NASA’s interplanetary talk show, hosted by Chief Scientist Jim Green, introduces you to space professionals working to take exploration into the future.

Gravity Assist: NASA's Interplanetary Talk Show

The laws of physics get very, very weird in the realm of particles too small for the eye to see. Aboard the International Space Station, an experiment called the Cold Atom Laboratory (CAL) is exploring how the universe works on a fundamental level by cooling atoms down to a billionth of a degree above the coldest temperature possible, absolute zero. By using special lasers and magnetic fields, CAL is making unusual structures called Bose-Einstein condensates almost every day. Ethan Elliott of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory talks about the exciting possibilities that this experiment offers for the future of physics.

Gravity Assist: Freaky Physics on the Space Station, with Ethan Elliott

Janelle Wellons likes to say that she operates “fancy space cameras.” At NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, she creates commands that allow spacecraft to take valuable scientific data in our solar system and here at planet Earth. She also monitors the health of spacecraft, like a space robot doctor. She has worked on the Cassini mission to Saturn, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, Sentinel-6/Michael Freilich, and more. In this episode, she reflects on her experiences at JPL and why outreach and diversity and inclusion efforts are so important.

Gravity Assist: Goodbye Saturn, Hello Earth, with Janelle Wellons

The planets of our solar system didn’t have such stable orbits a few billion years ago. The giant outer planets moved around chaotically in their orbits, and Uranus and Neptune may have even switched places. To get a more complete understanding of the full history of our solar system, NASA is sending a spacecraft called Lucy to investigate the Trojans, mysterious small objects that share an orbit of the Sun with Jupiter. Principal investigator Hal Levison of the Southwest Research Institute’s branch in Boulder, Colorado, discusses this exciting mission, launching Oct. 16, 2021.

Gravity Assist: Lucy and the Space Fossils, with Hal Levison

Our Sun lights up the solar system, but it’s as not calm or predictable as it may seem. Flares and explosions called coronal mass ejections unleash fast-moving particles and radiation that pose dangers to spacecraft and astronauts alike. Yaireska Collado-Vega leads a team at NASA’s Goddard Spacecraft Center that is studying the solar weather environment so that robots and people exploring space can be protected. In this episode of Gravity Assist, she describes the excitement and challenges of understanding space weather, and how she got to be a NASA scientist.

Gravity Assist: Meet a Space Weather Scientist, with Yaireska Collado-Vega

As NASA prepares to send astronauts to the Moon through the Artemis program, engineers are working on technologies that will give these explorers power – solar power, that is. In space, the harsh radiation and huge temperature changes make for a challenging environment. Lyndsey McMillon-Brown at NASA’s Glenn Research Center leads a study of solar cells made from a material called perovskite. This material has the potential to help power lunar habitats one day. Learn about this innovation and Lyndsey’s journey to NASA.

Gravity Assist: Solar Power for the Moon, with Lyndsey McMillon-Brown

A spacecraft is about to begin its journey to crash into an asteroid on purpose. NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test Mission, or DART, will deliberately impact a small asteroid called Dimorphos to deflect its orbit around a bigger object, Didymos. While this system presents no danger to Earth, an asteroid the size of Dimorphos would cause regional devastation if it hit our planet. DART will demonstrate a potential method of protecting Earth from hazards in the future. Nancy Chabot, planetary scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, has the details. She also discusses searching for meteorites in Antarctica and discovering the secrets of planet Mercury.

Gravity Assist: How to Move an Asteroid, with Nancy Chabot

NASA is about to launch a new spacecraft to look at the universe in X-ray light. The Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer, IXPE, will look at extreme objects such as black holes, neutron stars, and supernovae, asking fundamental questions about how high-energy light gets produced. The mission’s principal investigator, Martin Weisskopf, based at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, has been studying these objects for more than 40 years with other telescopes including the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. He discusses some of the fascinating objects Chandra has looked at, and what IXPE may soon reveal about them.

Gravity Assist: A New Set of X-Ray Eyes is Launching, with Martin Weisskopf

Climate change is one of the most important issues facing our planet, and NASA has lots of space missions and programs in the works to monitor and understand its drivers and effects. Kate Calvin, NASA’s new chief scientist, is also the agency’s senior climate advisor. In this episode, Kate previews  upcoming Earth science missions and discusses cutting-edge research endeavors to explore climate change.

Gravity Assist: Meet NASA’s New Chief Scientist and Senior Climate Advisor, with Kate Calvin

In space, we have to expect the unexpected. Sunny Panjwani of NASA’s Johnson Space Center shares how he got thrown into an emergency situation on his first day as a flight controller. His team makes sure that astronauts have a safe environment on board the International Space Station. Learn how he got to NASA and how he handles high-pressure circumstances in and out of Mission Control.

Gravity Assist: In Case of Space Station Emergency, with Sunny Panjwani

The James Webb Space Telescope, which launched Dec. 25, will allow us to see the farthest galaxies and better understand the origins of the Milky Way. Aaron Yung at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center is preparing for these historic observations by simulating what Webb will see in the early universe. But Aaron’s path to mind-bending research wasn’t easy. When he came to the United States as a teenager, he spoke a different native language and didn’t have the preparation other kids had for math and physics. Learn about Aaron’s journey in this episode of Gravity Assist.

Gravity Assist: Using Webb to Trace Galactic Histories, with Aaron Yung

How do we know if a rock came from the Moon, Mars, or an asteroid? Planetary scientist Neyda Abreu has looked inside all kinds of meteorites to understand where they came from and what’s inside them. She also traveled to Antarctica to hunt for space rock treasure. Since she was a child in Venezuela, she has been curious about the life cycles of stars and planets. Learn about her work with meteorites and her journey to become a scientist.

Gravity Assist: These Space Rocks Have Seen It All, with Neyda Abreu

On a quest to find out if we are not alone in the universe, Ravi Kopparapu at NASA Goddard studies how we could use telescopes to detect signs of life beyond our solar system. These include both signs of biology and technology, since there are certain kinds of signals and chemicals that do not occur naturally. Learn about the planets that are most exciting to Ravi and how science fiction inspired his journey to become a scientist.

Gravity Assist: Do Other Planets Make Pollution? With Ravi Kopparapu

An ice shelf collapsed in East Antarctica in March 2022, concerning scientists who track melting glaciers, sea level rise, and other effects of climate change. Catherine Walker, a visiting scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, uses NASA satellite data to look at the progression of events like this one to understand how large ice structures collapse. She is also looking at Jupiter’s moon Europa and what kind of life might be able to survive under the ice there. Learn about her Antarctica adventures and her scientific journey on this episode of Gravity Assist.

Gravity Assist: Walking on Broken Ice, with Catherine Walker

Space botanists are working on strategies to grow crops on the lunar surface, as NASA makes strides toward sending astronauts to the Moon through the Artemis program. A team of scientists at the University of Florida successfully grew small plants in lunar soil brought back during three different Apollo missions. How did they do it, and what does it mean for the future of space exploration? Dr. Anna-Lisa Paul explains.

Gravity Assist: How to Grow Food on the Moon

Astronauts on the International Space Station have been conducting experiments to grow food, including peppers and radishes. Christina Johnson, a NASA postdoc fellow at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, has been working on a variety of techniques to grow food in space. Learn what she thinks about the future of growing food beyond our planet, including on Mars.

Gravity Assist: What Will We Eat on Mars?

With two microphones aboard the Perseverance rover, we can listen to Mars from its surface like never before. In addition to hearing how wind sounds on Mars, we can also listen to Perseverance driving on the surface, the Ingenuity helicopter flying nearby, and more. Nina Lanza of Los Alamos National Laboratory plays some of these sounds and explains why these awe-inspiring sounds also have scientific and engineering value.

Gravity Assist: This is What Mars Sounds Like, with Nina Lanza

Uranus and Neptune are two of the many exciting and mysterious objects in our universe that the James Webb Space Telescope will soon begin to explore. Temperature and pressure conditions are so extreme on these planets that carbon atoms could be crushed into diamonds in their atmospheres. And did you know that Uranus orbits on its side? Learn more about these planets and the Webb telescope’s upcoming observations from astrophysicist Naomi Rowe-Gurney, our guest on this week’s Gravity Assist.

Gravity Assist: It’s Raining Diamonds on These Planets

The world will get a first glimpse of the universe as never before when the first images from the James Webb Space Telescope come out on July 12. And this is only the beginning — the telescope will deliver all kinds of insights about galaxies, planets, and more, for years to come. But someone has to translate that data into beautiful imagery, especially since Webb collects light that falls outside of human vision. That’s where Joe DePasquale of the Space Telescope Science Institute comes in. Learn how he makes choices about color and other aspects of space images in this week’s Gravity Assist podcast.

Gravity Assist: How We Make Webb (and Hubble) Images

The James Webb Space Telescope awed the world on July 12 with its first images and data. And it’s just getting started with its exploration of the cosmos. Dr. John Mather, the observatory’s senior project scientist, has been working toward this milestone for more than 25 years. Before Webb, he worked on a spacecraft that delivered a groundbreaking baby picture of the universe and offered the best evidence yet that the universe began with a rapid expansion we call the big bang. Dr. Mather describes some of the first images and explains the mysteries that Webb will tackle.

Gravity Assist: Meet a Webb Scientist Who Looks Back in Time

On the Gravity Assist podcast we have interviewed dozens of scientists, engineers, and others dedicated to the mission of NASA space exploration. After five years, the show is coming to a close. Here are some final thoughts and episode highlights from the podcast team.

Gravity Assist Finale: Thanks for All the Gravity Assists

Hello, we’re NASA. You may have seen our astronauts, rocket launches, or Mars rovers — but have you heard our sounds? From interviews with astronauts and engineers to stories that take you on a tour of the galaxy, NASA’s audio offerings let you experience the thrill of space exploration without ever leaving Earth.