Are We There Yet?

It’s a busy week for space news. The first all-private crew is set to depart the space station after spending more than a week on board, a new crew of NASA astronauts is set to launch to the station this weekend, and the agency’s next mega moon rocket experienced some troubles during a test at its launch pad, prompting more delays. We’ll speak with NASA administrator Bill Nelson about these stories

The first all-private crew to head to the space station is currently conducting science experiments on board the station. It’s a big milestone for commercial space and is the first of many developments in the private sector taking on a bigger lift when it comes to low-Earth orbit. Coming up, what’s ahead for commercial space?

Also, Amazon is getting into the satellite internet constellation biz in a big way with a huge purchase of rockets. What impact will this have on the launch industry?

And the Biden administration submitted its budget proposal for NASA’s next budget, and it’s a big one. Who’s the big winner if it passes?

And those aren’t the only space news headlines worth talking about. It’s been a busy few weeks on the space beat. We’ll chat with Anthony Colangelo, he covers spaceflight and the aerospace industry on his podcast Main Engine Cutoff.

It’s been a busy few weeks on the space beat. We’ll chat with Anthony Colangelo, he covers spaceflight and the aerospace industry on his podcast Main Engine Cutoff.

It’s been a busy few weeks on the space beat. We’ll chat with Anthony Colangelo, he covers spaceflight and the aerospace industry on his podcast Main Engine Cutoff.

Some nine billion light years away, a pair of black holes are on a collision course. It’s a cosmic waltz that could come to an end in 10,000 years which will shake space and time. It’s now the second possible observation of two massive black holes colliding -- and scientists are eager to watch the destruction.

It sounds terrifying. So why are physicists so excited for this cosmic crash? Are We There Yet’s intern Beatrice Oliveira reached out to Michele Vallisneri, a physicist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab in Southern California to find out.

Then, could we survive an encounter with a black hole? Theoretical physicist Jana Levine tackles that question in her most recent book Black Hole Survival Guide where, along with sharing some survival tips, she reimagines the way we think and talk about black holes.

Some nine billion light years away, a pair of black holes are on a collision course. It’s a cosmic waltz that could come to an end in 10,000 years which will shake space and time. It’s now the second possible observation of two massive black holes colliding -- and scientists are eager to watch the destruction.

Some nine billion light years away, a pair of black holes are on a collision course. It’s a cosmic waltz that could come to an end in 10,000 years which will shake space and time. It’s now the second possible observation of two massive black holes colliding -- and scientists are eager to watch the destruction.

SpaceX is set to launch another crew of private astronauts from Kennedy Space Center, this time on a ten-day mission to the International Space Station. Researchers are taking advantage of the increased access to space -- and human subjects -- thanks to these private space missions.

SpaceX is set to launch another crew of private astronauts from Kennedy Space Center, this time on a ten-day mission to the International Space Station. Researchers are taking advantage of the increased access to space -- and human subjects -- thanks to these private space missions.

NASA’s mega-rocket the Space Launch System has left the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center and made its way to a launch pad, ahead of an uncrewed mission around the moon and back later this year. It’s the first time a moon-class rocket has seen Launch Complex 39B since the days of Apollo and marks the start of NASA’s newest moonshot missions called Artemis.

But before it can embark on its first mission to the moon, SLS must go through a critical test called the wet dress rehearsal, simulating the events of launch stopping just short of firing the vehicle’s four main engines and two solid rocket boosters.

For more we’ll speak with Are We There Yet intern Beatriz Oliveira, who was at the roll out event last week. And to learn about the mission ahead and what it might be like to fly on SLS we’ll speak with NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik.

Then, a Martian orbiter is tracking weather on the red planet. Launched by the United Arab Emirates, the Hope orbiter aims to better understand the atmosphere of Mars and its weather. We’ll speak with lead scientist Hessa Al Matroushi about the mission so far and what the UAE’s first mission to Mars is learning about the red planet.