Naked Astronomy, from the Naked Scientists

This month, European astronaut Luca Parmitano suggests a future for genetically engineered space travellers, the Space Boffins celebrate 40 years of the Voyager mission and look forward to the demise of Cassini, shortly to plunge into Saturn. Space scientist Carl Murray joins Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham with some perfume, a mug and an unusual memento from the Voyager spacecraft. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

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 spacecraft - Europe's mission to Mercury. As the LISA Pathfinder mission comes to a successful end, we meet Paul McNamara who's developing the LISA mission for detecting gravitational waves in space. And is Earth really a planet? A new exhibition captures the view from Pluto. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

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, Richard and Sue are joined by guests Abbie Hutty from Airbus and science journalist Stuart Clark. Richard also talks to the Project Scientist for NASA's 2020 Mars rover, Ken Farley, and British astronaut, Tim Peake, discusses his 'dynamic' return to Earth in a Soyuz spacecraft. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

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 space telescope in Australia on the Breakthrough Listen hunt for ET. And, in the search for aliens closer to home, he talks to the head of Cassini's imaging team and one of NASA's top astrobiologists about life on Saturn's moon Enceladus. Is the truth out there? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This month, Space Boffins highlights the unsung heroes of the space programme - mission controllers. Featuring the director of a new documentary film on mission control, David Fairhead, we hear from a man at the heart of the Apollo 13 drama, Sue meets the voice of the Space Shuttle and we catch up with Dan Dare... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

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 volunteers are being paid to stay awake. This month, Richard Hollingham and Sue Nelson are joined by rocket scientist David Wade, and space scientist Helen Fraser to discuss how ice in space could form planets and celebrate the 80th birthday of Valentina Tereshkova. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

The Space Boffins are at Astrofest in London in front of a live audience. Guests include an Antarctic meteorite hunter, the scientist tracking down the Solar System's missing planet and the flight director who's landed a spacecraft on a comet. It's also a chance to hear again from last man on the Moon, Gene Cernan... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

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 a touchdown expected in the 2030s. That means that in our lifetime, we will become an interplanetary species. But what will it be like for those brave individuals? Graihagh Jackson investigates... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Broadcaster Dallas Campbell joins the Space Boffins at the British Interplanetary Society to discuss the giant new replacement for Hubble, hypersonic spaceplanes and balloon flights to the edge of space. They hear from astronaut Ron Garan about President-elect Trump and talk to one of the witnesses of the Apollo 1 fire, which killed three astronauts in 1967. Plus, discussions on urinating on the astronaut bus and books on sex in space. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

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 invention of the light bulb, we've long been working towards the end of night. But does this matter? Graihagh Jackson investigates... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists