Dr. Brent D. Ziarnick serves as an assistant professor at the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base. He is also author of ‘To Rule the Skies: General Thomas S. Power and the Rise of Strategic Air Command in the Cold War’. In this episode, he discusses the birth of the U.S. Space Force along with the military and economic implications of future space exploration and expansion. "Slow Burn" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0...

When the formation of the U.S. "Space Force" was announced, the new military branch was the butt of many jokes but what role will it serve in the 21st century? Tensions are currently high between the United States, Russia, and China. Is a war in outer space inevitable or will this new frontier offer prosperity for all who join in the adventure? A new guest on the program helps us to answer this important questions. REFERENCES: 'The Battle for the Soul of the Space Force' by Brent...

Outer space is the ultimate strategic high ground for the world's great powers. This is true for both spy satellites and ballistic missiles. During the Cold War, President Ronald Reagan proposed the creation of a technologically advanced, space-based defensive weapon system known as S.D.I.. But critics of the proposal dubbed it 'Star Wars' and said it would trigger a new arms race with the Soviet Union. What historical lessons can be learned from this episode in...

50 years ago today, the three Apollo 17 astronauts departed the Moon to return to Earth. It was the first time in human history that a scientist set foot on another world: geologist Harrison 'Jack' Schmitt. What lessons does this historic mission have to teach us in the coming years as humans finally return to the Moon with the Artemis program? RECORDED BY: Jantzen Carter REFERENCES: 'Apollo 17: Diary of the Twelfth Man' by Harrison 'Jack' Schmitt 'The Last Man on the Moon' by Eugene...

The renowned and deeply insightful Andrew Chaikin joins the After Talk to share his views on space exploration along with his experiences interviewing the Apollo astronauts. Chaikin is the author of 'A Man on the Moon', 'Voices from the Moon', and 'A Passion for Mars'. MUSIC: "Slow Burn" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

The renowned and deeply insightful Andrew Chaikin joins the After Talk to share his views on space exploration along with his experiences interviewing the Apollo astronauts. Chaikin is the author of 'A Man on the Moon', 'Voices from the Moon', and 'A Passion for Mars'. MUSIC: "Slow Burn" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Nearly half a century before the space age began in earnest, a few brilliant visionaries had the courage to look beyond their own time and see humanity’s future. From Russia to the United States, a few brilliant minds transformed science fiction into science fact, giving birth to the space age. REFERENCES: ‘The Russian Cosmists: The Esoteric Futurism of Nikolai Fedorov and His Followers’ by George M. Young ‘The Case for Space: How the Revolution in Spaceflight Opens Up a Future of...

Host and producer discuss the future of space travel and manned missions to Mars. If you would like to make a contribution to the program, click this link: https://www.patreon.com/universeuniversity?fbclid=IwAR0GJjAwa3C1f8KKxDi7aeGVEO-Ou3dL10vmf1kQHjssQu5eEgmCkyNFMgw MUSIC: "Slow Burn" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ REFERENCES: "Scientists and Seaman" [article] By Ben Finney...

Host and producer discuss the future of space travel and manned missions to Mars. If you would like to make a contribution to the program, click this link: https://www.patreon.com/universeuniversity?fbclid=IwAR0GJjAwa3C1f8KKxDi7aeGVEO-Ou3dL10vmf1kQHjssQu5eEgmCkyNFMgw MUSIC: "Slow Burn" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ REFERENCES: "The Case for Space" By Robert Zubrin...

Dr. Robert Zubrin joins the after talk for an in depth discussion on space exploration. He starts by telling us the story of his Mars Direct plan, the founding of the Mars Society, and his relationship with the young Elon Musk. We go on to discuss the technical and political challenges of sending human beings to Mars as well as his personal philsophy of human space exploration. To watch the video version of this interview, click this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4cWRQo2_Iw If...

Mars has captivated the human imagination for generations. Yet the question remains: is there organic life on the Red Planet? If so, how can we search for it and what would such life be like? And what will life be like for the first astronauts to set foot on Mars? Dr. Robert Zubrin joins us to help answer some of these questions. VOICE CREDIT: A very generous, anonymous Patreon contributor offered to act as the voice to Agustina Lusky because Lusky does not speak English as her first...

