Show Notes
For the first time, a NASA spacecraft is flying through the Sun's atmosphere. Nour Raouafi, project scientist for Parker Solar Probe, explains why the Sun's corona is the source of one of the biggest mysteries in all of space science. So, what does it take to build a probe that can touch the Sun—including surviving temperatures of 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit and barreling through sudden eruptions of solar plasma—and live to tell the tale? We'll also go inside the fleet of NASA spacecraft studying the Sun from many angles, including the rescue mission to save a wildly spinning observatory before it became lost in space forever.
More from NASA's Curious Universe
To prepare for the day when humans travel to Mars, NASA is conducting a one-year experiment in a Mars simulation environment. So what’s it like to spend a year in CHAPEA, the Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog? Travel through the airlock with voice recordings made by the four-person crew, including what it feels like—and smells like—inside their realistic 3D printed habitat and how virtual reality gives them the sensation of walking on the Red Planet.
Normal matter—the kind that makes up our home planet and everything we can see—adds up to just five percent of the known universe. The other 95 percent is dark matter and dark energy. NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will settle essential questions about this dark side, especially dark energy, one of the biggest mysteries in all of science. In this encore presentation, hear how NASA astrophysicists study dark matter and dark energy and why they are making scientists reconsider our basic understanding of the universe.
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is in space, taking its first steps to explore the cosmos. Relive Roman’s launch—and the emotion that goes along with the roar of a rocket—with NASA experts who worked on the telescope for years. Plus, learn what happens next and when to expect Roman’s first images.
Take a deep dive into the science of NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope with Julie McEnery, Roman's senior project scientist. Learn why Roman’s survey data will be so detailed that they could cover a 4K screen the size of dozens of city blocks and why Julie says she doesn’t hope Roman changes our understanding of the universe—she knows it will.
What makes NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope a powerful tool with an unprecedented wide view of the cosmos? NASA engineers who designed, built, and tested Roman pop the hood to explain the unique technology inside. Go inside the huge NASA clean room where Roman was built, and get an up-close look at the testing campaign that ensures Roman will succeed in the cold, inhospitable conditions of space.