Season Two, Episode 2: Impact!

In this season 4 finale, Gentry Lee and Rob Manning reveal how surprises, hidden flaws, and uncertainties have always been a part of rovers and the exploration of Mars. 

Aaron Yazzie and others explain how, by scooping dirt and drilling rocks, rovers are digging deeper into the mysteries of Mars. 

How does a rover keep driving on a planet with no gas stations? Shonte Tucker, Sabah Bux and Rob Manning power us through the ways Mars rovers keep going. 

The asteroid is coming! 

Is there a killer asteroid with Earth’s name on it? The dinosaurs ruled for many millions of years before coming to their violent end. Will humanity prevail or are we doomed to succumb like the dinosaurs? It’s a question that will keep you up at night. No wonder our listeners Zar ... Show More

If an asteroid were hurling through space, making a beeline straight to Earth, how would humans prevent it from doing what it did to the dinosaurs? Would we bomb it? Would we shoot lasers at it like a scene from Hollywood's latest sci-fi flick? Well, the folks at NASA have design ... Show More

Friday, April 13th 2029 – mark it in your calendar. That’s the day an asteroid the size of an aircraft carrier will fly past Earth, closer than some satellites. Don’t worry – it will miss, but it’ll will pass so close to Earth that it will be visible to the naked eye of 2 billion ... Show More

On sait que la Terre est constamment bombardée par des rayons cosmiques. Ces minuscules particules subatomiques, surtout des protons et des noyaux d'atomes, nous viennent de l'espace. En temps ordinaire, notre planète est préservée de ces rayons, dont les effets peuvent être néfa ... Show More

Threats from space aren’t limited to extraterrestrial life forms. Celestial rockfall can do damage on a global scale — and it already has. From the KT Event 65 million years ago that wiped out the dinosaurs, to the Tunguska Event in 1908 Siberia that felled 80 million trees, cosm ... Show More

Des milliers d'astéroïdes évoluent dans l'espace. Même si les scientifiques écartent tout danger réel de collision avec la Terre, ils préfèrent tout de même prendre leurs précautions. C'est pourquoi la NASA vient de lancer une mission dont le but est de dévier la trajectoire d'un ... Show More

How do scientists find out if an asteroid might hit our planet? And what do they do if it’s on a collision course with Earth? We’ll meet a planetary defender - an astronomer who uses radar telescopes to defend our planet from space rocks! Edgard Rivera Valentín grew up in Puerto ... Show More