Challenger accident

I ask my mother about when the Challenger exploded on her birthday

"Choosing the Science of Decision-Making" an interview with Roger Pulwarty and Michael Hayes

Why do people feel they way they do about issues? Why do lawmakers and policy leaders seemingly act against their better interests? And how can information be developed in a way that leads not just to greater understanding, but to...

"I got a little periodic table wallet card. So, I really am a card-carrying chemist." an interview with Jack Kaye

Jack Kaye, associate director for research at NASA's Earth Science Division, discuss his origins as a chemist and earth scientist, and how he was recruited to Goddard to be a chemist among meteorologists. "My boss would advertise me as his...

“We all have that dream of being the person who walks across plains on Mars." an interview with Jacob Bleacher

Jacob Bleacher has spent a great deal of time preparing for Mars and the moon, even though he has never left the Earth’s orbit. The research scientist at Goddard Space Flight Center is currently on detail at NASA Headquarters as...

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Betty Brown-Chappell and Ben Brown

Siblings Betty Brown-Chappell (76) and Ben Brown (68) share memories from growing up on their family farm in the 1950s and 1960s outside of Bangor, Michigan. The two reflect on the collaboration between Black farmers in their community and the...

"There would not be life without geosciences." an interview with Dwayne Brown

How can scientists tell the story of science so that the public listens and understands? Dwayne Brown is the Senior Communication Officer for the Science Directorate at NASA and works with hundreds of scientists to communicate their ideas on television,...

Bob Conover talks about building Ranger, a JPL spacecraft that went to the Moon in the 1960s, then restoring it again 50 years later

In the summer of 2015, Bob Conover led a team of 12 volunteers to restore a 50-year-old Ranger spacecraft at the California Science Center. Bob is a retired JPL engineer who originally worked on the Ranger at JPL in its...

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Jonathan Karpoff and Fred Karpoff

Jonathan Karpoff (63) interviews his father, Fred Karpoff (98), about his experiences with social justice efforts, anti-Communist sentiments and his hopes for the future.

John Painter’s Moon Landing Story

John Painter shares his Moon Landing story for the Moon Landing in Context Project at Framingham State University. John discusses his experience serving as an Air Force Navigator in the late 1950s, working as an Electrical Engineer at the NASA...

“I’ve always liked to push the frontier and that’s not easy.” An Interview with Giovanni Fazio

Giovanni Fazio is a senior physicist at the Center for Astrophysics Harvard-Smithsonian. In his decades-spanning career, he has been instrumental in several observational programs, from his work studying gamma rays using balloon-borne telescopes to his time as the Principal Investigator...

“I think it is important that people learn to trust the science of nuclear energy.” An Interview with Priya Ghosh

Priya Ghosh is an astrophysicist, nuclear engineer, and a postdoctoral researcher at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. There she builds and develops radiation detectors to detect neutrons and gamma rays, and also studies and analyzes cosmic ray data to better...

"You can make the claim that airborne transport of dust gives us rum.” an interview with Hal Maring

Hal Maring once risked his life for a box of fog. The physical scientist at NASA Headquarters was once on a New Zealand research cruise in the Tasman Sea when the vessel hit bad weather. They took down some of...

"When something changes your understanding, that's why you go into this field." an interview with Brian Day

Brian Day, of NASA’s Solar System Exploration Virtual Institute, leads a group of scientists in visualization and analysis of spacecraft data. Brian was taught that there’s no water on the moon, there’s no atmosphere on the moon, and the moon...

"If you really enjoy it [science], all the work will be worth it." An interview with Matthew Johnson.

Dr. Matthew Johnson's research is in atmospheric chemistry, a branch of atmospheric science, which looks at the composition and chemistry of Earth's atmosphere, such as aerosols and trace gas emissions, and how particles may impact human health. Dr. Johnson's research...

"I was one of those kids who always wanted to be a scientist." An interview with Egle Cekanaviciute.

Dr. Egle Cekanaviciute is a Principal Investigator and Research Scientist in the Radiation Biophysics Laboratory at the NASA Ames Research Center. She is also one of the Course Directors for STAR (Spaceflight Technologies, Application and Research), an intensive training course...

"We as humans have just this innate desire to explore." an interview with Elizabeth Rampe

Elizabeth Rampe, a mineralogist, studying Mars at the NASA Johnson Space Center, shares about her life and work. She focuses on minerals on the surface of Mars which formed from water-rock interactions, which have the potential to show billions of...

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John Cassani and Ernesto Lasso de la Vega

Ernesto Lasso de la Vega (62) interviews his colleague John Cassani (71) about his fish/aqua culture research and the impact it has made in the scientific community. The technology developed in this research to produce sterile grass carp is now...

"I learned from watching tv that you could make a living working with weather and how cool is that?" an interview with George Huffman

George Huffman calls himself a classic weather person, in part because by the fourth grade in North Central Ohio, he already was excited about the prospect that you could make a job studying weather. At the NASA Goddard Space Flight...

Great Thanksgiving Listen

Born in the 50’s growing up in Birmingham near NASA

"One of the most important things that we can do as earth scientists is help society plan for change." an interview with Thomas Wagner

Thomas Wagner, NASA's Program Scientist for the cryosphere, discusses how his life has developed to study the Arctic and Antarctic. Even though as a student he initially found himself bored by studying glaciology, he soon discovered a passion for polar...

“If we’re not taking action then we’re part of the problem." an interview with Amber Soja

Amber Soja’s career is on fire. The resident at NASA’s Langley Research Center studies fire regimes and how they are being affected by climate change. “Every fire season is worse,” she says, adding that the changing fire regime is proof...