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111 – Optical Astronomy and the Large Binocular Telescope

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(average: 4.83)
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This epsiode covers my visit at the Large Binocular Telescope near Tucson, Arizona. The episode is mostly a conversation with the telescope’s director, Richard Green. We talk about optical astronomy in general and the LBT in particular. I also talk to a scientist who is currently observing at the telescope as well as a telescope operator.

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110 – Curiosity’s Landing on Mars

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(average: 4.73)
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This episode is a conversation with JPL‘s Anita Sengupta about Curiosity’s landing on Mars. We first discuss the landing process itself and then focus on various aspects of the landing, in particular, the parachute. Next we discuss the development and test of that parachute. We conclude the episode with a general discussion about Mars Science Lab, Curiosity and space flight in general.

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063 – The Cassini Mission to Saturn

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(average: 4.49)
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This episode is about the Cassini Mission to Saturn. We talk with Nora Kelly Alonge, a Project Science System Engineer and Science Planning Engineer at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In the episode we cover the Cassini spacecraft’s structure and sensors (and its lander, Huygens), some of the relevant science, as well as the challenge of coordinating science and engineering requirements on the mission.

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031 – The Millennium Simulation

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(average: 4.33)
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This episode is a conversation with Volker Springel about the Millenium Simulation, which at the time was the largest simulation of the growth of cosmic structure, including a detailed model for the formation of galaxies and supermassive black holes. In the episode we talk about the physical/cosmological background, the simulation process and approach as well as some details about the hard- and software.

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018 – Astrobiology at the NASA Astrobiology Institute

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(average: 4.31)
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This episode is a conversation with Dr. Carl Pilcher, the director of the NASA Astrobiology Insititute at NASA Ames Research Center. The conversation comes in two parts. Part one covers the conceptual basics of astrobiology and life: what is life, what are the preconditions for life to exist, how to recognize it, etc. Part two looks at the process of trying to find places in the universe that could host life, primarily astronomical observations and missions to other planets.

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