I Need My Space

The Intergalactic Travel Bureau

This week on 'I Need My Space' we talk to Jana Grcevich, Co-author of "Vacation Guide to the Solar System" about making travel plans in space! Grcevich is also data scientist, has a PhD in astronomy, and is an all around curious person.

Check out her book: https://www.amazon.com/Vacation-Guide-Solar-System-Traveler/dp/0143129775/

Download Space Vacation from Guerilla Science: https://itunes.app...

NASA “Nasalnaut” George Aldrich sits down with Steve to discuss the importance of smell in space.

Questions include: What does a NASA chemical specialist do? What is the process of conducting odor tests for NASA? Why must objects be odor tested?  What is a NASA-certified nose? What happens when an object fails NASA’s odor test? Who decides what smells bad? Is odor testing a risky job? How do you get a job working ...

Lynn Levy, host of Gimlet’s ‘The Habitat’, joins Steve and guest host Moiya McTier to talk about the true story of six strangers who were picked to live in a Mars simulation, work together, and have their lives taped.

Questions Include: How does one become a fake astronaut? Will there be psychological therapy in space? Are the HI-SEAS participants safe? What kind of entertainment do you bring on a Mars simulation? What is i...

Jennifer Levasseur, museum specialist at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, joins Steve to discuss photography in space, astronaut personal artifacts, and the history of space flight.

Questions Include: What is it like being a museum curator? Is stuff that has gone to space more valuable? Which astronauts take the best photos? What are the ins and outs of astronaut photography? Do we still use Apollo-era sp...

Today, astronomers announced the discovery of 12 new moons around Jupiter. Inverse writer Matthew Phelan sat down with the Carnegie Institute’s Scott S. Sheppard who led the team that located the Jovian moons to tell us what this means for our solar systems and why one of the moons is especially odd. Two of the new dozen were uncovered in the spring of 2017 by Sheppard’s team bringing Jupiter’s moon count to 69 (nice), whi...

Author of "The Design and Engineering of Curiosity: How the Mars Rover Performs Its Job" and planetary evangelist and senior editor at The Planetary Society, Emily Lakdawalla, joins Rae and Steve to discuss NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity.

Questions Include: What kind of data is the Curiosity rover collecting? What does a habitable environment consist of? Is Curiosity a stepping stone towards crewed missions to Mars? How a...

Rocket scientist and entrepreneur Natalya Bailey joins Steve to discuss the climate of NewSpace.

Questions Include: What is NewSpace? Who are the key players besides Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos? How is competition driving the space race? How can a regular person keep up with the space industry? Are new space and old space competitors? How does defunding NASA hurt commercial space? Is there a NewSpace bubble? Is the space indus...

Retired NASA astronaut Dr. Mae Jemison joins Rae to discuss how to diversify the space industry.

Questions Include: How does it feel to be an inspiration to women and girls everywhere? Is there a representation issue in NASA? Who are the people who make space flight possible? Why is it important to make space flight more inclusive? What was the impact of the film ‘Hidden Figures’? What are most astronauts’ favorite planet?

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Rae and Steve are joined by Afrofuturist author Ytasha Womack to discuss the importance of centering humanity as we journey through space.

Question Include: How do we not ruin space colonies like we did on Earth? How do we ensure that people on space colonies are happy and healthy? What will determine who gets to go to space and who doesn’t?  What is the cultural history of the term “alien”? What holidays do we cel...

Steve sits down with Vanderbilt astronomy professor David Weintraub to discuss the moral ethics surrounding humanity’s trip to Mars.

Question Include: Should we go to Mars? When will we get to Mars? Is there life on Mars? How will we impact possible life on Mars? What is panspermia? Are humans descendants of Martians? Why protect microbial life? Why are we so obsessed with Mars? Will the discovery of extraterrestrial li...

There’s organic material on Mars! But just what does that mean? In this mini-episode, astronomer David Weintraub talks to Steve about the importance of the NASA Mars announcements on June 7. We also pull in senior staff writer Peter Hess to contextualize the findings from the two papers.

To hear the full conversation with astronomer and Vanderbilt University professor David Weintraub, listen to next week’s episode.

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Video game journalist Dan Ryckert joins Rae and Steve to dive into some of his big (and somewhat embarrassing) questions about space. They also chat about the intersection of gaming and space.

Questions Include: What’s at the core of a gas giant? Why do some planets have rings? Would I die if I fell into a black hole? What is the best space video game? What is the worst space video game? What games would you take to Mar...

Nuclear physicist and Vice on HBO correspondent Taylor Wilson joins Steve to discuss where we might find extraterrestrial life and how we’ll get there.

Questions include: Is humanity alone in the universe? Will finding extraterrestrial life be dangerous? Is there life in our own solar system? Do water worlds host life? What are some upcoming NASA missions that might find extraterrestrial life? Will spacecraft travel clo...

High fashion fabricator-turned-spacesuit designer Ted Southern joins Rae to explain the ins and outs of making aerospace safety garments.

Questions Include: What is going to be the first brand on Mars? How do spacesuits protect people from galactic cosmic rays? How much does it cost to make a spacesuit? How much are space suits sold for? Do sci-fi spacesuits inspire real-life spacesuits? Will spacesuits be fashionable? ...

Theoretical astrophysicist Katie Mack talks black holes, dark matter, and the end of the universe.

Questions Include: WTF is dark matter? Why is dark matter invisible? How much dark matter is in a galaxy? Is dark matter a series of really small black holes? Why do black holes spaghettify you? How close can you get to a black hole? Can we see black holes? Why are there supermassive black holes at the center of every gala...

NASA launched an InSight Lander on a 7-month trek to Mars on Sunday, and luckily, I Need My Space correspondent Jeremy Bent was on the ground at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California to hear the launch. In this bonus episode, we hear from NASA personnel about the mission.

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Space Attorney Michael Listner joins Rae to discuss how law applies to the cosmos.

Questions Include: How does one become a space lawyer? How does space law apply to everyday people? Who does space belong to? Who will grant Elon Musk the permission to go to Mars? Is a settlement on Mars legal? If an accident happens on a space colony, who is held liable? What happens when you commit a murder in space? What happens if there ...

Space journalist Swapna Krishna of Engadget, SyFy Fangrrls, & the Los Angeles Times joins Rae and Steve to answer questions about the spectacular world of space flight.

Questions Include: Why do we love shooting stuff into space? Will Starman contaminate Mars? Would you have a space funeral? Is Elon Musk the right man to take us to Mars? Are spacecraft cats or dogs? Where is Voyager I and Voyager II? What is the Kes...

Astrophysicist Jackie Faherty, of the American Museum of Natural History, joins Rae to answer questions about how and when humanity will find the next habitable world.

Questions Include: What is an exoplanet? What is a brown dwarf? What if Venus had a habitable atmosphere? Are there other habitable worlds out there? What would it take for humanity to travel the solar system? Are Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos the right people...