Episode 2: Some Like it Hot

The Rocket Ranch welcomes Dana Hutcherson, deputy manager for the Commercial Crew program. She'll talk about the mission ahead, reflect on the program's 10-year anniversary and share her personal journey with NASA. 

The spotlights came on in the predawn hours of April 12th 1981, illuminating a spacecraft like no other, the space shuttle. Just before liftoff, Columbia's crew climbed inside for the very first test flight into space. 

When instrumentation controller JoAnn Morgan was in Firing Room number One for the historic moonshot in 1969, she was the only woman. NASA has come a long way since. Today, the very same firing room is led by a woman, and 30% of the engineers supporting NASA's Artemis Moon progra ... Show More

Our Sun holds the solar system together and is responsible for life as we know it. Though it may seem calm and unchanging, the Sun is dynamic. Join NASA solar scientists on a trip around the Sun, our lively and mysterious neighborhood star. 

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Sun. The object that gives the Earth its light and heat is a massive ball of gas and plasma 93 million miles away. Thanks to the nuclear fusion reactions taking place at its core, the Sun has been shining for four and a half billion years. ... Show More

This week on Planetary Radio, we delve into the evolution of humanity's relationship with one of our planet's most awe-inspiring phenomena: total solar eclipses. Ed Krupp, the director of Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, will share insights from the fascinating field of archa ... Show More

After our sun dies, it and many other stars will eventually crystallize. Learn how astrophysicists figured this out -- and how it works -- in today's episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://science.howstuffworks.com/after-sun-dies-itll-become-stellar-crystal.htmSee ... Show More

We are at the height of the Sun's activity in its eleven year cycle, known to astronomers as the solar maximum. This means that over the next several months there's going to be a lot of solar activity. It's got us thinking back to 1859. That's when astronomer Richard Carrington w ... Show More

As Earth makes its annual trip around the Sun, we feel the impacts of its journey in the form of seasons. Our planet’s tilt in relation to the Sun determines what season we experience here on Earth. But, did you know that the Sun goes through seasons too? Delores Knipp, Dean Pesn ... Show More

Brian Cox and Robin Ince are joined by a dazzling panel of sun worshippers from actor, comedian and musician Tim Minchin to solar scientist Professor Lucie Green and biologist Professor Steve Jones. They look at how the evolution of life was only possible because of our position ... Show More

Some solar mysteries, like the origin of the fast solar wind, can only be solved by getting up close and personal with the Sun. James Drake from the University of Maryland joins Planetary Radio this week to talk about the latest results from NASA's Parker Solar Probe as it soars ... Show More

Under The Night SkyBrian Cox and Robin Ince discover the importance of the night sky to human history and how our relationship with the stars has changed over the centuries. They are joined by star-gazer Jon Culshaw, astronaut Tim Peake, astrophysicist Lisa Harvey-Smith and astro ... Show More

The outer layers of the sun's atmosphere are hotter than its surface, and researchers think it might have to do with magnetohydrodynamics. Learn more in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://science.howstuffworks.com/why-sun-atmosphere-hotter-than-surface.htm ... Show More