REACHing Out are bi-weekly mini-episodes where we answer YOUR Questions. This week we are celebrating  Earth Day and what NASA is doing to study global climate change with some help from Dr. Dalia Kirschbaum, Chief of the Hydrological Sciences Laboratory at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Hosts: Brian Holden and Meredith Stepien

Written by: Nate DuFort, with Sandy Marshall, Meredith Stepien and Brian Holden.

Co-Created, Produced by: Nate DuFort and Sandy Marshall

Edited by: Nate DuFort

Music composed by: Jesse Case

Logo by: Steven Lyons

Special thanks: 

Dr. Dalia Kirschbaum, Chief of the Hydrological Sciences Laboratory at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

Katie Atkinson, Audio Storytelling Lead at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

To learn more about NASA’s Earth Day initiatives including activities, coloring pages, and more visit www.nasa.gov/earth-day-2021

Do you have a question for a future edition of “Reaching Out?” Just get your parents permission and give us a call at 312-248-3402 (or an email at [email protected]) and leave us a message with your first name, where you're from and your question for a chance to be featured in an upcoming episode.

You can find REACH on Twitter and Instagram or at www.ReachThePodcast.com

REACH: A Space Podcast for Kids is a production of Soundsington Media committed to making quality programing for young audiences and the young at heart. To find out more go to www.soundsingtonmedia.com

What can satellites teach us about preserving life on Earth? What can whales teach us about climate change? On this episode of REACH we talk to  Steve Iris at the Canadian Space Agency to find out more. Then we get some special visits from a black hole (Reply All's Alex Goldman) and  Saturn's largest moon Titan (Star Trek: Lower Decks and Space Force's Tawny Newsome) - all on this episode of REACH. 

Hosts: Brian Holden and Meredith Stepien 

Written by: Sandy Marshall with Nate DuFort, Meredith Stepien and Brian Holden. 

Co-Created, Produced by: Nate DuFort and Sandy Marshall 

Edited by: Nate DuFort

Music composed by: Jesse Case

Casting Consultant: Beth Kligerman 

Logo by: Steven Lyons

Special thanks to Steve Iris, Manager of Applications and Utilization at the Canadian Space Agency. To learn more about the CSA’s smartWhales initiative, visit https://www.canada.ca/en/space-agency/news/2021/01/data-from-space-could-help-protect-the-endangered-north-atlantic-right-whale.html. 

The Black Hole was voiced by the incredible Alex Goldman, co-host of the Reply All podcast from Spotify and Gimlet Media. Subscribe to Reply All wherever you find your podcasts, and follow the show on Twitter at @ReplyAll.

Titan was voiced by the incomparable Tawny Newsome, who you know from the hit shows Space Force on Netflix and Star Trek: Lower Decks. Follow Tawny on Twitter at @TrondyNewman. 

Special thanks to Marie-Eve Roy at the Canadian Space Agency. Follow the CSA on Twitter at @csa_asc, and visit https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca to learn about the CSA’s exciting initiatives and programs.

And special thanks to Nicky Middleton at Brainspace, the interactive magazine for kids ages 8-14 designed to launch young minds into big thinking. Learn more at https://brainspacemagazine.com.

Thanks as always to NASA Space Place and Kay Ferrari at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Do you have a space related question that we didn’t get to? Well, you can submit that question for our bi-weekly “Reaching Out” episodes. Just get your parents permission and give us a call at 312-248-3402 (or an email at [email protected]) and leave us a message with your first name, where you're from and your question for a chance to be featured in an upcoming episode.

You can find REACH on Twitter and Instagram or at http://www.ReachThePodcast.com

REACH: A Space Podcast for Kids is a production of Soundsington Media committed to making quality programing for young audiences and the young at heart. To find out more go to http://www.soundsingtonmedia.com 

REACHing Out are bi-weekly mini-episodes where we answer YOUR Questions. This week's question comes from Ella who asks "What causes the seasons?"

Hosts: Brian Holden and Meredith Stepien

Written by: Sandy Marshall with Nate DuFort, Meredith Stepien and Brian Holden.

Co-Created, Produced by: Nate DuFort and Sandy Marshall

Edited by: Nate DuFort

Music composed by: Jesse Case

Logo by: Steven Lyons

Special thanks to Dr. Josh Fisher, Science Lead, ECOSTRESS Mission at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

NASA Space Place: All about the Seasons https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/seasons/en/

Ecostress https://ecostress.jpl.nasa.gov/

Do you have a question for a future edition of “Reaching Out?” Just get your parents permission and give us a call at 312-248-3402 (or an email at [email protected]) and leave us a message with your first name, where you're from and your question for a chance to be featured in an upcoming episode.

