In this episode, recorded on the 14 May 2021 at the SPOC, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, I sat down with Cat Wolner. Cat is the Chief Editor and Documentarian of the OSIRIS-REx mission. I have worked closely with Cat for several years and she has processed an enormous number of papers as editor of the mission. She provides some real insight into the process of writing and publishing and shares her experiences and history with us. If you are writing papers or want to write papers, you should listen to what Cat has to offer. It was a really fun and informative discussion!

Coming to you from the Hongo Campus of the University of Tokyo, Japan, Shogo Tachibana-sensei and I sit down and discuss his experiences with being a member of the Hayabusa2 space mission sample return capsule (SRC) recovery team, which retrieved the SRC from the Australian outback where it landed safely. We also discuss his experiences with the initial sample analysis phase of the mission, investigating the samples returned from asteroid Ryugu by the JAXA space mission, Hayabusa2, and his ‘wow’ moments on the mission. We both sat in his office and across the table while recording, so we had to wear our masks for protection, thus the quality of the sound is not the best and we both apologize for that.

In this podcast (recorded 10 August 2021), I discuss my appearance on Amber Live, which was a big honor for me and I loved it! I also discuss the oppressive heat in Japan and how I was able to enter Japan during a pandemic. I provide some details of actually getting through the airport once I arrived and a preview to the next podcast. Being in Japan during a pandemic is not a picnic, and I can tell you that we all have a lot of anxiety about COVID 19. When I arrived two of my three colleagues/friends had yet to get even one vaccination shot!

In this podcast I begin to discuss living in Tokyo during the summer of 2021, life during the pandemic and heat wave. I also discuss the evolution of this podcast, specifically its name, and set-up new podcasts to come. I hope you enjoy it and the evolution, or new emphasis, of the podcast, most of which is mirrors and smoke on my ‘original’ style.

During a cold day outside of Sapporo, Japan, in February 2020, Dr. Larry Nittler and I sat down in a hotel room during the Solar System Symposium in Sapporo to discuss his research on presolar grains, his participation in several space missions, and his concern for the future of cosmochemistry. Larry is also an accomplishment musician and composer! His caring nature for so much in life is something to be admired.

Coming to you from the Science Processing and Operation Center (SPOC) in the Drake Building of the University of Arizona, I sat down with Dr. Ronald-Louis Ballouz to discuss his life in science. Ron is a modeler of extraordinary talent and vision who maintains a level of rigor to all that he does without ever seemingly to become frazzled by any challenges that present themselves. Rom started off life in the Philippines, but grew up in Lebanon. He discusses how his passion for science got started and how growing up in a family of parents from two different cultures influenced his life and science. Recorded 9 August 2019.

Coming to you from the Science Processing and Operation Center (SPOC) in the Drake Building of the University of Arizona, I sat down Dr. Patrick Michel, Directeur de Recherches au CNRS, Responsable de l’Équipe TOP (Théories et Observations en Planétologie). Patrick is a Co-I on Hayabusa2 and on OSIRIS-REx, a researcher who studies the dynamics of the evolution of small rocky bodies within the Solar System through numerical modeling, and a truly outstanding communicator of science to the world. We discussed some of his great life passions, both science and personal, his view of science and life, and his advise on how to live a full life. Recorded 16 July 2019.

https://haroldconnollyblog.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/patrik-michel.m4a

Once again coming to you from the Drake Building at the University of Arizona,  I had the great pleasure of sitting down with Carl Hergenrother. Carl is the Lead Scientist for the Astronomy Working Group of the OSIRIS-REx mission. Carl has been working on the project since its earliest days and is an observer in the field of astronomy. He does not have a Ph.D., which we discuss, which has in no way stopped him from performing excellent science. He also provides us clear insight into how he made one of the most awesome discoveries to date about Bennu–that it is an active asteroid. Recorded 29 March 2019.

https://haroldconnollyblog.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/carl-hergen.m4a

Coming to you yet again from the SPOC of the OSIRIS-REx mission in the Drake Building of the University of Arizona, I had the great honor to sit down with my friend and colleague, Dr. Jason Dworkin. Jason is Chief of the Astrochemistry laboratory at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. Jason is also Mission Project Scientist for OSIRIS-REx and we have worked and still do work very closely on the mission. His research focuses on the organic chemistry of Solar System/Planetary materials with an emphasis on the origin of all things, especially life. Recorded 4 March 2019.

https://haroldconnollyblog.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/jason.m4a

Coming to you once again from the SPOC of the OSIRIS-REx mission in the Drake Building of the University of Arizona, I had the great honor to sit down with my friend and colleague, Dr. Danny Glavin. Danny is Associate Director for Strategic  Science of the Solar System Division of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and is a Cosmochemist who specializes in the organic chemistry of meteorites, with an emphasis on chondrites. Danny came to Cosmochemistry through a very interesting path and has had many experiences over the years in space missions. His new book, Frozen in Time: Hunting Meteorites in Antarctica for Signs of Life, which is about his experiences as a member of ANSMET and collection meteorites in Antarctica. Recorded 1 March 2019.

https://haroldconnollyblog.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/danny.m4a