Naked Astronomy, from the Naked Scientists

This month we're diving into dark matter, that unknown stuff that makes up a quarter of the Universe. Where is it, what is it, and how do we know it's even there? To find out, Adam Murphy and Ben McAllister speak to Alan Duffy from Swinburne University, who works in the newly-minted Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Dark Matter Particle Physics, which is also where Ben works! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

In a specially recorded face to (socially-distanced) face interview to mark the fifth anniversary of his mission to the International Space Station, British European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake reveals the details of his perilous space station docking, physically challenging return to Earth and launchpad music selections. He also discusses the legacy of his flight and the influence it's had on a generation of students. Space Boffins Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham also talk to Libby Jackson about her new book featuring extraordinary stories of space exploration, and Professor Robert... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This month on Naked Astronomy, we're taking a closer look at the largest telescope ever to be built, the Square Kilometre Array. The SKA spans continents, with some of it in South Africa, and some of it in Australia, but how does that work? And also, what is the SKA going to show us about our universe. To find out, Ben McAllister and Adam Murphy spoke with Phil Diamond, the Director General for the SKA project...Ben - You're probably familiar with the concept of a telescope - humans have been making them for at least hundreds of years, and using them to learn about the Universe beyond our... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

NASA has just collected a sample from an asteroid and work is well underway to land a woman on the Moon. Space journalist David Whitehouse chats about whether President Trump was good for space. Dr Sara Russell discusses the OSIRIS-REx mission to asteroid Bennu, and Thales Alenia Space UK CEO Andrew Stanniland explains how they'll build a fuel station for the Moon... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

In this episode of Naked Astronomy we're taking a look at all the ways that the universe could come to a close. From the dramatic to the slow and ponderous, we're chatting about how space will evolve. Ben McAllister and Adam Murphy are joined by theoretical cosmologist Katie Mack, from North Carolina state University, and author of The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) to talk about our ultimate fate... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

To celebrate 20 years of people living on the International Space Station, we feature only ISS astronauts in this special edition of Space Boffins. NASA Astronaut Nicole Stott joins Richard Hollingham and Sue Nelson and we revisit interviews with Chris Hadfield, Cady Coleman, Scott Kelly, Sergei Krikalev, Luca Parmitano and Michael Foale. What other podcast on the planet gives you seven astronauts in an hour? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Skylab's perilous and dramatic mission, life on Venus, the religion of Cosmism, and Brexit all get discussed this month. Richard Hollingham and Sue Nelson are joined by astronomer and writer Dr Stuart Clark to chat about our relationship with the night sky. Also aboard are David Hitt, author of Homesteading Space - the Skylab Story, and Arfan Chaudhry, from the UK Space Agency, on new UK space programmes... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Space Boffins celebrate their 100th Naked Scientists' edition with two major guests: NASA's head of science, Thomas Zurbuchen, and the UK Space Agency's head of human space exploration, Libby Jackson. They discuss the future of the International Space Station and lunar exploration and the inside-track on the troubled James Webb Space Telescope. Also aboard, Charles Cockell on asteroid mining, and Tim Gagnon on mission patch design. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Mars is the destination of choice for three Mars missions this summer, with the US, China and the United Arab Emirates all preparing for launch. Also, UAE plans for a Mars habitat, the UK engineer working on ways to return samples to Earth, the Mars Society's Lucinda Offer outlines plans for Martian settlements, Nicolas Booth talks landers, life, and rovers, and a review Spaceship Earth, the new movie about the 1990s Biosphere 2 experiment... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Following the successful Crew Dragon launch, Apollo 8 commander Frank Borman talks about the terrors of splashdown, and Shuttle astronaut and aquanaut Kathy Sullivan describes the choreography of spacewalking. The Boffins are also joined by TV presenter Gareth Jones and hear about a mission to remove space debris, and listen to the latest release from Kraftwurst... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists