Tara Sweeney is a United States Air Force Academy graduate, a Space Camp Hall of Fame inductee, a corporate leader in advanced technology test and evaluation events, a former crew member on parabolic research flights, a private pilot, and a graduate of SpaceKind training. She has been instrumental in establishing and executing the Cosmic Odyssey Scholarship as a mentor to Niko Blanks. In addition to being a proven leader, entrepreneur, and STEM mentor to many organizations, individuals, and students, Tara is a field geologist who recently returned from a 102-day Antarctic science expedition to McMurdo Station, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, Thwaites Glacier, and the McMurdo Dry Valleys. She is currently working on PhD research related to rocket seismology, impact cratering, and field techniques and technology in preparation for extravehicular activity on the lunar surface. As a matter of fact, Tara Sweeny and her team laid out the largest number of seismometers in the history of Antarctic exploration and scientific achievement (deploying 457 seismometers)! Why is this important to Tara? In her current research as a Ph. D candidate, she's investigating using a similar seismic array on the Moon, on Mars, to understand the human influences of our presence on other planetary bodies and here at home. We discuss how seismometers work, Antarctica adventures, Moonquakes, Earthquakes, and Marsquakes, milkshakes and being wicked awesome!

Where to find Tara

On Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/sweeneytl

On LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/taralsweeney/

More Wicked Awesomeness about Tara

Tara Sweeney has been inspiring children and adults to see the wonder of space exploration and the importance of the STEM fields that make it possible for nearly four decades. She has served as CEO, President, Interim Executive Director, COO, CSO, and Vice President, of technology test and evaluation organizations focused on operations in austere and hazardous environments for national defense, homeland security, and intelligence community projects. Tara is a retired United States Air Force Special Operations Command Officer. She has engaged in both military and civilian aviation activities, including as a single-engine aircraft pilot, a glider student pilot, a helicopter maintenance officer, a parabolic flight coach, and a parabolic flight attendant. Tara has accumulated approximately five hours in microgravity while conducting space-based research experiments and training participants how to experience reduced gravity. She previously served as the leader of the world-renowned STEM education program, Space Camp, at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center and was inducted into the Space Camp Hall of Fame in 2018. Tara holds degrees from the United States Air Force Academy, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Regis University. She is currently pursuing her doctorate at the University of Texas at El Paso. Tara is from Fitchburg, Massachusetts, and has twice been inducted into the Fitchburg High School Athletic Hall of Fame as an Individual Inductee and as a Team Inductee. She presently lives in El Paso, Texas, with her wife, Dr. Jennifer Bishop, and their dog, Sylvia.

Who was Robert H. Goddard?

His theories on space exploration were so ahead of his time that they were mocked and ridiculed by colleagues and by the New York Times… but Robert Goddard persisted, and with very little resources, he overcame adversity and launched the world's first liquid-fueled rocket, ushering in the space age.

In 1903, the Wright brothers took their historic "First Flight" and got humanity off the ground. Just 23 years later, Dr. Robert Goddard's "First Launch" was the first step in taking humankind off the planet. 43 years later, in 1969, humans walked on the Moon!

Although admired by the scientific and aerospace communities, most people have no clue who Goddard is or the extent of his groundbreaking accomplishments and vision.

Charles Slatkin wants to change that.

Charles Slatkin is the founder of the Robert Goddard Project and the Wonder Mission. Part of this project includes the "First Launch'' centennial celebration – a unique opportunity to leverage the incredible legacy of Dr. Goddard, the Father of Modern Rocketry- and recognize the achievements of today's scientists, engineers, educators, researchers and "visioneers."

Charles is a multimedia and internationally recognized "wow factor" pioneer, space evangelist, and visioner. Charles has an extensive background in "wowing" people through his expertise in science, film, video, audio and photography-and today, he's taken his talents from his professional career and applied them into the Goddard Project, reimagining Goddard's legacy with advanced storytelling technologies to help inspire and motivate a new generation of dreamers and "visioneers."

Get involved, support or volunteer, or get in touch with Charles at: [email protected]

More about the Wonder Mission https://thewondermission.org/

Did you know that the white material on the outside of space shuttles was not metal or glass but actually fabric? Specialized quilts, two inches thick, covered the space shuttles and protected the astronauts from deadly heat and radiation. Jean Wright was one of the eighteen "Sew Sisters" who crafted these thermal blankets, mostly by hand, with incredible precision and skill.

From sending letters to Johnson Space Center as a child with crayon-drawn patch ideas, Jean had always aimed to work for NASA, patiently applying and eagerly awaiting for the job she was meant to have, one that would help secure – in a literal sense- the materials that would protect the vehicles carrying the astronauts to space, and secure her place in NASA history… this is the conversation that you must not miss.

On this very special 200th EPISODE of the Casual Space Podcast, Beth enjoys speaking with Jean Wright, sharing her inspiring stories from her time at NASA as a "Sew Sister."

Together, Beth and Jean discuss stories from Jean's newly-released book, Sew Sister: The Untold Story of Jean Wright and NASA's Seamstresses. The book, just like this conversation, unveils both the grandeur of space flight and the intimacy of a needle and thread, and the story of Jean's childhood passion for space and sewing, and her fascinating work for NASA's shuttle program.

Listen as Beth learns the definition of what schnibbles* are. Note: It's a variant of schnibbles, a far more common term for "scraps," or "small pieces," which is heard in parts of the United States that were settled largely by German immigrants. The term comes from German Schnippel, meaning "scraps."

Imagine having the task of cutting the fabric from the 1903 Wright Flyer that went to the Moon with Neil Armstrong, and several shuttle flight- so it could be displayed at the University of Cincinnati . And guess what kind of fabric the Wright Brother's used for the first flight? A kind of high-end, expensive fabric women would use for their undergarments!

"I'm all about fabric!" – Jean Wright, Casual Space Podcast

Jean Wright is a former NASA Aerospace Composite Technician- a NASA seamstress. Jean worked with the United Space Alliance at the Thermal Protection System Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. One of 18 seamstresses in this critical role, Jean and her co-workers dubbed their group, "The Sew Sisters", using machines and hand stitching to build, create and repair thermal protection flight hardware and parachutes. Wright worked on the Endeavor, Atlantis and Discovery space shuttle missions. She also worked on test parachutes and aft-skirt blankets for the Orion spacecraft. When she's not sewing, Jean is a photographer for SpaceUpClose; www.spaceupclose.com

Beth's Note: I especially loved "Big Mo," "Sweet Sue", and "Lurch" - the names of the sewing machines used by Jean and her team at NASA (some from 1914)!

More about Jean:

Jean says she's retired, but she's ever the most incredible NASA advocate, photographer, speaker and representative. Jean remains involved with NASA as a Docent for the Shuttle Atlantis exhibit at the Kennedy Space Center. She is a member of NASA's Speakers Bureau, representing the organization at civic, professional, educational and public events. She has been a keynote speaker at the MQX Quilt Festival in 2018, Women's History Month at KSCVC in 2018, Family Day at the Udvar-Hazy National Air & Space Museum in 2016, the International Quilt Festival with Astronaut Karen Nyberg and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. One of her life's biggest thrills was being asked by Mark Armstrong to cut and prepare for auction, pieces of historic muslin fabric from the Wright Brothers 1903 Flyer that his father, Neil Armstrong, carried to the moon aboard the Apollo 11 Lunar Module.

Pre-order Jean's book here: https://www.amazon.com/Sew-Sister-Untold-Wright-Seamstresses/dp/0884489825/ref=sr_1_1?crid=35842DQC0D3T2&keywords=sew+sister+the+untold+story+of+jean+wright&qid=1693428497&sprefix=sew+sister%2Caps%2C103&sr=8-1

Apply for a NASA Moon tree here: https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-forest-service-to-share-moon-tree-seedlings-promote-stem

And don't forget to send your story to space at www.storiesofspace.com

UFO's. New books. A movie script with a character who has a gold nose, and a beaver dinosaur. Star Trek, Yerkes Observatory, and of course, aliens. Mark O'Connell brings the best stories and big news to the show this week- everything you would expect from a Star Trek writer, screenplay writer, UFO book author, podcast host…. All around awesome friend of the show! You're going to love this episode.

Mark O'Connell got his start in television writing for Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, most notably DS9 fan favorite Who Mourns for Morn? Since then, he has had feature screenplays optioned and placed in development at Al Ruddy Productions, DreamWorks Animation, and Disney. His comedy screenplay Doug and Dave was in development at Disney with the late Bill Paxton attached to direct. Mark's first book is The Close Encounters Man: How One Man Made the World Believe in UFOS, a biography of Dr. J. Allen Hynek, famed UFO researcher and inspiration behind Steven Spielberg's epic film Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The Close Encounters Man was published by Dey Street Books, an imprint of HarperCollins. Mark was recently featured in a UFO documentary produced by NHK, Japan's Public TV network, and he can currently be seen in the National Geographic TV Documentary UFOs: Investigating the Unknown, streaming on HULU. Mark lives in Georgia with his wife Monica.

