Big Picture Science for May 12, 2025: NASA Under the Axe

Big Picture Science: NASA Under the Axe

The White House has proposed unprecedented cuts to NASA’s budget - the largest in the agency’s history. If approved, this withdrawal of funding would force the cancellation of many major programs, including the long anticipated Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope as well as others involved in the search for life in the universe. It would also impact the agency’s ability to do fundamental research. We look at what the loss of NASA programs could mean for the future of space science and exploration. Plus, an intriguing discovery by the James Webb Space Telescope underscores the progress we’ve made - and could lose - when it comes to searching for potential biosignatures in the universe.

Guests:

• Leonard David – Space journalist and author
• Nadia Drake – Freelance science journalist
• Carl Zimmer – New York Times science columnist

Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/nasa-under-the-axe

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/

Get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!

Big Picture Science for June 19, 2023 - Skeptic Check: NASA UFO Study

Big Picture Science - Skeptic Check: NASA UFO Study

NASA is studying more than 800 sightings of unidentified objects in our sky as part of its investigation into the UFO phenomenon. We get an update on the agency’s study in a conversation with a member of the NASA UAP panel.

We also hear why the belief that aliens exist has broad consensus, but that’s not the same as saying they routinely visit Earth. Plus, a UFO investigator analyzes the startling claim that the military is hiding evidence of alien technology.

Guests:

• Nadia Drake – Science journalist and member of NASA’s UAP group
• Mick West – Science writer, skeptical debunker, former video game programmer. Author of “Escaping the Rabbit Hole”

Download podcast at -  https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/skeptic-check-nasa-ufo-study

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

Get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!

New Predictions for the Solar Eclipse

Source - Space Weather News for August 16, 2017: http://spaceweather.com

NEW PREDICTIONS FOR THE SOLAR ECLIPSE: Next Monday, Aug. 21st, the Moon will pass directly in front of the sun producing an historic solar eclipse over the USA.  Millions of people inside the path of totality will catch a glimpse of the sun's gossamer outer atmosphere, the corona. In centuries past, the appearance of the corona was unpredictable from one eclipse to the next. But now researchers have developed supercomputer codes to forecast its shape.

New predictions for the "Great American Solar Eclipse" are highlighted on today's edition of Spaceweather.com

 













Above: NASA-supported researchers at Predictive Science Inc. have just issued a physics-based model of the sun's corona as it will appear during the Great American Solar Eclipse. [more] 

NASA Creates Artificial 'Space Clouds'

Source - Space Weather News for June 29, 2017: http://spaceweather.com

NASA CREATES ARTIFICIAL 'SPACE CLOUDS': A rocket launched before sunrise on June 29th from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility produced an amazing display of colorful 'space clouds' over the east coast of the USA.  Onlookers described their "erupting colors" as "vivid", "spellbinding", and "brilliantly apparent" as the vaporous forms spread across the early morning sky. To learn more about the clouds, and why NASA made them, visit today's edition of Spaceweather.com

THE SOLAR ECLIPSE BALLOON NETWORK: The Great American Solar Eclipse is less than two months away. Where will you be on Aug. 21, 2017, when the Moon completely covers the sun? Spaceweather.com and the students of Earth to Sky Calculus plan to observe the eclipse from the stratosphere, photographing the Moon's shadow and collecting unique cosmic ray data high above any obscuring clouds.  We'll do it using space weather balloons launched from multiple sites along the path of totality. Learn more about how you can support or even join the Solar Eclipse Balloon Network.

How to See NASA's Giant Space Balloon

Source - Space Weather News for May 18, 2016: http://spaceweather.com

NASA'S GIANT SPACE BALLOON: On May 17th, NASA successfully launched a gigantic helium balloon from Wanaka, New Zealand, on a 100+ day mission to the stratosphere. The 19 million cubic foot behemoth is now floating over southern Australia, and it will soon proceed to circumnavigate the southern hemisphere.  Sky watchers near the flight path can see the "space balloon" with the unaided eye and track it with backyard telescopes. Visit http://spaceweather.com for observing tips and more information about the balloon's fascinating payload.

MINOR GEOMAGNETIC STORMS POSSIBLE THIS WEEK: NOAA forecasters estimate a 50% to 60% chance of minor G1-class geomagnetic storms on May 19-20 when Earth enters a stream of high-speed solar wind. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras, especially in the southern hemisphere where darkening autumn skies favor visibility

Image Credit: Space Weather News / Ray Pickard 

Big Picture Science for Monday 06 July 2015 - Dogged Pursuit of Pluto

Big Picture Science - Dogged Pursuit of Pluto

Pluto is ready for its close up – but the near encounter during this historic flyby will last less than three minutes. Be ready for the action with our special New Horizons episode!

Hear from researchers who are Pluto rock stars: the astronomer who discovered two of Pluto’s five moons, the planetary scientist who coined the term “dwarf planet,” and the man who claims to have “killed Pluto.”

Find out how the New Horizons spacecraft will dodge rocks and other dangers as it approaches the planet and what we might learn about planet formation once we arrive. And why the battle over Pluto’s nomenclature continues.

Plus, Neil deGrasse Tyson reads his hate mail – from 3^rd graders.

Guests:

• Neil deGrasse Tyson – Astrophysicist, director of the Hayden Planetarium, New York City
• Alan Stern – Planetary scientist, Principal Investigator, New Horizons mission
• Mark Showalter – Senior research scientist, SETI Institute, New Horizons team member
• Mike Brown – Astronomer, California Institute of Technology

Permalink: http://radio.seti.org/episodes/Dogged_Pursuit_of_Pluto

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

Jellyfish Flames on the ISS

Source - NASA Science News for September 11, 2014

Astronauts onboard the International Space Station report seeing flames that behave like jellyfish. Today's story features must-see video of the microgravity phenomenon.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/10sep_jellyfish/

A companion video is posted below and can also be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE13FREpFVo&feature=youtu.be



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Rosetta Comet is Darker than Charcoal

Source - NASA Science News for September 5, 2014

A NASA instrument onboard Europe's Rosetta spacecraft has shown that the core of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is unusually dark--darker than charcoal-black--when viewed at ultraviolet wavelengths.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/05sep_rosetta/

Mystery in the Ozone Layer

Source - NASA Science News for September 5, 2014

Almost 30 years after the Montreal Protocol put the brakes on ozone-depleting chemicals, one compound remains stubbornly and mysteriously abundant in the atmosphere. NASA scientists are tracking down the source and studying its effect on the ozone layer.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/05sep_ozonelayer/

A companion video is posted below and can also be viewed at: http://youtu.be/rq9EAHyHtu8



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Exoplanet Measured with Remarkable Precision

Source - NASA Science News for August 18, 2014

Astronomers are not only discovering planets around distant suns, they are also starting to measure those worlds with astonishing precision. The diameter of a super-Earth named "Kepler 93 b" is now known to within an accuracy of 1%.
  
The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/18aug_sizeup/

A companion video is posted below and can also be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lA6MJkHJXVk&feature=youtu.be



License: Standard YouTube License

Beautiful Morning Conjunction

Source - NASA Science News for August 15, 2014

Set your alarm for dawn! Venus and Jupiter are converging for a spectacular conjunction in the early morning sky.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/15aug_conjunction/

A companion video is posted below and can also be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK57BMj2Vj4&feature=youtu.beVIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK57BMj2Vj4&feature=youtu.be 



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Colliding Atmospheres: Mars vs Comet Siding Spring

Source - NASA Science News for August 12, 2014

Comet Siding Spring is about to fly historically close to Mars. The encounter could spark Martian auroras, a meteor shower, and other unpredictable effects. Whatever happens, NASA's fleet of Mars satellites will have a ringside seat.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/12aug_marscomet/

A companion video is posted below and can also be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R4yj7DtQbM&feature=youtu.be



License: Standard YouTube License

Amazing New Photo of ESA's Rosetta Comet

NASA Science News for August 2, 2014

As the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft closes to within 1000 km of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the Rosetta science team has released a new image and temperature measurements of the comet's core. The temperature data show that 67P is too hot to be covered in ice and must instead have a dark, dusty crust.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/02aug_rosetta/

Perseid Meteors vs the Supermoon

Source - NASA Science News for July 29, 2014

Which is brighter--a flurry of Perseid fireballs or a supermoon? Sky watchers will find out this August when the biggest and brightest full Moon of 2014 arrives just in time for the peak of the annual Perseid meteor shower.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/28jul_perseids2014/

A companion video is posted below and can also be viewed at: http://youtu.be/JkKzMAzT5fs



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Mars Rover Sets Off-World Driving Record

Source - NASA Science News for July 28, 2014

NASA's Opportunity Mars rover, which landed on the Red Planet in 2004, now holds the off-Earth driving record of 25+ miles, and is not far from completing a full extraterrestrial marathon.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/28jul_oppy/

Near Miss: The Solar Superstorm of July 2012

NASA Science News for July 23, 2014

Today is the second anniversary of a near-miss. On July 23, 2012, the sun produced an extreme solar storm that could have rocked the technological underpinnings of modern society. Fortunately, Earth was outside the line of fire.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/23jul_superstorm/

A companion video is posted below and can also be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ukQhycKOFw



License: Standard YouTube License

Rosetta Comet May Be a Contact Binary

Source - NASA Science News for July 17, 2014

New images of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko show that the target of ESA's Rosetta probe is no ordinary comet.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/17jul_rosetta/

New Horizons Only One Year from Pluto

Source - NASA Science News for July 14, 2014

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft is only a year away from Pluto. Researchers are buzzing with anticipation as NASA prepares to encounter a new world for the first time in decades.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/14jul_pluto2015/

A companion video is posted below and can also be viewed at: http://youtu.be/RDIsbN-e1qU




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Three Supermoons in a Row

Source - NASA Science News for July 10, 2014

The summer of 2014 will be bathed in moonlight as three perigee "supermoons" occur in consecutive months: July 12, August 10, and September 9.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/10jul_supermoons/

A companion video is posted below and can also be viewed at: http://youtu.be/D1KKpeW231Y


  
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Fruit Flies on the International Space Station

Source - NASA Science News for July 8, 2014

A new species is about to join astronauts on the International Space Station: Drosophila melanogaster, also known as the "fruit fly." Genetically speaking, the bug-eyed insects have a lot in common with human beings, and they are poised to teach researchers a great deal about voyaging into deep space.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/08jul_fruitflies/

A companion video is posted below and can also be viewed at: http://youtu.be/ArHDSjfKDAs



License: Standard YouTube License