Naked Astronomy, from the Naked Scientists

In a Space Boffins special - Sue Nelson meets the first female Space Shuttle Commander, Eileen Collins. The retired astronaut - one of NASA's most experienced - reveals the challenges of flying the Shuttle, the flaws in its design and what happened in the aftermath of the Columbia disaster. They also talk about the way female astronauts are treated by the media and the next generation of spacecraft. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Space Boffins Richard Hollingham and Sue Nelson are joined by astronomer, Guardian writer and guitarist Stuart Clark for a Rosetta mission special - six months after it made history by landing on a comet. Pick up your backstage pass for behind the scenes interviews with key players in the European Space Agency mission: Rosetta project scientist Matt Taylor, former mission manager Fred Jansen, spacecraft operations manager Andrea Accomazzo and Koen Geurts from the German Space Agency's Philae Lander team. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

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 Apollo 10 capsule. Apart from a tribute to Apollo 11's crucial predecessor, they discuss Britain's history in space and hear from Skylon pioneer Alan Bond on the progress of his revolutionary spaceplane. There's also an update on Europe's ExoMars mission rover from the new Mars Yard at Airbus Defence and Space to celebrate its one year anniversary. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

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 poet Simon Barraclough to discuss the poetic power of the Sun. Sue reports on Europe's new mission to Mercury, they celebrate the 50th anniversary of the missions that made the Moon landings possible and unveil the original recording that inspires the Space Boffins jingle. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

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 mission; and how exoplanets are putting a twinkle in the eyes of British space scientists. There's also music from Public Sector Broadcasting, with band member J Willgoose explaining how they use space archive footage as an integral part of their unique sound. They're also are joined by Dr Leigh Fletcher from Oxford University and Dr Sheila Kanani from the Royal Astronomical Society with interviews from Professor Ian Wright and Professor Mark Sims. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

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 missions of 2015 so expect New Horizons, Ceres and Tim Peake's forthcoming trip to the space station. There's also interviews with UrtheCast's Scott Larson and Gaia's Timo Prusti. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

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 UK Space Agency, David Parker, about the International Space Station and we hear from the people bringing espresso coffee to astronauts. Richard is joined by science writer Stuart Clark and broadcaster Sarah Cruddas, who also discuss the future of NASA's space programme, European space success and luxury items in space. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Emotions are running high in this month's Space Boffins as Sue reports from Germany on Europe's cometary landing. And, following the SpaceShipTwo tragedy and Antares explosion, Sue and Richard discuss the dangers of trying to make spaceflight routine. With space insurer David Wade (who insured Antares) and space scientist Sheila Kanani, they also meet a man commanding a Mars base. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Space Boffin Sue Nelson is at the European Space Agency's technical heart - ESTEC in the Netherlands - where spacecraft undergo a crucial 'shake and bake' before launch. She's joined by astronauts Paolo Nespali and Andre Kuipers, ESTEC head Franco Ongaro, Rosetta's mission manager Fred Jansen, and Andreas Jung, from Europe's experimental new spaceplane, IXV. Tales of retro re-entry in a Soyuz, the future of space travel and how chocolate can make a comet, in yet another tasty space treat. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Space Boffins Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham hear from the Rosetta mission's Flight Director, Andrea Accomazzo, about choosing a landing site on comet 67P - plus Apollo astronaut and last man on the Moon, Gene Cernan, on the spacewalk from hell. Dr Lucie Green from the Mullard Space Science Laboratory and the lab's poet in residence, Simon Barraclough, are the lively studio guests. Expect space poetry, scientific insight and a song about photons. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists