Naked Astronomy, from the Naked Scientists

Sampling An Asteroid

10 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Asteroid expert Professor Simon Green joins the Space Boffins to discuss missions to collect samples from space rocks and return them to Earth, and th...

Water on Mars

09 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

After 2000 days on Mars, NASA's Curiosity rover is still going strong. In this month's Space Boffins Richard visits Imperial College London to talk to...

Killer Asteroids

12 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Could life on Earth be wiped out by a killer asteroid? The short answer is yes. This month the Space Boffins hear about a new European telescope to sp...

Space, Boffins & Rock Stars

09 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Queen guitarist, rock star and astronomer Brian May adds some celebrity stardust and big hair on this month's podcast for the launch of the 2019 Starm...

Zero G

10 Jan 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Sue bags a flight on Europe's 'Zero G' aircraft to experience microgravity. Back in the studio, Richard and Sue are joined by Libby Jackson from the U...

Space Highlights of 2017

11 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Richard Hollingham and Sue Nelson are joined by space journalist Sarah Cruddas and rocket insurer, David Wade, to discuss 2017 and look ahead to 2018 ...

How to Leave the Planet

10 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This month, TV science presenter Dallas Campbell joins Sue and Richard to discuss how to leave the planet. The Space Boffins also hear from Apollo 15 ...

Space Boffins Explore ESTEC

09 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Two astronauts and an Imperial Storm Trooper join the Space Boffins podcast from The Netherlands at the European Space Agency's ESTEC Open Day - where...

Cassini's Grand Finale

09 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Space Boffins Sue Nelson, Richard Hollingham and studio guest Sarah Cruddas talk rockets, total eclipses and Cassini's final days at Saturn. Apollo, M...

Extraterrestrial Humans

09 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This month, European astronaut Luca Parmitano suggests a future for genetically engineered space travellers, the Space Boffins celebrate 40 years of t...

Mission To Mercury

09 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Space Boffins Sue Nelson and the Guardian's Stuart Clark are at the European Space Agency's ESTEC facility in The Netherlands to see the BepiColombo s...

Missions to Mars

09 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The Space Boffins return to Mars to hear about progress on the plus-sized US and petite European rovers. Recorded in the Mars Yard in Stevenage, Richa...

Space Alien Special

09 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Richard is at SETI in California to hunt space aliens with the institute's chief astronomer, Seth Shostak. He also reports from the iconic Parkes spac...

Mission Control

09 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This month, Space Boffins highlights the unsung heroes of the space programme - mission controllers. Featuring the director of a new documentary film ...

Space Tomatoes in Urine

10 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

SpaceX and NASA compete to get people back to the Moon, Richard meets a man who grows space tomatoes in human urine, and heads to a lab where voluntee...

Space Boffins at Astrofest

10 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The Space Boffins are at Astrofest in London in front of a live audience. Guests include an Antarctic meteorite hunter, the scientist tracking down th...

Welcome to Mars

25 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This time, we're journeying to the Ruby Red Planet, Mars. Elon Musk thinks he'll have people there by 2024; NASA will be following closely behind with...

Double Hubble

10 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Broadcaster Dallas Campbell joins the Space Boffins at the British Interplanetary Society to discuss the giant new replacement for Hubble, hypersonic ...

The End of Night?

25 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

As we enter the darkest depths of winter, the days get shorter and the nights get longer. Or at least that's how it's supposed to be. But since the in...

The Best of Space Boffins

10 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In a bumper end of year special, Space Boffins features Buzz Aldrin, last man on the Moon Gene Cernan, the nurse to the astronauts, a cosmic piano and...

Where is everybody?

25 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Most astrophysicists would agree that it's highly likely that there's life beyond Earth. But then why haven't we found any? This month on Naked Astron...

X15: To Infinity and Beyond!

14 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Space Boffins' Sue Nelson was at ESA mission control recently when the ExoMars spacecraft arrived at Mars after a seven month journey. She hears from ...

Going Gaga Over Gaia

24 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Gaia launched back in 2013 and has been mapping the Milky Way ever since. In fact, it aims to give us the most detailed survey of our galaxy, ever. Bu...

Roving Over Mars

10 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Space Boffins Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham are on Mars - which turns out to be behind a blue door in the Hertfordshire town of Stevenage. With gu...

Nursing NASA's Astronauts

09 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The Space Boffins meet the Mercury 7 nurse, Dee O'Hara, recalling what it was like to work with America's first astronauts. SETI's Seth Shostak explai...

Connie won a meteorite

24 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Fellow Naked Scientist Connie Orbach won a meteorite and so Graihagh Jackson made it her mission to find out as much as possible about this hunk of sp...

From The Blue Dot Festival

09 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The Space Boffins are at the Blue Dot music festival at Jodrell Bank in Cheshire where they hear live music from Cern's cosmic piano and chat to Roset...

Jupiter: King of the Planets

24 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

NASA's Juno probe has reached Jupiter after a five year battle through our solar system and is orbiting the gas giant. But now it's completed this dea...

Jupiter's Juno Mission

09 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Jupiter's Juno mission, the magical world of Pluto and spacewalking feature in this special fifth anniversary edition of the podcast. ESA's head of th...

Will we ever return to the moon?

24 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

It's nearly been 5 decades since Neil Armstrong took one small step for mankind... But will we return again? As things heat up, Graihagh Jackson bring...

Hot from Spacefest

09 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Last man on the Moon, Captain Gene Cernan, and Apollo 9 lunar module pilot Rusty Schweickart join Space Boffin Richard at Spacefest in Tucson, Arizona...

Reaching for the Stars

24 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

This month, Graihagh Jackson is getting all starry eyed over our Sun. Where did it come from? Where is it going? And what it's taught us about the uni...

Have you been mis-sold time?

09 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

This month the Space Boffins get to grips with relativity, watch as British astronaut Tim Peake manoeuvres a Mars rover in a cave, and go inside a sec...

Eyes on the Sky for Mercury

24 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

On 9 May, Mercury will be seen as a black dot silhouetted against the Sun and this rare event enabled astronomers of the 17th century to work out how ...

Riding on a Space Sofa

09 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Space Boffins Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham bring news of space sofas, super flat floors and Martian sunsets. They are joined at The Open Universi...

Adventures in Satspotting

25 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

What happens when we turn our astronomical instruments back to planet Earth? With the launch of over 12 satellites, Europe's version of GPS, Galileo, ...

Buzz Aldrin and his master plan for Mars

10 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Buzz Aldrin is the legendary Apollo 11 and Gemini 12 astronaut who made history in 1969 when he became one of the first men to walk on the lunar surfa...

The Next Revolution in Astronomy: Gravitational Waves

25 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

February 2016 marks one of the biggest discoveries in cosmology and astronomy: the LIGO team annouced that they'd detected gravitational waves, 100 ye...

Russian Lunar Rovers and Floating Number Twos

10 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Space Boffins Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham talk Mars rovers, Russian lunar rovers and floating number twos during this month's podcast. Europe's ...

Cosmic Quandries: The Origins of Time

25 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

One of the big questions in cosmology is what happened at the beginning of the universe? Astrophycisists are edging closer to answering this question ...

Surgery in Space

10 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The Space Boffins talk surgery in space with a real life Dr McCoy, NASA astronaut and physician Michael Barratt, and report from a school in St Albans...

Christmas in Space

10 Dec 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Space Boffins Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham prepare for Tim Peake's launch to the International Space Station by speaking to Britain's first astro...

Gravity and Guitars with Tim Peake

10 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Richard sits down with British European Space Agency astronaut, Tim Peake, to discuss gravity, guitars, 1980s computers and future missions to the Moo...

The First Woman in Space

09 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Space Boffins Richard Hollingham and Sue Nelson's star (and space) studded podcast includes the first woman in space, cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, ...

Done and Dusted: What's Next for Rosetta?

09 Sep 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Space Boffins Richard Hollingham and Sue Nelson are joined by the Rosetta's project scientist, Dr Matt Taylor, to hear the latest on ESA's comet chasi...

Hello, this is the International Space Station

11 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

In a first for the Space Boffins podcast - an interview with astronauts in space! NASA's Scott Kelly and cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko are on a year lon...

Rocketing into Space

12 Jul 2015

Contributed by Lukas

The Space Boffins celebrate their 4th year producing monthly podcasts in - aptly - a British rocket lab. Richard Hollingham joins engineer Adam Baker ...

How to Fly a Space Shuttle

09 Jun 2015

Contributed by Lukas

In a Space Boffins special - Sue Nelson meets the first female Space Shuttle Commander, Eileen Collins. The retired astronaut - one of NASA's most exp...

Rosetta: Six Months Later

09 May 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Space Boffins Richard Hollingham and Sue Nelson are joined by astronomer, Guardian writer and guitarist Stuart Clark for a Rosetta mission special - s...

Out of this World: Britain's history in space

15 Apr 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Space Boffins Richard Hollingham and Sue Nelson are inside London's Science Museum with the museum's curator of space, Doug Millard, and the original ...

All Systems Go: NASA's new giant rocket

10 Mar 2015

Contributed by Lukas

This month Richard sees NASA's new giant rocket, the Space Launch System, taking shape in New Orleans. In the studio the Space Boffins are joined by p...

