Talking Space

With Sawyer Rosenstein under the weather, the Talking Space Team is joined by singer song writer and space advocate, CraftLass with Gene Mikulka in the left seat.  We examine NASA’s new Astronaut Class and discuss the media’s reaction. The Wave At Saturn project to coincide with a photo NASA/JPL plans to take of Saturn’s ring with a cameo appearance by our home, Earth in the photo. We then move on to NASA’s Asteroid Initiative Industry and Partner Day, where the space agency asked, Academia, Industry, and anyone to help get humans to an Asteroid by setting up a Request For Information. We discuss an article by Policto article indicating Congress is trying to do away with the Asteroid Mission altogether and put in place a Constellation-Like program, featuring a Lunar and Mars base (with no additional funds to pay for it). and a little bit of a Twitter firestorm that happened when Gene Mikulka posted the article on his Twitter feed. The Houston Chronicle's SciGuy, Eric Berger, posted the results. Host this week: Gene Mikulka. Panel Members: Mark Ratterman and special guest CraftLass Show Recorded 06/19/2013

On this epside of Talking Space, we talk about the "earth-shattering" discovery made by Curiosity that rumors had been circulating around before the announcement. We then talk about Voyager 1 reaching a new part of the solar system. We then discuss an update on Orion, including some cracks and how "made in America" it is. On our second trip around the table, we discuss an interesting discussion on NPR involving Chuck Yeager. We then discuss some big news about Reaction Engines. Then, we discuss a free e-book NASA has made available. On our final trip around the table, we discuss Atlantis being angled in preparation for its display and the crew that will be staying aboard the ISS for 1 full year. Lastly, we then discuss the discovery of water on Mercury and if it really is a big deal or not. To hear the NPR segment mentioned in the episode, visit http://sciencefriday.com/segment/11/30/2012/scifri-book-club-has-the-right-stuff.html To download "Earth as Art" the free NASA e-book, visit http://www.nasa.gov/connect/ebooks/earth_art_detail.html Host this week: Sawyer Rosenstein. Panel Members: Gene Mikulka and Mark Ratterman Show Recorded - 12/3/2012

On this episode of Talking Space, we cover the successful launch of the Falcon 9 carrying the Dragon capsule on the 1st commercial operational resupply mission to the ISS. All appeared to go well with the exception of an engine anomaly about 79 seconds into flight. Listen to find out what it is. We then get into a lengthy discussion of "traditional media" versus social media, which came about after NASA allowed NASA Social participants equal access to events and interviews as the press for launch. One panelist is not too happy about this. As an update, after the recording date, Dragon was successfully berthed to the station on Wednesday, October 10th. We want to hear your opinion on the idea of NASA Social participants getting the same access as media! Send us your thoughts as a text or .mp3 file to mailbag@talkingspaceonline.com. You can tweet it to us as@talkingspace or post it on our Facebook page as well at facebook.com/talkingspace Host this week: Sawyer Rosenstein. Panel Members: Gene Mikulka and Mark Ratterman Show Recorded - 10/8/2012

On this episode, sticking with the new format, we discuss the recent WGS-4 launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. We then proceed to how Opportunity, which is beginning its 8th year on Mars, will be spending the winter. We continue on with more on Phobos-Grunt and its demise. On our second go-around, we discuss how we're taking a look in real time at snowfall amounts. We then proceed to the naming of GRAIL-A and B, which just recently began orbiting the moon. We then move on to the groundbreaking for the exhibit which will house Space Shuttle Atlantis. On our final round, we discuss sea turtles being rescued at Cape Canaveral, a sci-fi movie made in space, and some space junk guidelines. For information on NASA's Precipitation Measurement Missions, check out their Twitter account,@NASA_Rain or their website http://pmm.nasa.gov/GCPEx/blog Host this week: Sawyer Rosenstein. Panel Members: Gene Mikulka and Mark Ratterman Show Recorded - 1/23/2012

On this episode, we return to our regular news show...except with a new round-table format, where the panelists find stories that are interesting to them and rotate sharing them with the team to discuss. On this episode, we cover the special announcement of SpaceX delaying their February 7th launch to the ISS. We then move on to the big story of the week: the Phobos-Grunt reentry and discuss where it landed and other debris-related stories. We then move on to a girl who snuck into a Russian rocket manufacturing facility. On our second go-around, we discuss Mars Science Laboratory's engine burn, and then stories involving both the blackness of space and the color of our own galaxy. On our third and final go-around, we discuss some information about Orion, satellites aiding in tsunami studies, and a new estimate of planets in our galaxy. To learn more about space debris, listen to Episode 337 To see the website of the girl who snuck into the rocket facility (in Russian) visit http://lana-sator.livejournal.com/160176.html#cutid1 Also, feel free to let us know your thoughts on the new format by contacting us! Host this week: Sawyer Rosenstein. Panel Members: Gene Mikulka and Mark Ratterman Show Recorded - 1/16/2012

