Listen Now

On February 28, 2022, NASA EDGE provided live coverage of the rollout of NOAA’s GOES-T satellite from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. GOES-T is the third in a series of four satellites specifically flown to provide a continuous record of high-quality imagery, weather, environmental, and space weather data for the entire Western Hemisphere. Guest on the show include NOAA’s GOES-R Program System Program Director Pam Sullivan, NOAA’s GOES-R Chief Scientist Dan Lindsay, NASA GOES-R Deputy System Program Director Ed Grigsby, NASA GOES-R Flight Project Manager Candace Carlisle, and our good buddy, Mic Woltman from NASA’s Launch Services Program. Today’s forecast: 100% visibility with a slight chance of buffering.

On December 8, 2021 NASA EDGE provided live coverage for the Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) mission from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. IXPE will give scientists around the world an unprecedented look at some of our galaxies most mysterious and complex objects, like Black Holes, Neutron Stars, Dark Energy, Dark Matter, and more. Guests on the show include NASA Astrophysics Division Director Paul Hertz, IXPE Deputy Principal Investigator Brian Ramsey, IXPE Lead Mirror Scientist Stephen Bongiorno, IXPE Project Manager Randy Baggett, and NASA Launch Program Office’s Mic Woltman.

NASA EDGE talks NASA Heliophysics, NASA Solar Missions, Eclipses, and Space Weather as the perfect setup for exclusive, high-resolution footage of the 2021 Antarctic Total Solar Eclipse. Join Blair and Franklin as the talk with NASA Scientists Kelly Korreck, Michael Kirk, and Jesse Woodroffe before sharing this exclusive eclipse footage provided by the J. M. Pasachoff Antarctic Eclipse Expedition.

On November 22, 2021 NASA EDGE provide coverage of the transition of the SpaceX Falcon 9 going vertical prior to the launch of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Associate Administrator Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen, Planetary Science Division Director Lori Glaze, and NASA’s Launch Services Program Office’s Mic Woltman and more joined the show to discuss this amazing proof of concept mission for our planet’s defense.

Prior to the launch of the Laser Communication Relay Demonstration, the NASA EDGE Co-Host develops and tests his own version of laser communication as a proof of concept. While Chris and Franklin consider Blair’s highly suspect beta version, the entire team looks at the history and development of NASA’s Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) with multiple experts from Lincoln Labs and NASA.

On October 14th, 2021 NASA EDGE provided live coverage of the Lucy Rollout at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Several members of the Lucy team joined the show. Lucy Program Scientist Tom Statler, Deputy Project Systems Engineer Mike Sekerak, and L’Ralph Instrument Data Scientist Hannah Kaplan were live on set, while T2Cam Calibration Team and gradaute student Amy Zhou joined virtually. Rounding out the latest on the rocket’s trip to the pad, NASA’s Launch Services Program very Mic Woltman kept us up to date on the final pre-launch status of this incredible planetary mission to the Trojan Asteroids. 

On September 27th, 2021 NASA EDGE provided live coverage of the Landsat 9 Tower Roll at Vandenberg Space Force Center in California. Deputy Project Scientist Bruce Cook, TIRS-2 Instrument Project Manager Jason Hair, NASA’s Launch Services’ own Mic Woltman, and more joined the show to share their insight into this incredible Earth observing mission.

How do you top higher and higher drop tests? You add an extreme swing test to your portfolio. In this test for the Orion Structural Test Article (STA), NASA will gather performance data by simulating landing in “extreme” conditions. Bryan Russ, Project Manager for the Orion Water Impact Tests at NASA Langley Research Center, takes us through the finer points of preparing for both increased angle and velocity for impact. And though NASA doesn’t intend to land at this steep angle, the data will help engineers understand the Orion and its capabilities for future missions.

Will the Orion get the data it needs from this third key drop test and remain the uncontested bellyflop champion? Mark Baldwin from Lockheed Martin, explains how the massive amount of onboard sensors collect data to help enhance Orion’s performance as it prepares for eventual human space flight for the Artemis Program. The data will take some time to analyze, but check out the splashdown. We give Orion a 10! 

How did MEDLI2 get all of the incredible data during entry, descent, and landing on Mars? Look no further than the engineering. MEDLI2 Chief Engineer Chris Kuhl explains how overcoming several engineering challenges helped gather unprecedented data before Perseverance even began to roll.

