EVSN: Escape Velocity Space News

Once again, we're going to attempt to get you up to date with what is going down at NASA. In addition to NASA updates, we have stories of science that comes in twos. From 2 planets forming in a disk to 2 stars coming together to shine brightly, to two asteroids that together orbit the Sun a bit faster, to two planets that collided, … it is a week for pairs.

In this special episode, funded by the National Science Foundation, we're taking a break from the headlines to share the background story of comets. Today, we'll focus on the origin of comets and their basic anatomy, and in future episodes, we'll dive deep into how comets are discovered, what we can learn from them, and how they can literally and figuratively impact our world.

This episode went through a lot of rewrites as breaking news kept breaking our hearts. Artemis is still on, but there are delays and cancellations. Before we face that, let's look at some pretty pictures and remember the universe is pretty even when our Earthly-timeline is not.

The glaciers are melting, the volcanoes are erupting, and earthquakes are shaking things up. Let's discuss.

In this episode, we take a closer look at how the increasing number of rockets and satellites going up mean there is also an unfortunate increase in the space junk coming down. We also cover dramatic weather, stars dying and disappearing, and update you on Maven and Paranal Observatory.

In this episode we look at highlights from the latest American Astronomical Society Meeting. An accidental theme came out: with each new telescope and each improved instrument we can look more closely at our universe - we can and do learn more and understand more even about the things we thought we knew best. In this episode, Rubin Observatory brings rapidly rotating asteroids, and JWST peers at objects thriving in the first 2 billion years of our universe. Observatory after observatory brings us new science.

In this episode, we're pleased to say we get to focus on science, as we bring you hot Jupiters, a tear-drop shaped Jupiter massed… something…? - and news of objects getting torn apart and other objects getting merged together as our universe lights up our night.

In this week's episode, we look at planets younger than fossils, celebrate relativity repeatedly working as expected, and peer at previously only theorized 1st generation stars using JWST. We celebrate the completion of the construction of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, and look in on all the recent launches. All this and more is coming to you right here, and right now.

The world we live on today has undergone dramatic change since it first formed, and time hasn't necessarily been kind. Earth has gained some weight (and a Moon) after a chance collision. A leaky gut led to some confusing internal structures. Here on the surface, mountains keep finding new ways to pop off and destroy surroundings. But scientists are helping us understand all these factors. Learn how in this episode of EVSN, and also hear about our latest tales from the launch pad.

We live on an ever-changing world, and by studying the past, we can better understand our potential futures. In this episode, we follow the water and look at how past periods of glacial melt changed water levels, look into the water and see how pond and sea life add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, and reflect on a glacier that shrank by 24 km in just 2 years. Oh, and there are also tales from the launch pad!

In this episode, we look at some of our latest discoveries about the formation of star systems, including planets and moons, and the growth of black holes. We also take a closer look at our brightening skies, and the missions set to make things worse. We also cover the latest tales from the launch pad.

The universe is hard enough to figure out without one kind of object dressing up as another, but - just in time for Halloween - researchers have figured out that the Little Red Dot in the early universe just might be massive black holes surrounded in a costume of glowing red gas. Also in this episode, Hyabusa2's amusingly tiny destination, a white dwarf star eating what may be an icy dwarf planet, and tales from the launch pad.