You can find REACH on Twitter and Instagram or at www.ReachThePodcast.com

REACH: A Space Podcast for Kids is a production of Soundsington Media committed to making quality programing for young audiences and the young at heart. To find out more go to www.soundsingtonmedia.com

How do you prepare for space travel? Have you ever thought about what happens if you have an emergency in space?  Today's guest, Teresa Sindelar, Medical Operations Crew Training Instructor at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. helps astronauts train for just that. Then special contributor Joalda Morancy has some thoughts on space settlements. And we receive a visit from the Gemini Twins on an all new "Did You Know...?"  - all on this episode of REACH. 

Hosts: Brian Holden and Meredith Stepien 

Written by: Sandy Marshall with Nate DuFort, Meredith Stepien, Brian Holden and Joalda Morancy. 

Special Contributor: Joalda Morancy 

Co-Created, Produced by: Nate DuFort and Sandy Marshall 

Edited by: Nate DuFort

Music composed by: Jesse Case

Logo by: Steven Lyons

Special thanks to Teresa Sindelar, Medical Operations Crew Training Instructor at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

The Gemini Twins were voiced by the amazing Kylee Evans and Sandy Jobin-Bevans, who co-host the television game show Just Like Mom and Dad. You know Kylee as Stephanie Borden on the Hallmark series Good Witch, and Sandy stars in the upcoming sitcom The Parker Andersons. Follow Kylee on Instagram at @KyleeEvansHere, and follow Sandy on Instagram at @SandyJBevans.

Special thanks to Mimi Meredith, Michele McCartney, Chuck McClary and JoAnna Strecker at the Cosmosphere International Science Center and Space Museum for sharing the Astronaut Training Neutral Buoyancy Activity at the Cosmosphere Camps. To learn more about Cosmosphere Camps, visit https://cosmo.org and @kscosmosphere.

Thanks to our friends at NASA Space Place, and Kay Ferrari from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

All about NASA Astronaut Training

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvT3hMVrSzs

All about NASA Careers

https://www.nasa.gov/careers

All about NASA Medical and Clinical

https://www.nasa.gov/content/medical-and-clinical

Neutral Buoyancy Activity

via Cosmosphere Camps

www.cosmo.org

@kscosmosphere

Background: In order to train for doing spacewalks in microgravity environments, astronauts conduct simulated spacewalks in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab (NBL) in Houston. The NBL is a giant pool which contains a model of the International Space Station. Astronauts put on spacesuits and the correct amount of weight to make them float in one spot without moving up or down. This simulates the microgravity environment on the International Space Station. In the Cosmosphere Camp, Mission: Astro Lab, students receive SCUBA training and conduct microgravity missions much like an astronaut.

In this activity, students will make their own neutral buoyancy device, essentially like a submarine’s ballast tank. These are large tanks inside the sub that are filled with some water and some air. If they want to make the sub float, they let water out of the tanks. If they want it to sink, they put water in the tanks. 

Supplies

Instructions

Now, when you put the bottle into the water with the holes down, water will go inside the bottle, making it sink. When you blow air into the bottle, water will leave, making it float.

REACHing Out are bi-weekly mini-episodes where we answer YOUR Questions. This week's question comes from Miriam in Waterloo, Ontario who asks "Why does Saturn have rings?"

Hosts: Brian Holden and Meredith Stepien

Written by: Sandy Marshall with Nate DuFort, Meredith Stepien and Brian Holden.

Co-Created, Produced by: Nate DuFort and Sandy Marshall

Edited by: Nate DuFort

Music composed by: Jesse Case

Logo by: Steven Lyons

All about Saturn’s Rings

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/saturn/in-depth/#:~:text=Saturn's%20rings%20are%20thought%20to,another%20material%20such%20as%20dust

To learn more about Saturn, visit 

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/saturn/overview/

Do you have a question for a future edition of “Reaching Out?” Just get your parents permission and give us a call at 312-248-3402 (or an email at [email protected]) and leave us a message with your first name, where you're from and your question for a chance to be featured in an upcoming episode.

You can find REACH on Twitter and Instagram or at www.ReachThePodcast.com

REACH: A Space Podcast for Kids is a production of Soundsington Media committed to making quality programing for young audiences and the young at heart. To find out more go to www.soundsingtonmedia.com

We talk to each other via technology, our phones, computers, and tablets, almost every day.  Do you ever wonder how our voices and information actually get transmitted through our devices and to their intended destinations?  Well, what if we wanted to send information to the other side of the solar system?  We talk to special guest Germaine Aziz about just that.  Then the center of the solar system stops by for an all new "Did You Know...?"  AND we talk about the importance of PI - all on this episode of REACH. 

