Space
NASA at 50: What works and what could use some improvement
By John Hockenberry, Adaora Udoji, Kent DePinto July 29, 2008, 07:39 AM
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the legislation that launched NASA and, subsequently, the human race into the great beyond. But have we really pushed our boundaries as far as space exploration can go? Or is NASA suffering a mid-life crisis?
Fifty years later, the finish line is still the moon for NASA
By John Hockenberry, Adaora Udoji, Sitara Nieves July 29, 2008, 07:27 AM
It's the 50th anniversary of a great proxy battle fought in outer space. In 1958, President Eisenhower created NASA so the United States could compete with the USSR in space technology. Today, there’s a new space race on — between China and America. The finish line, 50 years later, is still the moon.
Gardening on Mars
By John Hockenberry, Adaora Udoji, Kent DePinto July 07, 2008, 06:04 AM
Guest: Heidi Hammel, Space Science Institute
On the hunt for dark matter
By John Hockenberry, Adaora Udoji, Chelsea Merz June 25, 2008, 07:18 PM
Dark matter, one of cosmology’s most curious mysteries, has yet to be seen. But theorists have good reason to believe that it exists, and that galaxies, stars, and planets could never have formed without the gravitational attraction that dark matter exerts.
Plutoid: A new planetary classification
By John Hockenberry and Adaora Udoji June 13, 2008, 06:42 AM
The Takeaway... in... spaaaaaace... A NASA telescope looks at gamma-ray mysteries
By John Hockenberry, Adaora Udoji, Chelsea Merz June 13, 2008, 07:14 AM
This was a busy week for space news watchers. The GLAST gamma-ray space observatory blasted off, the International Astronomical Union dubbed dwarf planets "plutoids" in honor of the once-planet Pluto, and the Phoenix Mars Lander scooped up Martian dirt. The Takeaway goes behind these headlines with astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium and host of NOVA ScienceNOW.
Phoenix Lander reaches Mars, begins search for life in polar ice
By John Hockenberry, Adaora Udoji, Jim Colgan, Femi Oke, Kent DePinto May 26, 2008, 07:58 AM
The Phoenix Mars Lander launched Aug. 4, 2007, in a quest to find life on Mars. After a 10-month journey, the lander successfully touched down on the planet's northern polar surface last night. CNN's technology and environment correspondent Miles O'Brien has been at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory since Friday. He joins us live from Pasadena, Calif.
Pictured: The Phoenix Lander's Delta 2 launch vehicle taking off; an artist's rendering of the lander itself, and one of the very first images sent back from the lander this morning after its successful touchdown last night.
Astronomers are astounded by an X-ray flash, the birth of a supernova
By John Hockenberry, Adaora Udoji, Kent DePinto May 23, 2008, 08:04 AM
For the first time, scientists have witnessed the birth of a supernova. Heidi Hammel with the Space Science Institute tells us more.
On the left: 'Before' images show a previously known supernova, SN 2007uy, in galaxy NGC 2770.
On the right: An X-ray image taken on January 9, 2008, captures a moment of a 5-minute-long burst, indicating the creation of a new supernova, SN 2008D. The exploded star became visible to regular photography a few days later.
Image credit: NASA/Swift Science Team/Stefan Immler
The show is a co-production of WNYC Radio and Public Radio International,
in collaboration with The BBC World Service, New York Times Radio and WGBH Boston.
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