Recovering Beagle 2 from Mars

10 Feb 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Space Boffins Richard Hollingham and Sue Nelson discover why we should recover Beagle 2 from the surface of Mars; why we need the Uranus Pathfinder mi...

Space Exploration in 2015

10 Jan 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Space Boffins Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham are joined by the BBC's Jon Amos and ExoMars' Andrew Coates. They look ahead at the most exciting miss...

Orion: the first step to Mars?

10 Dec 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Nelson joins space fans in Florida to witness the Orion launch and meets Mars candidate Elmo. Meanwhile, Richard Hollingham talks to the DG of the...

Space: triumph and tragedy

14 Nov 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Emotions are running high in this month's Space Boffins as Sue reports from Germany on Europe's cometary landing. And, following the SpaceShipTwo trag...

ESTEC: The heart of the European Space Agency

09 Oct 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Space Boffin Sue Nelson is at the European Space Agency's technical heart - ESTEC in the Netherlands - where spacecraft undergo a crucial 'shake and b...

The Spacewalk from Hell

09 Sep 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Space Boffins Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham hear from the Rosetta mission's Flight Director, Andrea Accomazzo, about choosing a landing site on co...

The Last Man on the Moon

09 Aug 2014

Contributed by Lukas

In this special edition, the Last Man on the Moon, Gene Cernan, talks exclusively to Richard Hollingham about the final step, mortality and his disapp...

Rescuing astronauts from space

09 Jul 2014

Contributed by Lukas

How do you orbit a comet? Set up a government in space or rescue a space shuttle crew? These questions and more in the latest edition of Space Boffins...

Drowning in Space

09 Jun 2014

Contributed by Lukas

How do you design the inside of a starship? Space Boffins Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham talk to space architect Rachel Armstrong about journeys to...

Virtual Rides into Space

09 May 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Aaron Knoll and Chris Bridges join Space Boffins Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham at the Surrey Space Centre for a virtual ride into space. Plus scie...

The Mars Yard

09 Apr 2014

Contributed by Lukas

The Space Boffins are in America to hear about Neil Armstrong and the hypersonic X-15 at the Edwards Air Force base, and they're also reporting from t...

Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

10 Mar 2014

Contributed by Lukas

The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence and the challenge of looking for space aliens and why they never attack Belgium is under scrutiny this mo...

Exo Mars and Crowd-funded SpaceCraft

10 Feb 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Space Boffins Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham dodge a prototype Mars rover on location at Airbus Defence and Space in Stevenage - where the future E...

Chris Hadfield: How to fix a space toilet

10 Jan 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Space Boffins Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham meet astronaut Chris Hadfield. In this special edition of the podcast, Commander Hadfield talks abou...

Astronomy in South Africa

25 Dec 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Meera Senthilingam takes a tour of the South African Large Telescope (SALT) and neighbouring facilities. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporti...

The future of lunar space missions

10 Dec 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Join Space Boffins Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham for a lunar love-in featuring Apollo 13 astronaut Jim Lovell and studio guests David Baker, aut...

The Space Boffins look forward to ExoMars

25 Nov 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Space Boffins Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham are joined by new Mars Society president Jerry Stone and aspiring astronaut Kate Arkless-Gray. Sue rep...

Looking forward to ExoMars

08 Nov 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Space Boffins Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham are joined by new Mars Society president Jerry Stone and aspiring astronaut Kate Arkless Gray. Sue r...

Comet ISON is coming!

25 Oct 2013

Contributed by Lukas

As Comet ISON draws near to its close approach with the Sun in November, much uncertainty remains over how brilliant it will be. Dominic Ford speaks t...

Sue in a Centrifuge

09 Oct 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Space Boffins Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham discover what it's like to undergo G forces with a special podcast from QinetiQ's centrifuge facility...

Exploring the Solar System

24 Sep 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Dominic Ford reports from the European Planetary Science Congress, where he heard about the latest misisons to Mars and the Moon. Lewis Dartnell expla...

Missions to Mars

09 Sep 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Space Boffins Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham present a Mars podcast special. Interviews include Curiosity Rover's Principal Investigator for its...

Mapping out the Milky Way

24 Aug 2013

Contributed by Lukas

This autumn, the Gaia spacecraft will be launched on a mission to find out where the Milky Way's stars came from. I catch up with two of the astrono...

NOAA's Space Weather Centre

09 Aug 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Space Boffins Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham are joined by a cosmic hedgehog with a report from NOAA's space weather centre in Colorado and detai...

The National Astronomy Meeting 2013

24 Jul 2013

Contributed by Lukas

This month I've taken to the seaside to bring you a special episode of Naked Astronomy from the National Astronomy Meeting, which was held in St Andre...