Hosts: Brian Holden and Meredith Stepien 

Written by: Sandy Marshall with Nate DuFort, Meredith Stepien and Brian Holden. 

Co-Created, Produced by: Nate DuFort and Sandy Marshall 

Edited by: Nate DuFort

Music composed by: Jesse Case

Casting Consultant: Beth Kligerman 

Logo by: Steven Lyons

Special thanks to:

Germaine Aziz, Deep Space Network Aperture Enhancement Project System Engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. To learn more about NASA’s Deep Space Network, visit https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/scan/services/networks/deep_space_network/about.

Visit DSN Now at https://eyes.nasa.gov/dsn/dsn.html

The Sun was voiced by the legendary Rachel Dratch, who you know from her many years on Saturday Night Live and so much more. Follow Rachel on Twitter @TheRealDratch

Thanks to our friends at NASA Space Place, and Kay Ferrari at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 

NASA Space Place https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/

NASA’s Pi Day Challenge https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/nasapidaychallenge

18 Ways NASA uses Pi 

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/learn/list/oh-the-places-we-go-18-ways-nasa-uses-pi/

DSN Uplink Downlink Game https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/dsn-game/en

Do you have a space related question that we didn’t get to? Well, you can submit that question for our bi-weekly “Reaching Out” episodes. Just get your parents permission and give us a call at 312-248-3402 (or an email at [email protected]) and leave us a message with your first name, where you're from and your question for a chance to be featured in an upcoming episode.

You can find REACH on Twitter and Instagram or at http://www.ReachThePodcast.com

REACH: A Space Podcast for Kids is a production of Soundsington Media committed to making quality programing for young audiences and the young at heart. To find out more go to http://www.soundsingtonmedia.com 

REACHing Out are bi-weekly mini-episodes where we answer YOUR Questions. This week's question comes from Brooklyn in Illinois who asks "What is gravity?"

Hosts: Brian Holden and Meredith Stepien

Written by: Sandy Marshall with Nate DuFort, Meredith Stepien and Brian Holden.

Co-Created, Produced by: Nate DuFort and Sandy Marshall

Edited by: Nate DuFort

Music composed by: Jesse Case

Logo by: Steven Lyons

Special thanks to Dr. Felix Landerer, Project Scientist of NASA’s GRACE Follow-On satellite mission at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

https://science.jpl.nasa.gov/people/Landerer/

We’d also like to offer thanks to our friends at NASA Space Place, along with Jane Lee and Kay Ferrari at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

To learn more about NASA’s GRACE-FO, please visit:

https://gracefo.jpl.nasa.gov/

To learn more gravity, visit NASA Space Place at 

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/what-is-gravity/en/

Do you have a question for a future edition of “Reaching Out?” Just get your parents permission and give us a call at 312-248-3402 (or an email at [email protected]) and leave us a message with your first name, where you're from and your question for a chance to be featured in an upcoming episode.

You can find REACH on Twitter and Instagram or at www.ReachThePodcast.com

REACH: A Space Podcast for Kids is a production of Soundsington Media committed to making quality programing for young audiences and the young at heart. To find out more go to www.soundsingtonmedia.com

We all have a lot of questions when it comes to space exploration:  Where should we go? What should we pack? What are the ethical questions we should be considering? Wait..what? This week special guest  Dr. Lucianne Walkowicz walks us through some of the questions we should be asking  in regards to space exploration. Then we're lucky enough to get a surprise drop in from the seventh planet from the sun - all on this episode of REACH. 

Hosts: Brian Holden and Meredith Stepien 

Written by: Sandy Marshall with Nate DuFort, Meredith Stepien and Brian Holden. 

Co-Created, Produced by: Nate DuFort and Sandy Marshall 

Edited by: Nate DuFort

Music composed by: Jesse Case

Casting Consultant: Beth Kligerman 

Logo by: Steven Lyons

Special thanks to:

Dr. Lucianne Walkowicz, Astronomer at Chicago’s Adler Planetarium. Follow Lucianne on Twitter @RocketToLulu, and learn more about the Just Space Alliance at https://justspacealliance.org. 

Uranus was voiced by the incomparable Ithamar Enriquez, who you know from Marvel’s WandaVision on Disney+, and can also be seen in Arrested Development and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Follow Ithamar on Twitter @IthamarEnriquez.

