Your Space Journey

Interview with SpaceX Crew-5 JAXA astronaut, Dr. Koichi Wakata (re-release interview from 2020).  Dr. Koichi Wakata has accumulated more than 350 days in space spanning five missions, setting a record in Japanese human space flight history for the longest stay in space. He has flown on three space shuttle missions, and a Soyuz mission, and became the first Japanese Commander of the International Space Station. Dr. Wakata has held several key positions with JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, including serving as JAXA Vice President and Senior Advisor.With the Crew 5 mission, Dr. Wakata made his fifth trip to space and now that he’s aboard the International Space Station, he will serve as a flight engineer for Expedition 68. Dragon was the third different type of spacecraft Dr. Wakata has flown to space. In this interview (from 2020), we discuss how Dr. Wakata became an astronaut, plus JAXA missions such as Hayabusa2, IKAROS, JUICE (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer) and MMX (Martian Moons Exploration). For

In this episode we’ll discuss NASA’s upcoming Artemis 1 mission, scheduled to launch no earlier than the end of this month. The Space Launch System rocket, or “SLS” will propel the Orion spacecraft on its mission around the Moon and back to Earth. Artemis 1 will be an uncrewed flight test that will travel farther than any other human-rated spacecraft has traveled before. This mission, the first of an increasing series of complex missions, will demonstrate NASA’s capability to extend human existence to the Moon, and on to Mars. Joining me today from NASA’s Marshal Space Flight Center is Dave Reynolds, Deputy Program Manager for SLS Booster Subsystems. Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! Start for FREEDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Kevin LaRosa II is the Aerial Coordinator & Camera Pilot for Top Gun: Maverick. He’s one of Hollywood’s most sought-after pilot and aerial coordinators, licensed to fly a variety of aircraft ranging from helicopters and airplanes to Learjets and more. He’s known for his work on major blockbusters including Ironman, The Avengers, and Transformers 5. Kevin is an accomplished ATP rated pilot in a multitude of fixed wing and rotorcraft, and works heavily in the motion picture and television industries worldwide coordinating and directing film sequences in the air and on the ground.Kevin joins me in this interview to discuss his career and his latest work which can be seen in Paramount’s Top Gun: Maverick.——————————————————————

Two Starlinks, two locations, two slightly different results. In this episode I tested out Starlink internet in two locations 1,000 miles apart. First we try it out in central Florida, then we go to Indianapolis to test another unit. We tested 4k, multiple 4k streams, FaceTime, multiple devices, upload and more. The results surprised us...

This is a tribute to the late solar astrophysicist Dr. Eugene Parker, featuring my phone interview with him from 2018.In the mid-1950s Dr. Parker developed the theory of the supersonic solar wind and predicted the spiral shape of the solar magnetic field. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1967 and received numerous honors throughout his career, including the Medal for Exceptional Achievement in Research by the American Physics Society for his fundamental contributions to space physics, plasma physics, solar physics and astrophysics for over 60 years. In his honor, NASA renamed the Parker Solar Probe after him, the first time in history that a space vessel was named after a living person. The Parker Solar Probe was launched in August 2018 and is still making incredible discoveries to this day. I was fortunate to interview Dr. Parker before the launch and grateful to present this interview to you today as we talked about heliophysics and the Parker Solar Probe mission. Dr. Parker passed away

In today’s episode we’ll explore the growing problem of space junk and how the new company Privateer Space is working to help make space safer. Joining us today is Dr. Moriba Jah, the Chief Scientist of Privateer. Moriba is a co-founder of Privateer along with the company’s CEO Alex Fielding and the company’s president, Steve Wozniak.Moriba is a renowned astrodynamicist, a space environmentalist, and an associate professor and the University of Texas at Austin. As Privateer’s Chief Scientist, he is the visionary behind Privateer’s innovative technology that will help keep the space environment safe as more and more satellites are put in orbit and human spaceflights expand. ▻ About PrivateerPrivateer is creating the data infrastructure that will enable sustainable growth for the new space economy.Privateer’s proprietary knowledge graph technology offers much-needed enhancements to how they collect and process information about space objects. Even as orbital highways become more congested, this data and the app