If you’re looking to clear some space on the lunar surface, pick up some extra water, and break a few lunar travel distance records, look no further than the Lunar Pilot Excavator! Kurt Leucht, of Swamp Works at NASA Kennedy Space Center, explains how this latest tech demonstration mission will pave the way for NASA’s permenant presence on the moon! 

Perseverance is already collecting science on the surface of Mars, but MEDLI2 actually collected significant scientific data on the way to the surface. NASA EDGE Co-Host Franklin Fitzgerald talked with Mars Entry Descent and Landing Instrument 2 (MEDLI2) Principal Investigator Todd White about how NASA is continuing to learn about the very dramatic and mysterious transition through the Martian atmosphere all the way down to the surface. Basically, MEDLI studied and stuck the landing! 

It is a huge challenge to send astronauts to the Moon, but it is also critical to bring them home safely. NASA EDGE’s Blair Allen talks with Christine St. Germain, NASA’s Test Director for Landing and Recovery at KSC, about the Orion Underway Recovery Tests (URT) for the Orion spacecraft. The URTs are complex simulations of how the Orion spacecraft performs in open water after landing at sea. Plus, both NASA and the NAVY practice multiple spacecraft recovery techniques in the process. Christine moves all of the chess pieces around to get the performance data from the URTs to help NASA engineers prepare the Orion for mission success from launch all the way to landing!

Not only did Mars 2020 and Perseverance survive the seven minutes of terror during entry, descent, and landing on the surface of Mars, they also collected a lot of key performance data! NASA EDGE’s Franklin Fitzgerald chats with Mars Entry, Descent, and Landing Instrument 2 Project Manager Henry Wright about the latest success with Perseverance and how the MEDLI2 data will help future missions to Mars and other planets carry more mass and stay safe at the same time

Our resident expert on Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) narrows her focus on the lunar landing with Stereo Camera for Lunar Plume Surface Studies (SCALPSS). Michelle Munk and NASA EDGE’s Blair Allen discuss the impact of lander rocket plumes during a lunar landing both in terms of crater formation and how regolith may be dispersed in the process.

If you need to capture highly technical imagery of your spacecraft as it reenters the Earth’s atmosphere, look no further than CJ (Carey Scott) and the SCIFLI team at NASA Langley Research Center. Franklin Fitzgerald checks in with CJ to learn more about how SCIFLI works, the many assets in they are able to deploy, and their recent imaging of the Hayabusa 2 asteroid sample return down in Australia in 2020.

On November 20th, 2020, NASA EDGE provided live prelaunch coverage of the Sentinel-6 Mike Freilich Satellite on L-1. NASA Associate Administrator Thomas Zurbuchen, AMR-C Integration and Test Lead Shannon Statham, ESA Project Manager Pierrik Vuilleumier, and EUMETSAT Head of Flight Operations Gareth Williams share their roles and expectations for this important Earth Science mission. Launch Director Tim Dunn also provides key insight into the final preparation for the launch.

Netflix’s new documentary on the Space Shuttle Challenger has caused a lot of reflection and discussion about the tragedy. Blair Allen talks with NASA’s Mike Ciannilli about how NASA pays tribute and respect to our lost astronauts, and how NASA is working hard to learn from its own history to avoid tragedies and secure the safety of our future missions.

Not many people can accurately claim to have driving experience on multiple planets, but Keri Bean can!

Technologies to enable exact and soft landings on the Moon and other worlds will fly on Blue Origin’s next New Shepard suborbital rocket launch, currently targeted for 11:00 a.m. EDT Thursday, Sept. 24. The company’s live launch webcast will start at 10:30 a.m. and air on NASA Television and the agency’s website. NASA EDGE continues to look at NASA’s Safe and Precise Landing – Integrated Capabilities Evolution (SPLICE) technology suite. Sensors, algorithms, and a new computer for precise landings on other worlds will be flight tested on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket. Franklin is joined by NASA’s Ron Sostaric and Glenn Hines to learn more about navigation Doppler lidar (NDL) and how it will be matured on New Shepard and prepared for flight on commercial robotic lunar landers. Check it out!