Get a copy of Mark's book, Close Encounters Man, and follow him as an author here: https://www.amazon.com/Close-Encounters-Man-World-Believe-ebook/dp/B01KFBO77U?ref_=ast_author_mpb

Other Oddities Mentioned on the Show:

Yerkes Observatory: https://yerkesobservatory.org/

The Movie 65 with Adam Driver: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/65_(film)

Watch Now: National Geographic's TV Show, UFO's: Investigating the Unknown (where Mark is featured along with his work and research) Episode 2 https://www.nationalgeographic.com/tv/shows/ufos-investigating-the-unknown/episode-guide/season-01/episode-02-giant-ufo-in-texas/vdka32402838

And Episode 3: Close Encounters at Nuclear Bases: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/tv/shows/ufos-investigating-the-unknown/episode-guide/season-01/episode-03-close-encounters-at-the-nuclear-bases/vdka32402854

Listen To Far Fetched, Episode 35, My Unsold Star Trek Pitches: https://ococonnell.podbean.com/

AND, check out the Micro-G NEXT project opportunity at NASA's Johnson Space Center NBL here, as mentioned in the commercial! https://microgravityuniversity.jsc.nasa.gov/about-micro-g-next

Mars. Mars has fully invaded pop culture, inspiring its own day of the week (Tuesday), an iconic Looney Tunes character, and many novels and movies, from Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles to The Martian. It's this cultural familiarity with the fourth planet that continues to inspire advancements in Mars exploration, from NASA's launch of the Mars rover Perseverance to Elon Musk's quest to launch a manned mission to Mars through SpaceX by 2024. Perhaps, one day, we'll be able to answer the questions our ancestors asked when they looked up at the night sky millennia ago. Or, we'll just listen to this conversation with Marc Hartzman! Author of The Big Book of Mars, Marc describes how Mars has been a source of fascination and speculation ever since the ancient Egyptians observed its blood-red hue and named it for their god of war and plague. But it wasn't until the 19th century when "canals" were observed on the surface of the Red Planet, suggesting the presence of water, that scientists, novelists, filmmakers, and entrepreneurs became obsessed with the question of whether there's life on Mars. If there IS life on Mars, I bet they'll enjoy reading about themselves in Marc's book! More about Marc: ABCnews.com has called Marc Hartzman "one of America's leading connoisseurs of the bizarre" and George Noory from Coast to Coast AM said he's "as bizarre as Robert Ripley." Hartzman considers both high compliments since his passion for the unusual started with Ripley's Believe It Or Not and the annual Guinness World Records books during his youth.

In addition to his books about UFOs, ghosts, Mars, Oliver Cromwell's embalmed head, weird things on eBay, sideshow performers, and unorthodox messages from God, Hartzman has written for Mental Floss, HuffPost, AOL Weird News, AllThatsInteresting.com, The Morbid Anatomy Online Journal, and Bizarre magazine. He's discussed oddities on CNN, MSNBC, Ripley's Radio, History Channel's The UnXplained, the Travel Channel's Mysteries at the Museum, and dozens of podcasts.

More of his love for the unusual can be found on his site, WeirdHistorian.com. Outside of these projects, Hartzman earns a living as an award-winning advertising creative director. Marc is also a STORIES of Space Project Ambassador and story contributor!

Want more cool stories about fun and weird stuff? Listen to Marc's Podcast, the Weird Historian!

https://www.weirdhistorian.com/the-podcast/

Enjoy The Big Book of Mars: From Ancient Egypt to The Martian, A Deep-Space Dive into Our Obsession with the Red Planet: https://www.amazon.com/Big-Book-Mars-Deep-Space-Obsession/dp/1683692098

Pre-order Marc's New Book!

We Are Not Alone: The Extraordinary History of UFOs and Aliens Invading Our Hopes, Fears, and Fantasies

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1683693353/ref=cm_sw_r_as_gl_api_gl_i_0CXVB2JQNW37YBS5NP8N?linkCode=ml1&tag=godmademedoit-20

Augmented Reality. Virtual Reality. Artificial Intelligence. Physics, Immersive Technology, Cognitive Science and Human Factors. What happens when you have a highly immersive technology tool (XR) that can integrate with our space exploration efforts? Perhaps a truly incredible experience. As we learn about a world we have yet to (personally) explore, we have some incredible tools that will allow us to have an experience in space- without even going! Don Balanzat can be our guide. Because according to Don, XR and immersive technology is much more than just entertainment - it's a computing platform that is revolutionizing the way we interact with data as we speak!

