Naked Astronomy, from the Naked Scientists

It's a seasonal special from Space Boffins Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham with a previously unbroadcast interview with Apollo-era legend Frank Borman. Commander of Gemini 7 and Apollo 8, Colonel Borman passed away in November 2023 aged 95. His Apollo 8 mission was the first manned mission to the Moon, where the crew captured the famous Earthrise image and read from the Book of Genesis on Christmas Eve 1968. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

With the announcement of a planned all-UK astronaut mission, hosts Richard Hollingham and Sue Nelson chat to ESA reserve astronaut Meganne Christian about astronaut selection, life in Antarctica and commercial space stations. Tim Peake - the possible commander of the Axiom mission - talks about his new book, Space The Human Story, which covers the history of human spaceflight from an astronaut's perspective. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

A Shuttle emergency you may not have heard of, sending your DNA into space, and a scientist studying the samples from asteroid Bennu. Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham meet Natural History Museum meteorites curator, Natasha Vasiliki Almeida, and talk to Celestis founder, Charles Chafer, about sending your remains into space. Plus Sue chats to Jean Wright about sewing the blankets for the Space Shuttle, and a space repair reminiscent of Apollo 13. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

We celebrate the 40th anniversary of the flight of the first black astronaut, Gui Bluford and speak to Diego Hurtado de Mendoza and Lisa Cortes, directors of The Space Race, which tells the story of the men who should have become astronauts in the 1960s - Ed Dwight and Bob Lawrence. Also, India's landing on the Moon and the demise of the European Space Agency's ESA Aeolus satellite in music. Plus, ever wondered how to pronounce Space Boffins in Persian? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This month it's all about the space environment - how do you remove space debris from orbit and make space more sustainable? The Earth Space Sustainability Initiative's (ESSI) Stuart Clark discusses missions to remove dead satellites, and Nick Shave of Astroscale and Clearspace's Rory Holmes explain their missions. Plus, light pollution problems: night skies so bright, some people never see the Moon... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Irish journalist Leo Enright joins us to discuss commentating on Apollo 17, an unfortunate celebrity encounter, the world's first astronomers, 20 years of Mars Express, sun angles on the Moon and the worst-named European mission. Sue continues her reports from the Artemis European Service Module cleanroom in Germany, talking to ESA's head of human and robotic exploration, David Parker. She also meets Bill Hartwell from NASA to chat about the success of Orion and working with Russia in space. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

NASA's new head of science, Dr Nicola Fox, joins Space Boffins to chat about Mars sample return, solar missions and asteroids. Also, ESA new astronaut recruit, Pablo Alvarez, and experienced astronaut Alexander Gerst on preparations for the Artemis missions to the Moon, and we discuss the joy of boffins, Starship's rapid unscheduled disassembly and which ESA astronaut will be the first to step on the lunar surface? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

European Space Agency Juice mission to Jupiter's Michele Dougherty talks about icy moons, magnetic fields and life elsewhere in the solar system, and the UK Space Agency's Caroline Harper discusses the Juice launch preparations in French Guiana. Also, the hidden history of Space Shuttle Enterprise: Eric Boehm at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum talks about the prototype shuttle's test flights and the aftermath of the Columbia disaster and the military space shuttle. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

What's the toilet like in SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft? ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer reveals what a mission in the Dragon is like, from business class seats and spacious interior, to privacy curtain and dramatic return to Earth. Also, his Cosmic Kiss mission to the International Space Station and his work on future Moon missions. Plus, author Meredith Bagby on her new book about the 35 New Guys - the group of Space Shuttle astronauts who changed spaceflight forever... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Physicist and philosopher Sean Carrol talks to Naked Astronomy's Ben McAllister about the nature of time. Is it something truly fundamental to our Universe, or simply an illusion? Along the way they chat about space, relativity, the various ways to travel through time, and how that all relates to the emergence of life in the Universe.... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists