Space scientists are acutely aware of what can happen when climates change in other parts of our solar system. Take Venus, where it rains sulfuric acid and is 900°F on the surface, but it wasn’t always that way. Astrophysicist Michelle Thaller talks with a NASA expert on Venus about how the planet became a hellscape. And she talks with the Library of Congress’ inaugural chair of astrobiology about how to grasp this new geologic era where humans cause rapid change.

“That’s one small step for a man; one giant leap for mankind.” We all know the quote, the triumphant story. It seems written in stone. But Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong came within inches of tragedy when they landed Apollo 11. Moon Grafitti imagines what it might have sounded like if things had gone a little differently. Based on a contingency speech written by William Safire for Richard Nixon titled “In the Event of Moon Disaster.”

We're still experimenting with how to best format our series. If you would like to air this piece without our host intro, credits, or sonic ID, we are more than happy to make a different version that would better suit your needs (and we'll do it quickly!). Please let us know what you think, we are always looking for ways to make our show better.

 

Transmissions are from the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions, with music by Jeff Artnsen of Racket Ship.

Few things have changed humanity’s self-image in quite the same way as human space travel. Whether it’s seeing that famous image of the blue-green ball spinning through blackness or the rise of UFO sightings, reaching space has rejiggered how we imagine our place in the universe.

We begin this installment of Clever Apes with a remembrance of J. Allen Hynek, perhaps the best-known American ufologist … or at least, the best-known ufologist with an actual science background. He chaired the astronomy department at Northwestern University, and worked as a consultant on the Air Force’s official UFO investigation, Project Blue Book. Along the way, he transformed from skeptic to believer. As a debunker, he was the first person to write off UFO sightings as “swamp gas.” Later, as a full-throated UFO enthusiast, he invented the “close encounters” classification system. Incidentally, he consulted on Steven Spielberg’s movie, and even has a cameo. 

Next we consider what it would take to kickstart human settlement of space, and along the way we ask what it takes to get people to do big things. I mean really big. Like build a 10,000-person space colony within the next 10 years or so. Anita Gale is an engineer at Boeing who works on the space shuttle program, and she’s done some deep thinking about those questions. She also runs a contest for high school kids to design a plausible space settlement. We caught up with her at the International Space Development Conference in Rosemont, Illinois, to talk space real estate.

Finally, we honor the contributions of one very clever ape to the space program. Fifty years ago, HAM the Astrochimp became the first ape in space. 

Join us for an interesting and fun conversation with planetary astronomer, Alessondra Springmann. She’s working on NASA’s Osiris project and could be one of the first to confirm an asteroid is on a trajectory to hit Earth. Don’t worry, everything is going to be fine. Plus, we have more guests from outer space! And the news and a quiz of striking not-difficulty. All you have to do is click the little play arrow and blast off!

As part of the Guardian's coverage of the final mission of the shuttle Atlantis, STS 135, Science Weekly hitches an oral and acoustic ride on the shuttle. Ian Sample spoke to two shuttle veterans, the Anglo-American meteorologist Piers Sellers and former US army test pilot Scott Altman.

Both men discuss the visceral experience of a shuttle launch and the day-to-day experience of entering orbit, docking with the International Space Station and finally re-entering the atmosphere on the shuttle's return to Earth.

In 1969, humans landed on the Moon. But why? Why did we go? Look at anything with the perspective of decades and it can seem inevitable. How often do we ever stop, look the things around us and ask: How did it get that way? When it comes to the question: Why did we go to the Moon, the answer has a little bit to do with science and a lot to do with politics. In this program we learn how the Democrats rode Sputnik to the White House in a campaign that forever changed science, technology and academia in America.

What can super-massive black holes tell us about the structure of our galaxy and the universe?  On this program, Dr. Caleb Scharf discusses astrophysics and black holes.

Weekly 4 minute thrill ride through music history. This time we head into outer space with David Bowie, Elton John, Chuck Berry and Ludwig Von Beethoven.