Thanks to our friends at Chicago’s Adler Planetarium who have an amazing podcast of their own, The Aquarius Project Podcast. Stick around after the credits this week to hear a trailer for the exciting story of the Aquarius Project available wherever you get your podcasts.. And to learn more about the Adler, visit https://www.adlerplanetarium.org or on Twitter at @AdlerPlanet.

And as always, a big thanks to the REACH learning community. Thanks Blythe, Bella, and Madison from fellow Kids Listen show All Things Madison available wherever you get podcasts.

To learn all about Uranus, visit: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/uranus/overview. 

Parastronaut Feasibility Project:

https://www.esa.int/About_Us/Careers_at_ESA/ESA_Astronaut_Selection/Parastronaut_feasibility_project

Space Junk: https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2021/01/12/removing-space-junk

REACHing Out are bi-weekly mini-episodes where we answer YOUR Questions. This week's question comes from Dee in Arkansas who asks "How Can I Become an Astronomer?"  For an answer, we turn to REACH Special Contributor Joalda Morancy .

Hosts: Brian Holden and Meredith Stepien

Written by: Sandy Marshall with Nate DuFort, Meredith Stepien and Brian Holden.

Co-Created, Produced by: Nate DuFort and Sandy Marshall

Edited by: Nate DuFort

Music composed by: Jesse Case

Logo by: Steven Lyons

Special thanks to the latest addition to the REACH: A Space Podcast for Kids team, Joalda Morancy, for sharing her passion and tons of great space education resources. Look for Joalda as a Special Contributor for upcoming episodes of REACH. You can follow Joalda on Twitter  @solarrsystem

To view some of Joalda's favorite YouTube videos, follow the links below:

And as always, we encourage you to check out the incredible resources at NASA Space Place at  https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/light-year/en/

Do you have a question for a future edition of “Reaching Out?” Just get your parents permission and give us a call at 312-248-3402 (or an email at [email protected]) and leave us a message with your first name, where you're from and your question for a chance to be featured in an upcoming episode.

You can find REACH on Twitter and Instagram or at www.ReachThePodcast.com

REACH: A Space Podcast for Kids is a production of Soundsington Media committed to making quality programing for young audiences and the young at heart. To find out more go to www.soundsingtonmedia.com

We've learned about the Mars Perseverance Rover, but how will the rover actually get to the surface of the red planet?  Guest Gregory Villar, EDL Systems Engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, walks us through the landing before we have a return visit from the red planet itself on this episode of REACH. 

Hosts: Brian Holden and Meredith Stepien 

Written by: Sandy Marshall with Nate DuFort, Meredith Stepien and Brian Holden. 

Co-Created, Produced by: Nate DuFort and Sandy Marshall 

Edited by: Nate DuFort

Music composed by: Jesse Case

Casting Consultant: Beth Kligerman 

Logo by: Steven Lyons

Special thanks to:

Gregory Villar, EDL Systems Engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Follow Gregory on Instagram @gregoryvillar.

Mars was voiced by the great Randy Havens, who you know as Mr. Clarke on Stranger Things, and can also be seen in Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Halt and Catch Fire. Follow Randy on Twitter @MrRandyHavens.

Thanks to our friends at NASA Space Place, and Kay Ferrari and Andrew Good at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

To learn more about NASA’s Mars 2020 mission and Perseverance rover, visit https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020. 

For a description of the Mars 2020 landing, visit https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/timeline/landing/entry-descent-landing/

All about Mars: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/mars/overview

Join the Mission to Mars Student Challenge with the Mars 2020 STEM Toolkit:

https://www.nasa.gov/stem/nextgenstem/moon_to_mars/mars2020stemtoolkit

Make a Paper Mars Helicopter:

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/learn/project/make-a-paper-mars-helicopter/

Mars-related games and activities via NASA Space Place: 

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/search/mars/

Play the Explore Mars game via NASA Space Place:

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/explore-mars/en/

Send your name to Mars on a future NASA mission:

https://mars.nasa.gov/participate/send-your-name/future

And as always, a big thank you to our REACH learning community . Thanks this week to Orin, Rosie,  Pepper,  Ocelia,  and Keira. 

Do you have a space related question that we didn’t get to? Well, you can submit that question for our bi-weekly “Reaching Out” episodes. Just get your parents permission and give us a call at 312-248-3402 (or an email at [email protected]) and leave us a message with your first name, where you're from and your question for a chance to be featured in an upcoming episode.

You can find REACH on Twitter and Instagram or at http://www.ReachThePodcast.com

REACH: A Space Podcast for Kids is a production of Soundsington Media committed to making quality programing for young audiences and the young at heart. To find out more go to http://www.soundsingtonmedia.com