Category: Space

How climate change ‘exacerbates’ wildfires in the American West

11.17.20.

As large parts of California and the Pacific Northwest are beset by wildfires, the issue of climate change has taken on prominence in the national political conversation. Scientists increasingly point to rising temperatures and extreme dryness as exacerbating wildfires, but what other factors are involved? Science correspondent Miles O’Brien joins William Brangham to discuss. TRANSCRIPT…
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How Elon Musk’s SpaceX is changing American space flight

05.27.20.

It has been nearly a decade since an American space crew last lifted off from U.S. soil in a spacecraft built here. That’s expected to change Wednesday afternoon with the relaunch of manned space flight. But the occasion will be very different from past launches, as this time, a private company is leading the way…
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What Apollo 11 pilot Michael Collins feared most during critical NASA mission

07.18.19.

This week marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, which first landed American astronauts on the moon’s surface. Of the intrepid crew, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin have tended to dominate public attention, but it was pilot Michael Collins who flew the command module to the moon — and faced his own distinct…
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How NASA is preparing to launch another mission to the moon

05.02.19.

The Trump administration wants NASA to get back to the moon by 2024, using any means necessary. But will the money and the commitment be there to support the effort? PBS NewsHour science correspondent Miles O’Brien talks to NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine about technical and political risk, international competition and his broader vision for the…
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How and why we’re sampling asteroid Bennu – with NASA’s OSIRIS-REx team

12.05.18.

Help us improve this podcast: take our short survey. How did our early solar system form? What are the origins of life? How likely are we to get hit by a dangerous asteroid? A daring NASA mission called OSIRIS-REx hopes to find the answers to these big questions at an asteroid named Bennu. This week,…
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How this spacecraft will sample an asteroid’s rocks, without even landing on it

11.29.18.

More than two years after it launched, a spacecraft called OSIRIS-REx is approaching its target, an asteroid named Bennu. Scientists hope that rock samples from Bennu will provide insight into the likelihood of life on other planets, as well as the risk the asteroid poses to earth. PBS NewsHour science correspondent Miles O’Brien explains the…
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