More about Don Balanzat, from Don: "I worked in physics laboratories for 10 years at Rutgers University and Arizona State University where I built and performed demonstrations to enhance STEM education at the college level and engage the public/K-12 with science. I earned a Master's degree in XR for STEM visualization/learning during which I helped develop physics simulations and immersive ways of interacting with spatial data with various labs at ASU and NASA. Now, I work in the space industry developing VR/AR applications and solutions for the full gamut of spaceflight operations!"

Where to find Don: https://www.donbalanzat.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/donbalanzat/ Instagram: @chaoticcuriosity

Casual Space is BACK with all new episodes, casual conversations with amazing guests!

The summer break is just about coming to an end, but don't worry- the next 200 episodes of the Casual Space Podcast is just about to START! This week, Beth welcomes you back with a preview of some upcoming guest conversations that include AI, Antarctica, and of course, aliens!!!! You'll recognize returning guests like author Mark O'Connell, and new friends of the show sharing their incredible stories of adventure, NASA history, and more. AND, Beth will read one of the BEST STORIES of Space submissions you've ever heard, as she counts down to the August 1 launch of the STORIES of Space Project payload- launching from NASA's Wallops Flight Center!

Want to learn more about the rocky and icy worlds in the solar system? Dr. Kirby Runyon can serve as your guide- from earth or from space!

Kirby can remember being fascinated with space since he was three years old! His parents brought him to a space museum, and soon after gave him a telescope for Christmas, securing a passion for space exploration that continues today. Dr. Kirby is a space explorer, planetary geologist, zero gravity coach, and space tourism tour guide!

You're going to want to check our Dr. Kirby's planetary experience consulting company, Planex here: https://planex.space/

His research is in geomorphology and stratigraphy using remote sensing and laboratory experiments, and uses reduced gravity parabolic flights for studying the geology and dynamics of impact crater ejecta emplacement. You can learn more here: https://psi.edu/about/staffpage/krunyon Dr. Kirby is fascinated with astronaut-enabled science on and near the Moon. In addition to these awesome fields of study, Dr. Kirby takes astronauts-in-training (private astronauts and anyone who wants to know how New Mexico's geological landscape relates to space) and explains how New Mexico's most enchanting geologic landscapes give astronauts even more appreciation of their spaceflight experience.

In the past year, Kirby has led Virgin Galactic ticket holders on two educational expeditions as a professional planetary geologist, and now he's opening the same opportunity to all Casual Space Podcast listeners as well! Want to learn more? Check out these photos from his recent expedition to Aden volcanic crater, Kilbourne steam-explosion crater, and White Sands National Park with future astronauts here: https://planex.space/astronaut-geology

Did you love this episode? Please let me know! Review the podcast on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, or any other platform you're listening to the show! And you can always share your thoughts about this episode on social media too!

https://www.facebook.com/CasualSpacePodcast/

https://www.instagram.com/casualspacepodcast/?hl=en

Oh, and catch MORE of Dr. Kirby talking about his work and love of space in these other podcasts:

https://www.thespaceshow.com/guest/dr.-kirby-runyon

and

https://daretoexplore.fireside.fm/26

Danny was born and raised on a ranch near Ignacio, Colorado — the Rocket Ranch — to a farmer and his wife. Instead of farming, Danny dreamed of being an astronaut as he watched the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space flights and knew his future would include his love for space exploration.

Danny started his career in education teaching science, and was invited to tour the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. He was so impressed with the programs, facilities, and people, he decided it would become his mission to share the opportunity with his students. Danny started organizing students in grades 4-12 to attend Space Camp, and since then, have chaperoned over 500 students, with plans to continue for many more years. Because of his work and dedication to so many students, Danny was inducted as a member of the Space Camp Hall of Fame in 2010.

With encouragement from family and friends, Danny's Rocket Ranch was established in 2018. This small business specializes in selling scrumptious dehydrated products.

"I have always loved to cook and eat, and after years of making a delicious fresh salsa, I perfected a dehydrated salsa to be consumed on Earth, in space, and beyond. To help students continue to attend Space Camp, Danny's Rocket Ranch will donate a portion of the profits to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center Education Foundation for Space Camp Scholarships."

Order YOUR Space Camp Salsa TODAY from Danny's Rocket Ranch here: https://www.dannysrocketranch.com/ and help students attend Space Camp!

Watch Danny be inducted into the Space Camp Hall of Fame here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIy-vU6XMy0

Many dates in history stand out in human space flight and exploration. From the first airplane flight to the first man in space, much has been accomplished. Many of our significant milestones were not without danger. On this podcast Beth & our Resident Space Expert (RSE) Dean Mikolaiczyk revisit our historic 3rd trip to the moon. *Actual conversation between Dean and Captain James Lovell on his triumphant flight of Apollo 13. RSE Dean Mikolajczyk