REACHing Out are bi-weekly mini-episodes where we answer YOUR Questions. This week's question comes from Owen in Michigan who asks "What is a light-year?"

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. Doug Hudgins, Program Scientist for NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters. https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/organization-and-staff/staff-bios/dr-douglas-hudgins

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

To learn more about light-years, visit 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

Could life exist on other worlds? What if the answer could be found on an ice covered moon of Jupiter? If you could go anywhere in the solar system, where would you go? We discuss all of this and more and have a visit with a very popular moon 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. Cynthia B. Phillips, Europa Project Staff Scientist and Science Communications Lead at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Io was played by good friend Jaime Moyer who you may know from voicing two characters on Bob's Burgers, NBC’s A.P. Bio, Modern Family and K.C. Undercover. Follow her on Twitter @Jaime_Moyer 

Our friends at NASA Space Place, and Kay Ferrari at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

To learn more about the NASA’s Europa Clipper Mission, visit https://europa.nasa.gov/

All about Europa: https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/europa/en/

All about Io: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/moons/jupiter-moons/io/overview/

NASA’s “Scientist for a Day” Essay Contest: https://rps.nasa.gov/scientist-for-a-day/

At-home activity: Looking for Life: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/teach/activity/looking-for-life/

Check-out NASA’s Ocean Currents Game: https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/ocean-currents/en/

And as always, a big hooray to our REACH learning community. Thank you to Hank and Ari. You can hear Hank and his mother Phoebe on their podcast The Adventures of Power Dog in Dogland!  and you can hear Ari on his podcast At Your Level both available wherever you get your podcasts. 

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 Hunter and Greta in Minnesota who ask "Is Time Travel Possible?"

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. Alina Kiessling, Astrophysicist and Dr. Jason Rhodes, Senior Research Scientist: both from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

We’d also like to offer thanks to our friends at NASA Space Place as well as Kay Ferrari at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

To learn more about time travel, visit NASA Space Place at: https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/time-travel/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

What makes a space telescope different from a telescope here on Earth? If you could take a picture of anything in space, what would you photograph?  We discuss all of this and more and have a visit with our favorite former planet 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

Thank you to Dr. Eric Smith, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Program Scientist, and Astrophysics Division Chief Scientist. To learn more about space telescopes check out the links below. 

Pluto was voiced by the incredible Jack McBrayer who you may know from his amazing work inWreck-It Ralph, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Disney’s Wander Over Yonder, NBC’s 30 Rock and so much more. 

Special thanks to: 

Natasha Pinol, Communications Chief for the James Webb Space Telescope Program

Kay Ferrari at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

To learn more about the NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, visit https://www.jwst.nasa.gov  

Key Facts translated in 40 different languages: https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/content/features/keyFactsInternational/

All about Pluto: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/dwarf-planets/pluto/overview/

Hubble Inspires: https://www.nasa.gov/content/hubble-inspires-online-activities

How Telescopes Work: https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/telescopes/en/

James Webb Space Telescope juried art: https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/content/features/jwstArt/

And as always, a big hooray to our REACH learning community. Thank you to Rosie, Orin, Ocie, and Blythe. 

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

The next season of REACH: A Space Podcast for Kids is launching into your ears January 19th, 2021. Make sure you're subscribed wherever you get podcasts. 

Reach: A Space Podcast for Kids is a weekly, family friendly exploration of our galaxy (and beyond!) with hosts Brian Holden and Meredith Stepien. Built for kids and based on questions from kids, Reach educates with entertaining segments, fun at-home experiments, and interviews presented in association with subject matter experts & thought partners from leading institutions like the Adler Planetarium, Cosmosphere, Exploration Place, and more. Subscribe today, and get knowledge...within your Reach. 

