SPEXcast

This is a short update on the current state of the show. We apologize for missing an episode last week but we have some exciting things in the pipeline for all of you. Phil is currently in Wallops, Virginia, preparing for his very own rocket launch. We will have a full episode on CSTARS in the coming weeks. Also SPEXcast will have its second annual SPEXcast Live! on May 6th, as part of ImagineRIT. If you are in the upstate New York area, please consider joining the festivities! Regularly scheduled episodes will resume Wednesday, April 5th, with the an episode on the recent NASA Authorization Bill for 2017.

On February 27th, SpaceX announced that it will launch two private citizens on a flight around the moon by the end of 2018. SPEXcast sits down to discuss the technical and political challenges of such a mission. We also discuss the Blue Moon whitepaper by Blue Origin for an unmanned cargo lander on the moon. We wrap all this up by comparing these private space efforts with the current progress of NASA's own missions into cislunar space.

On February 22nd, NASA announced that 7 Earth-like planets orbit the star known as Trappist-1, within its habitable zone. SPEXcast sits down with RIT's Dr. Jennifer Connelly, a Doctor in Extragalactic Astronomy, to interpret this discovery

In this special bonus episode, SPEXcast discusses the concept of generation ships. Barring extreme advances in space travel technology and our understanding of physics, it could take hundreds or thousands of years to send humans to other worlds. This would necessite self sustaining societies to exist on these vessels, acting as caretakers for the human race until they arrive at their new home. We discuss the moral implications of sending our successors off into space with no chance of seeing their final destination.

SPEXcast sits down to discuss the happenings in space for the week. We talk about SpaceX\'s CRS-10 mission, crew on SLS EM-1 and Citizen scientists.

Science fiction is dominated by gigantic spaceships exploring the stars, however real life spacecraft appear to be made of smaller, discrete pieces. On the other hand, games like Kerbal Space Program present building rockets as simple as snapping together lego pieces. How much is science and how much is fiction?

SPEXcast looks back on some of the successes and failures of 2016 and share their thoughts on what's to come in 2017

No discussion this week, just a heads up on what's on the horizon for the podcast. Next week we'll be back for a full hour discussing 2016: Year in Review. What was your favorite space mission from 2016? Join the conversation on Twitter (@RITSPEX), Facebook.com/RITSPEX, or email [email protected]

SPEXcast speaks with Matt Greenhouse, Project Scientist of the James Webb Space Telescope, about the observatory's objectives and the tech that makes it all possible. Many thanks to Sarah Schlieder and NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center for setting up this interview and others, and to Brendan Byrne (of WMFE Orlando and Are We There Yet?) for putting us in touch.

SPEXcast sits down with Pam Millar, Chief of the Laser Remote Sensing Lab at NASA GSFC to discuss cubesat applications and NASA programs involving nanosatellites.