Nick Conant, a science communicator and Theater Manager of the Fiske Planetarium, sits down for an After Talk about: Native American astronomy, craters, comets as a (proposed) water source on Earth, and the ethics of asteroid mining. If you would like to make a contribution to the program, click this link: https://www.patreon.com/universeuniversity?fbclid=IwAR0GJjAwa3C1f8KKxDi7aeGVEO-Ou3dL10vmf1kQHjssQu5eEgmCkyNFMgw MUSIC: "Slow Burn" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under...

Centuries ago, the work of Edmond Halley demonstrated to the world that comets were not evil omens as many superstitious Europeans believed but celestial bodies in outer space. Even so, comets and asteroids could pose a direct threat to all life on Earth. The real question is whether humanity has the tools to meet that threat? PHOTO CAPTION: Comet Lovejoy near the constellation Ursa Major NASA/MSFC/Jacobs Technology/ESSSA/Aaron Kingery REFERENCES: 'Edmond Halley: Charting the Heavens...

Host and producer recap a year of podcasting in a holiday after talk.

Professor Alex Roland discusses how he became a historian for NASA, the financial costs of the U.S. shuttle program, the concept of "buying in", and the enormous challenges of manned space travel.

The space shuttle was a marvel of American ingenuity that ushered in a new era for the American space program. But the world would soon learn that reusable spacecraft were far from being perfect machines. Is the story of the U.S. shuttle program a tale of triumph for human space exploration? Or is the tale of a modern day Icarus? REFERENCES: 'After Apollo?: Richard Nixon and the American Space Program' by John M. Logsdon 'Accountability in the Public Sector: Lessons from the...

An after talk discussion with Konner Blunt from the Blunt Report on Halloween celebrations around the world, weather control, S.E.T.I. research, anthropomorphizing extraterrestrials, sleep paralysis, and UFOs. Special Guest: Konner Blunt.

In the late 1940s, the United States military began to take an interest in reports of unidentified flying objects or U.F.O.s which included multiple projects designed to investigate and evaluate the sightings. Despite the fact that many UFO sightings were cases of mistaken identity that could easily be explained away, a minority of them proved extremely perplexing to the U.S. government, leading some high level officials to consider the possibility that the Earth was being visited by...

Guest Beth Gordon chats about her wildly popular Instagram account (Spacewhippet), space museums around the country, the significance of Apollo 11, and the future of human space travel. MUSIC: "Slow Burn" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Special Guest: Spacewhippet.

Half a century ago this week, Apollo 11 set out to land on the moon. It was the culmination of hundreds of thousands of brilliant engineers working to make science fiction into science fact. But who were the three men who went on the journey? What did they experience during their epic journey to an alien world? And what significance does their historic mission have for humanity 50 years later? REFERENCES: *"What You Didn't Know About the Apollo 11 Mission" * by Charles Fishman...

Michael Tremmel has a Bachelors Degree in physics and math from Northwestern University as well as a PhD in Astronomy from the University of Washington. He has written several publications in astrophysics journals about supermassive black holes and galaxy evolution. In this episode, he talks about popular misconceptions about black holes as well as the fabric of space-time itself. https://mtremmel.github.io/?fbclid=IwAR28u5BxUtzszdCv924Xm4gMKExL-VngRHkzwH20kJDuS6p6LUxDmfFnRcc For...

A European patent clerk with an overactive imagination revealed to the world the very fabric of space and time itself. But decades later, the discovery of black holes would reveal far more challenging facts about the nature of our universe: gaping holes in the very fabric of reality itself. Within the depths of black holes, we might find the keys to a comprehensive and unifiying understanding of quantum mechanics and General Relativity... or we might find a window to oblivion. PHOTO...

Guest Konner Blunt joins Chris and Blake for the after talk to discuss Pluto, Science, Mars, and other fascnating topics. Please listen to his shows at: iTunes:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-blunt-report/id1396353716 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUAxZDojccGJFJVcvYHUXPw Twitter: https://twitter.com/blunt_report Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bluntreport/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebluntreport/ For listener questions and comments, email...

Discovered by an American farm boy in his early 20s, Pluto has captivated us for quite some time... but astronomers would later discover many other strange worlds within the outer boundaries of the solar system. And the mere existence of these worlds led to one of the greatest controveries in the history of astronomy. *PHOTO CAPTION: * Pluto's mountain range (11,000 foot elevation) at sunset. *REFERENCES: * "Out of Darkness: The Planet Pluto" Clyde Tombaugh "How I Killed Pluto and...