Universe Today Podcasts With Fraser Cain

In this week's question show, I explain why I'm happy to answer questions, what first telescope people should get, and if we've ever seen a black hole ever. Also, stick around to the end, where Dr. Alan Stern, the principal investigator of New Horizons answers a question about the mission.Support Universe Today Podcast

NASA is going to decide between a comet sample return mission or a helicopter on Titan. Which mission should it be?Support Universe Today Podcast

In this week's QA, I answer the several related questions about why NASA doesn't just cancel the Space Launch System and give all their money to SpaceX. With special guest answerer Emma Osborne.Support Universe Today Podcast

NASA’s Curiosity Rover has been exploring the surface of Mars for over 5 years now. What has it turned up?Support Universe Today Podcast

In this QA from Iceland, astrophysicist Dr. Paul Sutter steps in to tackle some of the more complicated cosmology and physics based questions from the audience. Did the Big Bang create the matter of the Universe, how close are we do discovering what dark matter is, and more.Support Universe Today Podcast

There are few rockets more iconic than the RS-25, also known as the Space Shuttle main engine. Even though it’s been around in some form since the 1970s, it’s been improved and upgraded several times, making it the most efficient liquid fuel rocket engine going today. And now the RS-25 is going to see a new chapter in its history, working to carry NASA’s new Space Launch System back to deep space, beyond Earth orbit.Support Universe Today Podcast

In this week's questions show, I talk about being wrong, why I'm such a buzz kill to sci-fi, and what I'd launch on a Falcon Heavy.Support Universe Today Podcast

You might have heard of the recently solved Pioneer anomaly. But what about the flyby anomaly? The unexpected velocity change that happens during gravitational slingshots.Support Universe Today Podcast

In this week's questions show, Fraser is excited to see the southern hemisphere night sky, considers how the next generation of telescopes will change our understanding of the Big Bang, and suggests what you should look at with a new telescope.Support Universe Today Podcast

When astronomers scan the atmospheres of other worlds, they’ll be looking for gases to confirm that yes, indeed, there’s life there. It turns out, this is actually pretty tough.Support Universe Today Podcast

In this week's questions show, Fraser wonders where you'd have to go in the Universe to minimize your time dilation, how to see Iridium Flares, how interferometry works, and more.Support Universe Today Podcast

When we see images of space, it’s hard to know which are real images and which are artist illustrations.Support Universe Today Podcast

In this week's questions show, Fraser wonders how we're ever going to clear all that space junk orbiting Earth, whether it's better to colonize Mars or Mercury, and can water worlds explain the Fermi Paradox?Support Universe Today Podcast

Forget rocky worlds like Earth and Mars. New discoveries about icy worlds like Europa and Enceladus make them the ideal candidates for the search for life in the Universe. In fact there could be hundreds, or even thousands of times more worlds out there with ability to support life.Support Universe Today Podcast

We try to avoid thinking about it, but spacecraft are machines that break down and eventually fail. Some can last for years, others decades, but in the end they’ll be gone forever.Support Universe Today Podcast

In this QA episode, Fraser wonders when the Big Rip might happen, could there be binary galaxies, what it would be like to live in higher gravity.Support Universe Today Podcast

Mars is in the spotlight now, as both SpaceX and NASA are preparing their long range plans to send humans to the Red Planet. But Mars is an inhospitable environment, especially because of its tenuous and poisonous atmosphere of carbon dioxide.Support Universe Today Podcast

On October 25, 2017, astronomers from NASA’s Minor Planet Center sent out an announcement that they needed help confirming the trajectory of an interesting object.Support Universe Today Podcast

In this week’s question show, Fraser explains why almost everything in the Solar System is spinning in the same direction, is there a limit to how massive black holes can get, and do galaxies have an escape velocity?Support Universe Today Podcast

We once thought our Solar System was normal, average. How wrong we were, how varied the planetary systems are out there. It turns out, the migration of planets played a huge role in the Solar System we see today.Support Universe Today Podcast