Randii Wessen's title at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory--A-Team Lead Study Architect--may not sound sexy, but he leads a team of engineers and scientists that get to dream up where we send the next generation of robots in space and what they will do there. It's a fascinating, blue-sky job, and more fun than a guy oughta have. Listen to learn how NASA plans the future of deep space exploration!

Host: Rod Pyle

Guest: Randii Wessen

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Daniel Suarez has been a fixture on the New York Times Bestseller's list for a reason, and his latest book, "Critical Mass," will be no exception. It's a fast-paced adventure set in cislunar space to build out a newspace economy and rescue astronauts stranded at a distant asteroid, filled with drama and intrigue. It's also one of the most plausible looks at the future of spaceflight, complete with entrepreneurial space billionaires and cantankerous, mistrustful governments. In short, Suarez has looked into a newspace crystal ball and unveiled a likely future for the development of space--and made it entertaining as hell.

Get "Critical Mass": https://amzn.to/3Yjb9xu

Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik

Guest: Daniel Suarez

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Of course, you all know Tariq and Rod could rave about the best space books ever, but TWiT's own Jason Snell of SixColors.com just had to chime in, and what a group rant we had! The best of space nonfiction and fiction is coming your way.

Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik

Guest: Jason Snell

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Don't look now, but the possibly spookiest thing you've seen yet in the sky is hovering overhead, comet C/2022/E3 (ZTF), otherwise known as the creepy green comet. Planetarium Director, astronomer, and space author Steve Fentress joins us to discuss the comet and other notable points of skywatching interest coming in 2023!

Image credit: Michael Jäger

Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik

Guest: Steve Fentress

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When Walt Disney wanted to build a vision of the future for Disneyland's Tomorrowland in the 1950s, he turned to Wernher von Braun, former Nazi rocketeer turned US citizen and missile chief, to help design it. Along the way, the two men co-created a series of visionary shows about spaceflight for Disney's weekly TV show. Boeing engineer and space history expert John Rose joins us to discuss this unique and unlikely collaboration and how its effects resonate to this day.

Image credit: NASA

Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik

Guest: John Rose

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2022 was a record year for spaceflight, and 2023 will be even more amazing! We gained a new moon rocket, set spaceflight endurance records, set a record-breaking launch pace, and diverted an asteroid. We also lost a Mars lander and possibly a Soyuz capsule... but overall, the new space age is shaping up nicely. And 2023 will blow us out of the water! Join Rod and Tariq for a fast-paced look at 2022 and 2023 in space, and don't miss Tariq's "lightning round" for next year!

Image credit: NASA

Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik

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The holiday season is always special, but few were more special than Christmas Eve, 1968, when Apollo 8 orbited the moon, with the astronauts reading from the Book of Genesis. Apollo Flight Director Gerald D. "Gerry" Griffin joins us to recall that very special time, and we chat with retired Air Force Colonel Karlton Johnson about NORAD's tracking of Santa.

Image credit: NASA

Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik

Guests: Gerald D. Griffin and Karlton Johnson

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This week we talk to SETI senior astronomer Seth Shostak about Avatar 2, extraterrestrial life, his expectations about world reactions to first contact, and whether trying to talk to aliens might not be the best idea after all!

Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik

Guest: Seth Shostak

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Senior space journalist Leonard David joins us to discuss new developments in the Chinese space program, its trajectory moving ahead, and what that might mean for a rejuvenated human spaceflight program in the United States. Are we in a new space race?

Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik

Guest: Leonard David

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Former NASA astronaut Doug Hurley joins us to talk about the mission of Artemis I and his time as a NASA astronaut, flying multiple shuttle missions and the groundbreaking DEMO-2 mission in SpaceX's then-new Crew Dragon.

Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik

Guest: Doug Hurley

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