In this episode we speak with Scott “Kidd” Poteet, a Mission Pilot for the new SpaceX Polaris Program. Kidd is a retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel with more than 3,000 flying hours as a pilot and over 400 hours of combat time. Most recently Kidd served as the Mission Director for Inspiration4, the world’s first all-civilian mission to space last September that raised more than $240 million for St. Jude Children’s Hospital.Kidd will be the Mission Pilot for the upcoming Polaris Dawn mission, which is scheduled to launch aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 no earlier than the 4th quarter of this year. The Polaris Dawn crew will spend up to five days in orbit, and fly higher than any Dragon mission to date. They will also attempt the first ever commercial spacewalk.In addition to Kidd, Polaris Dawn’s crew will consist of Jared Isaacman, Mission Commander, Sarah Gillis, Mission Specialist, and Anna Menon, Mission Specialist & Medical Officer.In this episode we speak with Scott “Kidd” Poteet, a Mission Pilot for

What will the James Webb Space Telescope discover? Will it be able to detect alien life? How does it compare to Hubble?Find out in this interview with Lee Feinberg, JWST's Optical Telescope Element Manager. Lee Feinberg has been the Optical Telescope Element Manager for the James Webb Space Telescope at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center for the past 20 years. Lee led the telescope technology development and led the telescope from architecture trades and design activities to manufacturing through integration and testing. He was also a member of the optics team that determined the optical prescription to correct the Hubble Space Telescope and performed independent testing of the mirrors that corrected Hubble. The James Webb Space Telescope (sometimes called JWST or Webb) is an orbiting infrared observatory that will complement and extend the discoveries of the Hubble Space Telescope, with longer wavelength coverage and greatly improved sensitivity. The longer wavelengths enable Webb to look much closer

Interview with Homer HickamHomer Hickam is the New York Times #1 best-selling author of 19 books, including ‘Rocket Boys’ which became the major motion picture ‘October Sky’, starring Jake Gyllenhaal as Homer. In this interview Homer talks about how his fascination with rockets began in October, 1957 with the launch of Sputnik. He also shares details of his newest book Don't Blow Yourself Up! and talks about his work with NASA and other space agencies.Homer is a retired NASA engineer who worked on the Hubble Space telescope, trained U.S. and Japanese astronauts, and helped negotiate the use of the International Space Station with the Russians. Homer is a decorated Vietnam vet, carried the Olympic torch, taught David Letterman how to scuba dive, flew with General Chuck Yeager, dove on a sunken WWII German U-boat just off the North Carolina coast, and found four T-Rex skeletons as an amateur paleontologist. His best-selling books including his newest book Don't Blow Yourself Up! have been translated i

Interview with SpaceX Crew-3 pilot Tom MarshburnDr. Thomas Marshburn is the pilot of the Crew Dragon spacecraft and second in command for the SpaceX Crew-3 mission, which launched November 2021. He is responsible for spacecraft systems and performance. Once aboard the International Space Station (ISS), he will serve as an Expedition 66 flight engineer. Tom is a Statesville, North Carolina, native who became an astronaut in 2004. Prior to serving in the astronaut corps, the medical doctor served as flight surgeon at Johnson and later became medical operations lead for the ISS. The Crew-3 mission will be his third visit to the space station and his second long-duration mission.  Tom previously served as a crew member of STS-127 in 2009 and Expedition 34/35, which concluded in 2013.Having flown the space shuttle, Soyuz and soon the Crew Dragon, in this interview Tom discusses some of the differences between these vehicles and even the pre-launch traditions for astronauts. He also talks about some of experiments

