about my thoughts on WHY SpaceX is so disruptive in the Space Industry a...

On this episode I share my thoughts on an article we received from a listener (thank you Rachel!) about one of the oldest Star's in our known universe that registers as older than the universe...How is that possible? Is science not perfect? How can the magical art of science be wrong? IT'S OVER 9000??!! This brings up one of my favorite parts of science. That it is not perfect. In fact, what scien...

On this week's episode we review some important progress in the Commercial Crew Program as both SpaceX and Boeing have had successful tests on their human rated spacecraft. This means the rest of this year will be busy with more testing of the Crew Dragon and CST-100 Starliner. We also review the general details on what Voyager 2 has found since it exited the Heliosphere of our Sun and entered int...

Happy Halloween! This week was a really crazy week and pushed me mentally. But I managed to get another podcast out and accomplish a lot with so many other things going on. This is life. But I wanted to take some time to talk about what helps me get all of this done, between the podcast and AG3D printing. It's the iterative mindset. Setting yourself up to take action and learn in the process. So m...

In this episode we cover some orbital news on the historic first all woman spacewalk with Astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir. Learn about what they accomplished on their spacewalk on the ISS, as well as a background on each Astronaut. I share my thoughts on why we don't cover ISS operations regularly on the podcast. When you've gone to school for Aerospace engineering and they retire the S...

This week it's time to discuss the "Balance" in the Space Industry once again as NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstein visited SpaceX HQ in Hawthorne, California to get an update on the progress for the Commercial Crew Program.  It's the belief of this podcast that our best chance for a fantastic future in space to happen is if there is a balance between how NASA and SpaceX operate. If they can learn...

Finally my voice is back from this cold I've had, and I'm well enough to cover the SpaceX Starship update from Elon Musk this past week. While I highly recommend listening to the update yourself (link below), I've broken down some key concepts that I think we should all take away from the current state of Starship. There's lots of work to be done and technology to develop. But, there's also some i...

Hey there Space People!  Back this week for another podcast - it's been a busy week but I managed to pull one together amid the chaos! This episode is more off the cuff and me doing some Space Commentary on the Area 51 raid, my thoughts on Bob Lazar and his Joe Rogan Experience interview and the Netflix Documentary "Bob Lazar: UFOs and Flying Saucers".  But to start, I wanted to talk about what th...