Follow us on Twitter  and Instagram for more  or go to www.reachthepodcast.com

This week on REACH: A Space Podcast for Kids we present the first episode of the new season of fellow Soundsington Media show Unspookable entitled "Book of the Dead.".  (Recommended for ages 8+) 

Unspookable is a family friendly look at the histories and mysteries behind your favorite scary stories, myths and urban legends. Each week host Elise Parisian discusses such topics as Bloody Mary, Charlie Charlie, and Ouija Boards to find the stories behind the scares.  

Unspookable - Book of the Dead 

What do you think of when you hear the word mummy? Some of us may imagine a bandaged figure, arms outstretched, stumbling through the desert, but did you know that mummification of the dead served another purpose? Mummification is just a small part of a sacred ritual of Going Forth By Day as captured in something we call The Egyptian Book of the Dead. But this is no book at all as we will find out on this episode of Unspookable. 

Host: Elise Parisian

Written by: Ellenor Riley-Condit

Created, Produced, Edited by: Nate DuFort

Music Direction and Composition: Jesse Case: https://www.jessecasemusic.com/

Logo by: Natalie Khuen http://nataliek.myportfolio.com

You can find Unspookable on Twitter and Instagram at:
https://twitter.com/ImUnspookable
https://www.instagram.com/unspookablepodcast/

Unspookable 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 Alin in Romania who asks "What Are Neutron Stars?"

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

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

On this episode of REACH, Brian and Meredith learn what it takes to be an astronaut from a very special guest, we hear some space related jokes from the REACH Learning Community, and we have a visit from TWO planets in our segment "Did You Know...?"

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 NASA Astronaut and U.S. Navy Commander Matthew Dominick. On behalf of everyone at REACH, thanks again to Matthew for joining us on the show. 

We’d also like to offer a thanks to Jennifer Hernandez and everyone at NASA’s Public Affairs Office, and to Kay Ferrari at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Learn more about Matthew Dominick at :

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/matthew-dominick

And more about all NASA Astronauts at:  https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts

For space-inspired, at-home creative activities: NASA’s Space Place is launching an art challenge! Each month, Space Place readers will get a new drawing prompt, from which Space Place will feature select drawings on their website.

For more info, visit

 https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/art-challenge

.

Venus was voiced by our very own Starkid, the incomparable Darren Criss, who you know as Blaine Anderson on the hit television show Glee and on the Quibi series Royalties. You can find Darren online at @darrencriss.

Jupiter was voiced by the legendary Sean Astin who you know from unforgettable movies like The Goonies, Rudy, and of course The Lord of the Rings trilogy and television series such as No Good Nick and Stranger Things. Find Sean online at @seanastin. 

And as always, a big hooray to our REACH learning community for the really fun space jokes! Thanks to James and Blythe and Bella who you can regularly hear on the Soundsington Media podcast Unspookable. giving their takes on the origins of urban legends and scary stories.

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 Megan in Perth Australia who asks "How are solar systems formed?"

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

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

On this episode of REACH, Brian and Meredith learn the importance of teamwork when problem solving in space, what it means to curate a museum collection, we have a visit from the fastest planet, and then try to make a telescope at home. 

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 Shannon Whetzel, Curator at the Cosmosphere International Science Center and Space Museum, which is the only place in the Midwest where you can see flown spacecrafts from all three early spaceflight programs. Discover more at cosmo.org.

Mercury was voiced by the amazing Dan Saks. Dan is a musician and music educator as well as the host and producer of Noodle Loaf, a popular music education podcast for kids and grown ups alike. Noodle Loaf is available on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get podcasts. You can also find Dan’s latest book entitled Families Belong at noodleloaf.com or wherever books are sold.

And special thanks this week to our REACH learning community: Blythe and Merrick. You can hear more of Merrick weekly on the Hello Family podcast available wherever you get podcasts. and more of Blythe on Soundsington Media's own Unspookable.

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.

Build Your Own Telescope Activity

You will need:

Here's what you need to do:

We'll post a photo of Brian and Meredith's telescope on our Instagram and if you're having issues we found a lot of similar plans online with the google search "how to build a telescope at home" ranging from simple like ours to very detailed plans.

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