This week we welcome back to the show Dr. David Warmflash. Since he was last with us, David has been named as Co-Principal Investigator and Medical Director for a new NASA Small Business Innovation Research (SBRI) Phase I study titled “Mixed-Reality Holographic Training System to Enable High-Value Surgical and Complex Medical Procedures by Astronauts.” This study, managed by the New Jersey-based Mgenuity Corporation with collaboration from Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU), aims to develop a system to guide astronauts through surgical and medical procedures on Exploration Class missions.
Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: October 7, 2020, Dr. David Warmflash Discusses Mixed-Reality Surgical System”Weekly Space Hangout: September 30, 2020, Dr. John Kiss Discusses the Growth of Plants in Space
This week, we welcome Dr. John Kiss from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro (UNCG). Tonight, Dr. Kiss will be discussing the sensory physiology of plants in space research, including the effect of Mars’ levels of gravity on plant development.
Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: September 30, 2020, Dr. John Kiss Discusses the Growth of Plants in Space”Weekly Space Hangout: September 23, 2020, Col. Terry Virts (USAF ret.) Tells Us “How to Astronaut”
Terry Virts, one of only four astronauts in history to have piloted a Space Shuttle, flown a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, performed space walks, and commanded the ISS. He’s written HOW TO ASTRONAUT: An Insider’s Guide to Leaving Planet Earth, the book for everyone who wants to know what space travel is really like.
Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: September 23, 2020, Col. Terry Virts (USAF ret.) Tells Us “How to Astronaut””Weekly Space Hangout: September 16, 2020 – Dr. Merav Opher Discusses the Shape of the Sun’s Heliosphere
This week we are pleased to welcome Dr. Merav Opher, Professor from the Astronomy Department of Boston University and the Director of the SHIELD (Solar wind with Hydrogen Ion charge Exchange and Large-Scale Dynamics) DRIVE Science Center. Using data from NASA’s planetary science missions, SHIELD scientists use data/computer modeling to predict the characteristics of our Sun’s heliosphere. Historically, the heliosphere has been thought to be comet-shaped. However, in a paper published in March, 2020, in Nature Astronomy, Dr. Opher (as lead author) and the team from SHIELD predict an alternative shape for the heliosphere: one that does not include this tail, but rather resembles a “deflated croissant.”
Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: September 16, 2020 – Dr. Merav Opher Discusses the Shape of the Sun’s Heliosphere”Weekly Space Hangout: September 9, 2020 – Dr. Katie Mack Discusses “The End of Everything”
Welcome to the Season Premiere for the new season of the Weekly Space Hangout! We had a productive – and yes, restful – two months during our hiatus, but it is great to be back with everyone!
For tonight’s season premiere, we are excited to welcome Astrophysicist Dr. Katie Mack to the show. Katie has just released her first book, The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking), in which she takes readers on a “tour of five universe-ending possibilities proposed by cosmologists, narrating each with a wit and humor that will—almost—make you forget about what the end times means for us.”
Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: September 9, 2020 – Dr. Katie Mack Discusses “The End of Everything””Weekly Space Hangout: July 1, 2020 — Dr. Andrew Siemion, Director of Berkeley SETI Research Center
This week we are pleased to welcome Dr. Andrew Siemion, Director of the Berkeley SETI Research Center, to the WSH. As an astrophysicist, Andrew’s research interests include high energy time-variable celestial phenomena, astronomical instrumentation and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). He is also the Principal Investigator for the Breakthrough Listen program.
Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: July 1, 2020 — Dr. Andrew Siemion, Director of Berkeley SETI Research Center”Weekly Space Hangout: June 24, 2020 — Elizabeth Howell & Nicholas Booth, The Search for Life on Mars
This week we are airing Fraser’s pre-recorded interview with Elizabeth Howell and Nicholas Booth, co-authors of the new book The Search for Life on Mars: The Greatest Scientific Detective Story of All Time. Their book documents our quest to find life on the Red Planet. Long-time viewers of the WSH will remember Elizabeth as one of our regular contributors from several years ago.
Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: June 24, 2020 — Elizabeth Howell & Nicholas Booth, The Search for Life on Mars”Weekly Space Hangout: June 17, 2020 — Dana Backman, Director of NASA Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors
This week we are joined by Dana Backman, an astrophysicist with a Ph.D. from the University of Hawai’i. He was an infrared astronomy researcher at Kitt Peak Observatory and NASA Ames, then a professor of physics & astronomy at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Dana has also taught introductory astronomy at Santa Clara U., in Stanford’s Continuing Studies Program, and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.
Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: June 17, 2020 — Dana Backman, Director of NASA Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors”Weekly Space Hangout: June 3, 2020 — Paul Sutter and How to Die in Space
This week we are VERY excited to welcome our good friend Paul M. Sutter back to the WSH. Longtime viewers/members of our community remember Paul as one of our regular show contributors for a number of years. Paul’s most recent book, “How to Die in Space”, hit the stores yesterday and he is here tonight to tell us all about it.
Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: June 3, 2020 — Paul Sutter and How to Die in Space”Weekly Space Hangout: May 27, 2020 — News Roundup
Due to an unexpected power failure, tonight’s guest, Shytoya Palmer, was unable to join us. We will be rescheduling her appearance as part of our next season. So tonight our panel presents a News Roundup!
Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: May 27, 2020 — News Roundup”