Naked Astronomy
We look at the latest news from the stars, planets and other heavenly bodies. Plus interviews with professional astronomers and the answers to your space science questions.
Space Station Commander
Shuttle pilot and International Space Station Commander, Terry Virts, chats to Space Boffins about flying the Shuttle, commanding the ISS, photographing the Earth...and UFOs. And after the triumphant flight of Wally Funk, Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham are joined by space reporter and commercial spaceflight expert, Sarah Cruddas, to talk…
Wally Funk Heads for Space
On the 10th anniversary of Space Boffins, BBC Science and Space Correspondent Jonathan Amos comes aboard to celebrate Mercury 13 legend Wally Funk as she prepares to launch to space with Jeff Bezos. We also catch up on ten years of space developments, chat to ESA's project scientist for the…
Mission to Europa
Two astronauts, one space hipster, a writer and a musician all feature in this month's Space Boffins. Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham are joined by podcaster and founder of the Space Hipsters, Emily Carney. They also hear from pioneering astronaut Anna Fisher in conversation with astronaut Nicole Stott. And David…
Finding the God Equation
This month on Naked Astronomy, we're seeking the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything. We're looking at the "God Equation", an equation that could describe everything we know in physics. What would it look like, and what would it mean? Adam Murphy and Ben McAllister were joined by physicist…
Britain's First Astronaut
In a podcast exclusive, Britain's first astronaut, Helen Sharman, joins the Space Boffins 30 years after her 1991 Juno mission. She describes the selection process, training in the Soviet Union and her return. Author of the Martian, Andy Weir, chats about his latest book, Jason Achilles Mezilis is the musician…
Celebrating 60 years of human spaceflight
In an epic edition of the Space Boffins Podcast we ambitiously celebrate the 60th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight and the 40th anniversary of the first flight of the Space Shuttle. Richard Hollingham and Sue Nelson are joined by live guests Stephen Walker author of Beyond, a new book on…
Storms on the Sun
This month on Naked Astronomy we're setting our sights on the Sun. How do storms form on the Sun? How can they wreak havoc here on Earth? And what can we do to predict them? To find out, Ben McAllister and Adam Murphy are joined by University College London solar…
Perseverance on Mars
AS NASA's Perseverance rover makes it safely to Mars, we chat to science writer Elizabeth Howell about the array of missions now studying the red planet. Also the European Space Agency's head of diversity, Ersilia Vaudo, talks about plans for parastronauts, and the UK ground station that relayed the first…
What might aliens look like?
This month on Naked Astronomy, we're waxing lyrical about aliens. What might they look like? Can we apply the principles of biology to other worlds? To do that, Ben McAllister and Adam Murphy were joined by Arik Kershenbaum to chat about alien evolution... Like this podcast? Please help us by…
Is There Liquid Water on Mars?
This month on Naked Astronomy, we're mulling over Mars. We'll be chatting about the question of liquid water on the surface of Mars. Is it there at all? And if it is, how do we find it? And to do that, Ben McAllister and Adam Murphy were joined by Lujendra…
China on the Moon
Space journalist Andrew Jones and his cat join the Space Boffins this month to discuss China's ambitious plans for the Moon and beyond. Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham also talk to Nellie Offord from UK company SSTL about their lunar communications satellite (and whether it will go beep), hear from…
Lighting up Dark Matter
This month we're diving into dark matter, that unknown stuff that makes up a quarter of the Universe. Where is it, what is it, and how do we know it's even there? To find out, Adam Murphy and Ben McAllister speak to Alan Duffy from Swinburne University, who works in…
Tim Peake Reveals All
In a specially recorded face to (socially-distanced) face interview to mark the fifth anniversary of his mission to the International Space Station, British European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake reveals the details of his perilous space station docking, physically challenging return to Earth and launchpad music selections. He also discusses…
The largest telescope ever made
This month on Naked Astronomy, we're taking a closer look at the largest telescope ever to be built, the Square Kilometre Array. The SKA spans continents, with some of it in South Africa, and some of it in Australia, but how does that work? And also, what is the SKA…
Asteroids and Artemis
NASA has just collected a sample from an asteroid and work is well underway to land a woman on the Moon. Space journalist David Whitehouse chats about whether President Trump was good for space. Dr Sara Russell discusses the OSIRIS-REx mission to asteroid Bennu, and Thales Alenia Space UK CEO…
The End of the Universe
In this episode of Naked Astronomy we're taking a look at all the ways that the universe could come to a close. From the dramatic to the slow and ponderous, we're chatting about how space will evolve. Ben McAllister and Adam Murphy are joined by theoretical cosmologist Katie Mack, from…
Space Station Special
To celebrate 20 years of people living on the International Space Station, we feature only ISS astronauts in this special edition of Space Boffins. NASA Astronaut Nicole Stott joins Richard Hollingham and Sue Nelson and we revisit interviews with Chris Hadfield, Cady Coleman, Scott Kelly, Sergei Krikalev, Luca Parmitano and…
America's first space station
Skylab's perilous and dramatic mission, life on Venus, the religion of Cosmism, and Brexit all get discussed this month. Richard Hollingham and Sue Nelson are joined by astronomer and writer Dr Stuart Clark to chat about our relationship with the night sky. Also aboard are David Hitt, author of Homesteading…