Space Sciences

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13 minutes

Which Mars Rocks Are Best?

When we send rovers like Perseverance to study the rocks of Mars...which ones can tell us the most? We're joined by NASA's Dr. Katie Stack Morgan, the Deputy Project Scientist for the Mars 2020 mission which includes Perseverance, to find out what the...
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10 minutes

What Do You Do When Your Space Station Careens Out of Control?

What happened when inadvertent thruster firing caused the International Space Station to spin completely around? Though the situation was rapidly brought under control, it was a harrowing day for those on the station as well as the ground controllers...
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3 Minutes

Making it to Mars: MOXIE

MOXIE, part of NASA’s Perseverance rover, is going to find out if it’s possible to generate oxygen literally out of thin (Martian) air!
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3 Minutes

Making it to Mars: Perseverance

Learn how this rover is going to help us learn more about Mars, test new technologies, and set up future missions, even one with humans.
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10 minutes

How Big Were the Apollo Moon Landing Computers?

It's National Engineers Week! To celebrate, we talked with Apollo engineer Don Eyles about the challenge of landing humans on the moon.
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2 Minutes

Making it to Mars: Where's the Oxygen?

Learn how Mars’s atmosphere is different from Earth’s and why it’s one of the things that makes putting humans on Mars so difficult.
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1 Minute

Making it to Mars: Challenges

Getting humans to Mars has been a goal of NASA's for decades. But it comes with challenges! Learn what they are and more in this Sparks of Science video from #MOSatHome at the Museum of Boston.
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13 minutes

What Does Microgravity Feel Like?

Spaceflight whiz Kellie Gerardi, author of the new book 'Not Necessarily Rocket Science', tells us about her adventures in the aerospace industry.
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15 minutes

Top Ten Science Stories of 2020: Part Two

We continue our annual countdown of the ten most exciting, important, and fun stories from the world of science in 2020 with #8, #7, and #6.
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10 minutes

Why Do Stars Explode?

We ask Caity from our planetarium all about stars that run out of fuel and go supernova in explosions that can be seen clear across the universe.
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14 minutes

How Far Away is the Edge of the Universe?

We answer all of your questions about how far away things are from Earth, from the Moon to the very edge of existence, and also discover how we know the distance to objects in space.
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15 minutes

Does the Moon Rotate?

Talia from our planetarium answers some of the most common questions that museum visitors ask about the Earth-Moon-Sun system, covering everything from Moon phases to eclipses.
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17 minutes

Who Gets to Drive the Mars Rover?

How do you drive a rover from 40 million miles away? In part two of our conversation, we asked NASA engineer Rich Rieber about how the newest robot to explore Mars will get around.
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12 minutes

Mars Helicopter? Really?

Part two of our look at Perseverance, the next Mars rover. We asked NASA engineer Rich Rieber what the mission hopes to accomplish on the red planet - searching for signs of ancient life, analyzing the geology of Mars, and even testing out a small...
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11 minutes

How Do You Land a Robot on Mars?

NASA's newest rover is on its way to Mars. We asked engineer David Way, who designed the landing system, how it will touch down safely on the red planet.