Episode Description: 

In season six, meet researchers who are using sounds from the Sun to unlock new details about our star, explore the “dark side” of the universe with scientists who study dark matter and dark energy, and get a behind-the-scenes look at the first NASA mission to deliver an asteroid sample to Earth. A new episode drops every Tuesday. 

 

[Music: “Tactical Tinkerer” by Liam Joseph Hennessey”] 

JASON RHODES: What am I still curious about?  

TAYLOR HUTCHISON: I am still curious about so many things. 

KIRK KNOBELSPIESSE: Well, how long do you have? (laughs) 

HOST PADI BOYD: On NASA’s Curious Universe, we don’t just get the answers from NASA scientists, astronauts, and engineers. We also hear their burning questions about the biggest mysteries out there. 

JASON RHODES: I want to know, what’s the new physics that describes the universe? 

AMI CHOI: I guess if we knew the exact answer to that we wouldn’t be sitting here today because maybe I’d be studying something else.  

JANE RIGBY: I think of this telescope as like a Formula One racecar in a horse and buggy world, and I don’t think we’ve gotten up to the top gears yet. 

HOST PADI BOYD: In our new season we’ll explore everything from our home planet to the farthest edges of the universe. 

PRODUCER JACOB PINTER: Hear why scientists who study the sun don’t just use their eyes.  

[sound of sun audio recordings] 

There’s a lot they can learn with their ears, too. 

ROBERT ALEXANDER: Just like stethoscopes allowed doctors to hear the human heart, we now have these satellites that allow us to listen to the heartbeat of the sun. 

[Music: “Sands of Time” by Andy Blythe and Marten Joustra] 

UNIDENTIFIED VOICES: … Ready? One, two, three, O-REX! 

PRODUCER JACOB PINTER: Get the inside story of the first NASA mission to visit an asteroid, collect a sample… 

DANTE LAURETTA:  I’ve seen rocks on that asteroid that don’t look like anything we’ve seen in our meteorite collections.  

PRODUCER JACOB PINTER: … and bring it safely back to Earth. 

[sound of applause] 

HOST PADI BOYD: Plus, hear how NASA is preparing to send humans to Mars.  

ANCA SELARIU: Hello earthlings! This is what Mars airlock sounds like.  

[sound of latch closing]  

PRODUCER JACOB PINTER: Explore the cosmos with the James Webb Space Telescope. 

TAYLOR HUTCHISON: We have a completely different understanding of what’s going on in the early universe than we did before. 

HOST PADI BOYD: Find more wild and wonderful stories in a new season of NASA’s Curious Universe.  

PRODUCER JACOB PINTER: Coming soon, wherever you listen to podcasts.