This week we are excited (and honored) to welcome Dr. Jill Tarter to the Weekly Space Hangout. Best known for her work in the field of SETI, tonight Jill will be discussing the search for technosignatures.
Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: October 21, 2020, Dr. Jill Tarter and the Search for Technosignatures”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: 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: May 20, 2020 — Dr. Sarah McAnulty from Skype A Scientist
This week we are joined by Dr. Sarah McAnulty. Sarah is a squid biologist and the executive director of the science communication non-profit Skype a Scientist which matches scientists with people all around the world.
Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: May 20, 2020 — Dr. Sarah McAnulty from Skype A Scientist”Weekly Space Hangout: April 15, 2020 – Rise of the Space Age Millennials with Laura Forczyk
Hosts: Fraser Cain (universetoday.com / @fcain)
Dr. Brian Koberlein (BrianKoberlein.com / @BrianKoberlein)
Beth Johnson (@planetarypan))
Michael Rodruck (@michaelrodruck)
This week we are please to welcome Laura Forczyk to the Weekly Space Hangout. Laura is the owner of space consulting firm Astralytical specializing in space science, industry, and policy, and offering space career coaching services. In January 2020, her new book Rise of the Space Age Millennials was published in which she explores how millennials working or studying to work in the space sector feel about space: priorities, opinions, goals, and motivations. It also looks at how the generations may differ and how that may effect future space priorities and missions.
Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: April 15, 2020 – Rise of the Space Age Millennials with Laura Forczyk”Weekly Space Hangout: April 1, 2020 – Dr. Robert B. Hayes and Radiation Shielding in Space
Hosts: Fraser Cain (universetoday.com / @fcain)
Dr. Kimberly Cartier (KimberlyCartier.org / @AstroKimCartier )
Pam Hoffman (EverydaySpacer.com / @EverydaySpacer)
Michael Rodruck (@michaelrodruck)
Announcements:
This week we are airing Fraser’s prerecorded interview with Dr. Robert B. Hayes, Associate Professor of Nuclear Engineering at North Carolina State University. Dr. Hayes is co-author of a recent paper published January 7.
Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: April 1, 2020 – Dr. Robert B. Hayes and Radiation Shielding in Space”Weekly Space Hangout: February 19, 2020 – John Thornton, CEO of Astrobotic
Hosts: Fraser Cain (universetoday.com / @fcain)
Dr. Brian Koberlein (BrianKoberlein.com / @BrianKoberlein)
Carolyn Collins Petersen (TheSpaceWriter.com / @spacewriter)
Michael Rodruck (@michaelrodruck)
Tonight we are airing Fraser’s interview with John Thornton, CEO of Astrobotic Technology. John earned his Master of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. While at Carnegie Mellon, John led the build of Scarab, a NASA concept robot for lunar drilling, and the first robot to carry a prototype of NASA’s RESOLVE payload. He also founded Carnegie Mellon’s Advanced Composites Lab, a research, training, design, and manufacturing lab specializing in high performance, lightweight composites for robotics.
Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: February 19, 2020 – John Thornton, CEO of Astrobotic”Weekly Space Hangout: February 12, 2020 – Mapping Pulsars with Dr. Cole Miller
Hosts: Fraser Cain (universetoday.com / @fcain)
Dr. Morgan Rehnberg (MorganRehnberg.com / @MorganRehnberg & ChartYourWorld.org)
Sondy Springmann (@sondy)
Alex Teachey (alexteachey.com /@alexteachey)
This week we are airing Fraser’s interview with Dr. Cole Miller, Professor of Astronomy at the University of Maryland, College Park. Dr. Miller led one of two separate teams that analyzed Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) data – specifically that for pulsar called J0030+0451 (J0030) in the constellation Pisces – and were able to map the surface features of a pulsar for the first time.
Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: February 12, 2020 – Mapping Pulsars with Dr. Cole Miller”Weekly Space Hangout: January 22, 2020 – Dr. Kenneth Carpenter of HST and WFIRST
Hosts: Fraser Cain (universetoday.com / @fcain)
Allen Versfeld (https://www.urban-astronomer.com/ / @uastronomer)
Carolyn Collins Petersen (TheSpaceWriter.com / @spacewriter)
Michael Rodruck (@michaelrodruck)
This week we welcome Dr. Kenneth Carpenter to the Weekly Space Hangout.
Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: January 22, 2020 – Dr. Kenneth Carpenter of HST and WFIRST”