Astronomy Cast Archives - Universe Today

Astronomy Cast Ep. 486: Particle Physics Update

9 Apr , 2018 by Susie Murph

It’s time for a news update. This time from the field of particle physics. It turns out there have been all kinds of new and interesting particles discovered by the Large Hadron Collider and others. Let’s get an update from Pamela. We usually record Astronomy Cast every Friday at 3:00 pm EST / 12:00 pm […]

Astronomy Cast Ep. 485: Docking, Refueling, Transferring

2 Apr , 2018 by Susie Murph

It’s one thing to get to space. But once you’ve made it there, what do you want to do? You’ll probably want to dock with another space ship, deliver cargo, refuel. Today we’ll talk about how all that happens. We usually record Astronomy Cast every Friday at 3:00 pm EST / 12:00 pm PST / […]

Astronomy Cast Ep. 484: Transfer Orbits and Gravitational Assists

26 Mar , 2018 by Susie Murph

If you want to get around in the Solar System, you’ll want to take advantage of natural gravitational speed boosts and transfer orbits. Whether you’re heading to the outer Solar System or you want to visit the Sun itself, the planets themselves can help you in your journey. We usually record Astronomy Cast every Friday […]

Astronomy Cast Ep. 483: Stopping in Space

19 Mar , 2018 by Susie Murph

It’s one thing to get from Earth to space, but sometimes you want to do the opposite. You want to get into orbit or touch down gently on the surface of a planet and explore it. How do spacecraft stop? And what does that even mean when everything is orbiting? We usually record Astronomy Cast […]

Astronomy Cast now available via Amazon’s Alexa!

15 Mar , 2018 by Susie Murph

You can now enable the Amazon Astronomy Cast skill on your Alexa enabled device (in the US now, Canada soon)! You just log into your Alexa dashboard, go to the Skills, and look for “Astronomy Cast.” Or, even easier than that, just say “Alexa, enable Astronomy Cast!” You can tell Alexa to skip episodes, back […]

Astronomy Cast Ep. 482: Alternative Ways to Space

12 Mar , 2018 by Susie Murph

Getting to space is all about rockets, but people are trying to figure out other methods that could carry payloads to orbit and beyond. Railguns, airplanes, tethers and more. Today we’ll talk about alternative methods of spaceflight. We usually record Astronomy Cast every Friday at 3:00 pm EST / 12:00 pm PST / 20:00 PM […]

Astronomy Cast Ep. 481: Rockets pt. 3 – Going Faster, Higher, Farther after Fairing Separation

5 Mar , 2018 by Susie Murph

We’ve seen rockets blast off from here on Earth. But that’s only half the story. Rockets have additional stages to push them into trajectories, like transfer orbits and various orbital maneuvers. Let’s talk about what happens after the rocket is long gone, beyond our sight. We usually record Astronomy Cast every Friday at 3:00 pm […]

Astronomy Cast Ep. 480: Rockets pt. 2 – Multi-stage Boosters

26 Feb , 2018 by Susie Murph

The vast majority of rockets are multi-staged affairs. Why is this? What makes this kind of rocket so successful? Today we look at the ins and outs of multi-stage rockets. We usually record Astronomy Cast every Friday at 3:00 pm EST / 12:00 pm PST / 20:00 PM UTC. You can watch us live on […]

Astronomy Cast Ep. 479: Rockets pt. 1 – What Does “Single Stage To Orbit” Really Mean?

19 Feb , 2018 by Susie Murph

To celebrate the launch of the Falcon Heavy, we figured it was time for an all new series, this time on the rockets that carry us to space. Today we’re going to talk about why single stage to orbit rockets are so difficult to carry out. We usually record Astronomy Cast every Friday at 3:00 […]

Astronomy Cast Ep. 478: Apollo 8 with Paul Hildebrandt

12 Feb , 2018 by Susie Murph

On Christmas Day, 1968 Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders became the first human being to see the far side of the Moon. Their mission, of course, was Apollo 8, the first time human beings had ever left Earth orbit and seen the far side of the Moon. Today we talk all about Apollo […]

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