In this episode we dive into the new award-winning documentary about inspirational physics professor Gerry K. O’Neill. Gerry was a Princeton University professor who changed the face of space exploration during the 1970s and 80s with his plans for building human colonies in space. His innovative ideas inspired many, including Johnny Carson and Isaac Asimov. Producer Will Henry joins us today to discuss the new film, THE HIGH FRONTIER: The Untold Story of Gerard K. O’Neill.About the filmThe High Frontier: The Untold Story of Gerard K. O’Neill is an award winning documentary film about the life and influence of Gerard K. O’Neill told through the eyes of his peers, family and the younger generation he inspired during the 1970s and 80s who are now leaders in the modern day space race. Through old stories of “Gerry” as many called him, and the social impact he made on the world, this documentary pays tribute to the unsung hero of today’s space race, while hoping to inspire all ages and walks of life to reignite ou

Are you interested in pursuing a career in space? In this episode we interview space consultant and author, Laura Seward Forczyk. Laura is the owner of Astralytical, a space consulting firm specializing in space science, industry, and policy. Laura & her company also offer space & aerospace career coaching services to students and professionals. In this episode we’ll dive more into the latest space news and find out more about how you can pursue a career in the space industry. About AstralyticalAstralytical is a woman-owned research, consulting, and publishing firm founded in 2016 and located outside of Atlanta. Their focus is high-quality big-picture outlook on the space sector including space-related scientific research, industry and policy analysis, career coaching, and communications. They welcome global clientele for consulting, coaching, project, or ongoing support. https://www.astralytical.com/https://www.facebook.com/Astralytical/https://twitter.com/Astralytical Laura’s Space on Space (blog):

Cloud-Based Mission ControlIn this episode we speak with Tyler Browder, CEO and founder of Kubos, a satellite software company. Tyler joins us to discuss how their company’s cloud-based mission control platform, Major Tom, helps operators take care of every aspect of a satellite’s flight software, from mission design and onboard software to hardware testing and mission operations in the cloud.Major Tom, which uses Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (Amazon EKS), Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS), Amazon Identity and Access Management (IAM), Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), Amazon Elastic Container Registry (Amazon ECR), and Amazon Route 53 to power its cloud-based mission control solution, will gives Kubos customers seamless control of their satellites through AWS Ground Station’s fully managed ground station as a service.The wide-scale adoption of Major Tom by global customers with vastly different needs has been driven by a quickly changing s

In this episode we explore speak with Jeromy Grimmett, the founder & CEO of Rogue Space Systems. Rogue is a new space startup company that is creating orbital robots, or “Orbots”, that will repair and service satellites using Artificial Intelligence. Their new service will increase satellite lifespans, reducing the need to replace expensive space assets; by repairing them. Their first Orbot, named LAURA, is scheduled to launch in early 2022, to be followed later in 2022 and 2023 by Orbots FRED, CHARLIE & BOB.About Jeromy Grimmett Jeromy is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Rogue Space Systems Corporation.  He started his career in the US Army where he specialized in missile guidance systems for both ground and air defense platforms. Since then, he’s attended Harvard University’s School of Extension Studies where he pursuing Undergraduate and Master’s degrees in Government and International Relations respectively.  After founding and running a successful technology services company, Jeromy fou

Is there life on Europa and in our Solar System? We'll discuss this question and more in this David Brown interview that will talk about just how close we are to finding an answer about alien life in our own backyard. David's book, THE MISSION, discusses NASA’s upcoming Europa Clipper mission and the scientists, engineers and other key figures behind this incredible endeavor to explore the Jovian moon.  In this episode we are going to explore Europa, the ice moon of Jupiter, and the mission to get there. NASA is currently building the Europa Clipper spacecraft which will begin its voyage to the Jovian Moon in 2024. David is an award-winning writer, whose work appears frequently in The New York Times, Scientific American and Smithsonian. He is an Antarctic expeditioner, an endurance runner, a former U.S. Army paratrooper, and a veteran of Afghanistan. David just released his latest book: THE MISSION, an amazing behind-the-scenes narrative of NASA’s deep space mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa, where a

In this episode we discuss the news around NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 mission, the second rotational flight to the ISS which launched in late April 2021. We also feature an interview with European Space Agency's astronaut, Thomas Pesquet, where we are fortunate to have a pre-launch press conference Q&A with him and other Crew-2 astronauts. This episode will also discuss ESA’s quest to find new astronauts and open up space to people with disabilities.0:00 Intro to Season 2 Episode 10:45 European Space Agency (ESA) & SpaceX News Updates4:22 Shane Kimbrough & Thomas Pesquet Press Conference Questions Answered6:37 Press Conference Bonus Question #1 for Thomas Pesquet10:25 Bonus Question #2 for Thomas Pesquet12:35 Bonus Question #3 for Thomas Pesquet16:34 Closing Thoughts on ESA and the SpaceX Crew-2Topics covered in this episode:ESA PARASTRONAUT FEASIBILITY PROJECTIn a first for ESA and human spaceflight worldwide, ESA is looking for individual(s) who are psychologically, cognitively, technically and p

Planetary scientist Dr. Alan Stern has been chosen to be the first to conduct NASA-funded science experiments while flying aboard a commercial spacecraft. In this interview Dr. Stern discusses the experiments he will perform aboard Virgin Galactic’s “SpaceShipTwo” on a suborbital mission from the Spaceport America launch site in New Mexico. He also discusses software upgrades coming to the New Horizons spacecraft in 2021, and as a proponent of Pluto, explains why it should be considered the ninth planet in our solar system. About Dr. Alan SternDr. Alan Stern is a planetary scientist, space program executive, aerospace consultant, author, and avid public speaker. Since 2001 he has led NASA’s $880M New Horizons mission that successfully explored the Pluto system and is now exploring the Kuiper Belt—the farthest exploration in the history of humankind. In 2018, he was named by the Administration to a six yearlong term to the U.S. National Science Board. In both 2007 and 2016, he was named to the Time 100 list. I

Phone Interview with OSIRIS-REx Project Scientist Dr. Jason P. DworkinOn October 20th, 2020, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft made history as it collected samples from asteroid Bennu, which are expected to return to Earth in 2023. For this episode I’m pleased to introduce Dr. Jason Dworkin, the project scientist for OSIRIS-REx, for an update and more details on the OSIRIS-REx mission.About OSIRIS-REx(Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer)https://www.asteroidmission.org/OSIRIS-REx seeks answers to the questions that are central to the human experience: Where did we come from? What is our destiny? Asteroids, the leftover debris from the solar system formation process, can answer these questions and teach us about the history of the sun and planets.The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is currently orbiting Bennu, a carbonaceous asteroid whose regolith may record the earliest history of our solar system. Bennu may contain the molecular precursors to the origin of life and the Eart

NASA’s aircraft SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) has confirmed for the first time, water on the sunlit surface of the Moon. Previously NASA had discovered evidence for water in shadows of craters, but this new discovery has incredible implications for possible use of this water as a resource as NASA returns to the Moon. Lunar Geologist Dr. Sarah Noble joins us today to discuss this incredible discovery and its implications for the future of space exploration, especially with NASA’s plan to send the first woman and next man on the Moon in 2024.In this interview Sarah discusses how SOFIA made this discovery, how much water was found, and future plans for investigating on the Moon, including NASA's VIPER rover, a mobile robot that will go to the South Pole of the Moon to get a close-up view of the location and concentration of water ice. About Sarah Noble (from NASA.gov)Sarah Noble grew up in rural Minnesota, where from a very young age she was fascinated with space exploration, star

In this interview, recorded via phone on September 29, 2020, I speak with Commander Mike Hopkins about this mission, his training and the challenges (and thrills) of commanding the SpaceX Crew-1 mission, currently scheduled to launch in mid-November 2020. BONUS: Mini-Interview with Felix Schlang of What About It!?Felix joins me briefly to share how he became interested in space and his excitement for the future, especially SpaceX Starship. Felix is the host of "What About It!?", an amazing program on YouTube that explores Space, Rockets & Science, with new episodes on Tuesdays and Fridays. Check out his YouTube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/ZSSolomon or visit https://whataboutit.space/ABOUT SPACEX CREW-1NASA is preparing to launch its first crew rotational flight of a U.S. commercial spacecraft with astronauts to the International Space Station. The SpaceX Crew-1 flight mission will carry astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker of NASA and Soichi Noguchi of the Ja