This Week in Space (Video)

2026 promises to be the most exciting year in the new space age yet! Shining bright is the prospect of an Artemis II launch to send astronauts around the moon for the first time since 1972, as early as February. We've already seen news about a medical incident on the International Space Station that will force a crew to return to Earth early, but NASA says this won't affect the Artemis launch. On other news, NASA's budget seems on track to be passed at near 2025 levels, China is preparing to send a robot to the south lunar pole, SpaceX plans robust...

Duration: 00:59:11

One of our favorite interviews of 2025 was with Dr. Robert Zubrin, founder of the Mars Society and the mind behind Mars Direct, a streamlined approach to reaching the Red Planet with human beings that was later largely adopted by NASA in their mission designs. It's a fascinating story about a man who continually swam upstream against strong currents of the aerospace establishment. His seminal book, "The Case for Mars," has enjoyed multiple reprints and influenced millions. Join us for this encore of an informative and forward-looking episode!

Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik

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Duration: 00:53:36

It's our annual holiday special for 2025, in which we look back at the past year in space—its ups, its downs, its all-arounds. What a year it's been, and after all the challenges and hullabaloo, we're grateful in a post-Thanksgiving fashion to welcome Jared Isaacman, at last, as the new NASA Administrator. What he will do and how remains largely unknown, but we do believe he has the nation's interests at heart, and the man knows people are watching. But there are a lot of other stories and we've done our best to stuff as many as we can in...

Duration: 01:03:00

This week, we talk with our favorite Newspace Buccaneer, Jeffrey Manber. When so many people were touting their private spaceflight dreams in the 1980s, Manber took the next enormous stride and actually made it happen. He formed the Office of Space Commerce within the US Department of Commerce at the invitation of the Reagan administration, forged the first commercial relations with the then-Soviet Union, bridged that into the post-USSR period, and was responsible for the first commercial spaceflight to the then-mothballed Soviet-era Mir space station with a crew that stayed there for 70 days. He then went on to develop...

Duration: 01:13:18

Jared Isaacman, the billionaire entrepreneur, philanthropist, and private astronaut, took on Capitol Hill this week in his second confirmation hearing as President Trump's pick for NASA's next leader. Here's what it could mean, plus: A Russian cosmonaut got kicked off a SpaceX flight for allegedly trying to steal spacecraft secrets, China's 1st reusable rocket Zhuque-3 reached orbit, but crashed and burned (and exploded) during landing, and Russia accidentally wrecked the only launch pad it has for astronauts with Thanksgiving's new ISS crew launch.

Headlines:

Russian Cosmonaut Pulled from SpaceX Crew 12 Mission over Alleged Incident at SpaceX...

Duration: 00:58:50

Were you inspired by "Star Trek" (or one of its innumerable spinoffs) as a young person? We know we were, so it was a pleasure to invite Glen Swanson, author of the new Star Trek history book "Inspired Enterprise" onto the show. We've all heard lore about the original series, but Swanson, who was previously the Chief Historian at the Johnson Space Center, used his prodigious skills to perform a deep dive into the topic. From Gene Roddenberry's original inspiration to working with Caltech, the RAND Corporation, and NASA; and on to the design of the good ship Enterprise...

Duration: 01:08:30

Snow on the moon? Yes, though not recently... but maybe billions of years ago. Recent discoveries indicate that the early moon, orbiting just 20,000 miles above our planet at the time, may have shared a dynamic magnetic field with that of the Earth, resulting in the moon having an early atmosphere about twice as dense as the Martian atmosphere is today! This has wide implications for planetary science, but perhaps our favorite is that it may have snowed both carbon dioxide and water ice on the moon back in the day. We're also talking about the amazing launch and recovery...

Duration: 01:13:48

As you may or may not know, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center is in the administration's crosshairs. With cuts to their budget and staffing beginning under Elon Musk's DOGE, it has taken a different form with the government shutdown. Employees furloughed or retired from critical programs, laboratories shuttered, and entire facilities gutted--all without the approval of Congress. By the time the shutdown is over, NASA's primary research center--and the one most responsible for what many are now calling "the C-word," climate science--will be a shell of its former self. Josh Dinner, who recently completed a months-long investigative report, joins...

Duration: 00:57:15

This week we look at why space can be scary with a survey of some of the best (and some of the most laughable) movies about critters from outer space! Witness the terror of men in floppy rubber suits! Cringe as the century plant-like triffids take over people's brains! Scream along with us as rock spiders on the moon devour astronauts' faces! It's a true potpourri of space-borne horrors as we discuss some of the best (okay, and worst) space sci-fi movies of all time!

Headlines:

NASA Science Centers Face Shutdown and Controversy During Budget Crisis ...

Duration: 01:14:53

Lander, lander, who's got the lander? Last week, acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy announced that the agency would be re-opening the contract for the Artemis III lunar lander, which had previously been let to SpaceX to be fulfilled by their Starship Human Landing System. Unfortunately, that effort is well behind schedule, and the Trump administration has made landing astronauts on the moon, before China does, a national priority. With multiple refuelings and landing tests required, there is concern that SpaceX may not be able to fulfill their commitment before China's announced landing date of 2030. Elon Musk responded to the...

Duration: 01:10:54