Landing on a Comet

09 Jul 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Space Boffins Richard Hollingham and Sue Nelson go to a comet, Mars and into space. This month's podcast is from the Open University's Rosetta miss...

Giant planets

24 Jun 2013

Contributed by Lukas

How much detail can amateur astronomers see on Jupiter, and how can space scientists use this to probe the Solar System's largest storms? Like this po...

Britain's First Official Astronaut

09 Jun 2013

Contributed by Lukas

A full, frank and funny interview with Tim Peake, Richard goes inside NASA's 'crazy ideas', and Sue meets with 'astrogirls'. Like this podcast? Please...

The Milky Way's local black hole

24 May 2013

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to astronomers who study the environments around black holes, ask what we can learn from a meteor which hit the Moon in March, and find out ho...

Dodging Space Harpoons

09 May 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Space Boffins Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham dodge space harpoons, discuss whether Mars One will encourage Big Brother in space and report from t...

Measuring the Universe

24 Apr 2013

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to Planck Scientists at the Kavli Institute in Cambridge, and Nick James, an amateur astronomer who has set up a security camera on the side o...

Solar Science and Space Planes

09 Apr 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Space Boffins Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham are reduced to tears of laughter by Apollo 15 astronaut Al Worden, enlightened by studio guest and spa...

Radio Astronomy in the Australian Outback

25 Mar 2013

Contributed by Lukas

The SKA will soon be the world's most sensitive radio telescope, able to view some of the most distant objects ever seen. In a special edition of Nake...

The First Phone in Space

10 Mar 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Comets, Mars and the first phone in space are featured in the latest Space Boffins podcast. Recorded at the Royal Astronomical Society in London, Rich...

Captivated by Comets

25 Feb 2013

Contributed by Lukas

2013 looks like a good year for comets! We find out where these balls of dust and ice come from and what to expect from Pan-STARRS and ISON. Plus, th...

Methane on Mars and Meeting Astronauts

10 Feb 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Space Boffins Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham meet British astronaut Tim Peake at the British Interplanetary Society. They are joined by space scien...

Don't Panic! Keeping Your Cool in Space

10 Jan 2013

Contributed by Lukas

This month in Space Boffins: why space can seriously damage your health, the cameras being installed on the Space Station to give live views of Eart...

Dealing With Debris

13 Dec 2012

Contributed by Lukas

How can we solve the space debris problem? What will we learn from LOFAR? This edition of Naked Astronomy comes from the RAL Space Conference at the...

Space Boffins on the ISS

10 Dec 2012

Contributed by Lukas

This month in the Space Boffins podcast: a tour of the International Space Station, an Apollo astronaut and the mission to the edge of the Solar Syste...

Houston, we have a Podcast

10 Nov 2012

Contributed by Lukas

This time the award winning Space Boffins podcast comes from Houston to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the last man on the Moon. Richard visits t...

New Science with NuSTAR

24 Oct 2012

Contributed by Lukas

How can we measure some of the most energetic events in the universe? This month, we're exploring the new science being carried out by NuSTAR, a spac...

Space Boffins Search for ET

09 Oct 2012

Contributed by Lukas

The Space Boffins Podcast comes to you this month from the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) in Silicon Valley California and features t...

Excitement about ALMA

24 Sep 2012

Contributed by Lukas

How can we see stars as they first come into being? This month, we're looking at ALMA - the Atacama Large Millimetre Array - possibly the most comp...

Mars InSights, rings around Saturn and satellite docking games...

09 Sep 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Curiosity had barely scratched the surface of Mars when NASA announced another new mission to the red planet. It's called InSight and Dr Tom Pike, fr...

Martian Matters

23 Aug 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Why are we still curious about Mars? This month on Naked Astronomy, we're looking into Martian matters to find out how we got to where we are today, ...

The First American Spacewalk

09 Aug 2012

Contributed by Lukas

This month on the Space Boffins Podcast, we will be exploring strange new worlds, discovering a Swedish spaceport, and celebrating the first American ...

Finding Impossible Stars

24 Jul 2012

Contributed by Lukas

When does the impossible become possible? Researchers have found Red Dwarf stars that simply shouldn't exist, so in this month's Naked Astronomy we f...

Work, rest and play: Mars and space tourism

09 Jul 2012

Contributed by Lukas

NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission lands on Mars next month after a nine-month journey across our Solar System. On arrival the most advance...

Plant Pathogens Observed From Orbit

24 Jun 2012

Contributed by Lukas

What can farmers learn from physicists? This month in Naked Astronomy we'll find out how satellite imaging can help to understand and control crop di...