After a long hiatus, Talking Space returns with a special look at the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), also known as Curiosity. Through Gene and Mark, both of whom were at the launch, we learn a little bit about Curiosty and its mission. We also hear from many members of the MSL team who give some facts and looks into Mars, the rover, and a day in the life both on Mars and for the team on Earth. Clips in this episode include: Michael Meyer: lead scientist Mars Exploration Program, John Grotzinger: project scientist, MSL, as well as others who were associated with individual experiments onboard the rover such as ChemMin, MASCAM, and SAM. For more on the MSL mission, visit the mission page at http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/ [Two images were inserted here. To view them, please visit http://talkingspaceonline.com] Host this week: Sawyer Rosenstein. Panel Members: Gene Mikulka and Mark Ratterman SPECIAL NOTE: Our regularly scheduled news shows return next week Show Recorded - 1/8/2012

On this episode of Talking Space, we discuss the successful launch of the Mars Science Laboratory or Curiosity, which our very own Gene Mikulka and Mark Ratterman were in Florida to witness. You will even get to here the actual sound of launch, and an interesting sound it is if you listen closely. We then move on to the next name to leave NASA: Mike Leinbach. We then continue on to some interesting articles posted regarding NASAs budget. We finish off our main topics with the attempts to salvage the Russian mission Phobos-Grunt. In our Talking Space Mad Minute, we talk about the Twitter account @KillerCuriosity, a new location for a space shuttle simulator, the official hand-over of space shuttle Enterprise's title, ice in Florida, and some interesting facts about Plutonium. A photo was inserted here. To view it, please visit http://talkingspaceonline.com Host this week: Sawyer Rosenstein. Panel Members: Gina Herlihy, Gene Mikulka and Mark Ratterman Show Recorded - 11/28/2011

On this episode of Talking Space, we return from our three week summer break to catch you up on the latest in space news, starting with the successful launch of the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory, (GRAIL) mission which successfully launched to study the moon and our own Mark Ratterman was there to cover the launch. Mark also gets a special interview with Kim Guodace, a former shuttle vehicle engineer for United Space Alliance. We then move on to the failure of a Progress 44 resupply ship launched aboard a Soyuz and how it may leave the International Space Station unmanned. We move onto the topic of space debris including the UARS satellite scheduled to crash back to Earth at an unknown location. We then discuss some stunning shots of the lunar landing sites taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, LRO. We finish off with pieces of metal on Spirit and Opportunity which were once a part of the World Trade Center towers which were destroyed in a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. Two images were inserted here. To view them, please visit http://talkingspaceonline.com Host this week: Sawyer Rosenstein. Panel Members: Gene Mikulka and Mark Ratterman Show Recorded - 9/11/2011

On this clip-filled episode of Talking Space, we begin with the conclusion of the STS-134 mission, recapping the final spacewalks and the outline for the end of Endeavour's operational career. We then briefly discuss STS-135 before delving deeper into it through a special interview which Mark obtained with Space.com writer Denise Chow. We then move on to talk about the rebirth of Orion as the Multi Purpose Crew Vehicle, or MPCV, and listen to clips from an interview with Doug Cooke from NASA. Then we finish off by discussing the official loss of the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Spirit, who last year became stuck upon a rock. Contact was unable to be reestablished, and we bid her farewell. To read Denise Chow's articles, check out the website http://SPACE.com and you can follow her on Twitter as @DeniseChow Host this week: Sawyer Rosenstein. Panel Members: Gina Herlihy, Gene Mikulka, and Mark Ratterman Show Recorded - 5/29/2011 Listen now:

On this episode of Talking Space, Sawyer returns from his two week absence. We start with Mark's adventures covering the upcoming STS-134 Space Shuttle mission at the Kennedy Space Center and learn more about the crew, the payload, and the preparaitons for this mission. Next we move on to discuss the first images returned from a spacecraft orbiting Mercury. We talk about what we believed would be the Falcon 9 Heavy rocket announcement, and it turns out, as of April 5th, the announcement of the vehicle was made. We were right on the money! Find out about it in the show. We move on to the lack of signal from our rover friend Spirit and discuss the retirement of Burt Rutan. We then move onto NASA's song contest, and finally discuss how NASA and Victoria's Secret come together. To vote in NASA's song contest, please visit: https://songcontest.nasa.gov Host this week: Sawyer Rosenstein. Panel Members: Gene Mikulka and Mark Ratterman Show Recorded - 4/3/2011 *Note: Two images were inserted here. To view these images, please visit http://talkingspaceonline.com