Gravity Assist

From diving in Antarctica’s ice-covered lakes to exploring Mexico’s Cave of the Crystals, NASA astrobiologist Chris McKay has been searching for life in a wide variety of extreme environments on Earth.

Some of the most fascinating targets in the search for life in our solar system are moons of giant planets. Morgan Cable, an astrobiologist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, discusses these wondrous worlds, the exotic locations where she has done fieldwork, and the research she has done on the chemistry of life that could thrive on Titan.

When Earth was just a baby, meteors and asteroids rained down, delivering all sorts of chemicals to our developing planet. These small objects could have delivered the chemicals needed to spark life on Earth for the first time.

Imagine a future where the Perseverance Rover actually found definitive evidence of life on Mars. What would happen next? The Explore Mars Society recently held a virtual discussion on this topic with NASA’s chief scientist Jim Green and astrobiologist Penelope Boston from NASA’s Ames Research Center.

NASA’s upcoming Mars Perseverance rover, scheduled to launch in July, is bringing a set of technologies to explore the Red Planet in new ways. Mitch Schulte of NASA Headquarters discusses this mission and the effort to explore whether Mars had life in the past, or even now

Could we find lipids beyond Earth? NASA astrobiologist Lindsay Hays explores this and other topics in her research. She also discusses places interesting for the search for life in our solar system and beyond.

To study the history of life on Earth and look for it beyond our planet, scientists in the field of astrobiology look for signs called “biosignatures.” NASA Goddard researcher Heather Graham discusses some of the oldest evidence of life on Earth and what scientists are searching for when they look for biosignatures in ancient rocks. By looking at w

How did life originate and evolve here on Earth? What form could life take elsewhere – and where else could life survive beyond our planet? These are questions that scientists called astrobiologists tackle every day. By using space telescopes, doing laboratory experiments and studying extreme environments on Earth, astrobiologists hope to uncover n

Is there life beyond Earth? How did life get started on Earth anyway? This season of NASA’s Gravity Assist podcast is about the origins of life on Earth and the search for life elsewhere.[scald=338003:full_width][scald=338003:full_width]

Besides learning how to live in space, astronauts training for Artemis missions to the Moon will need to become experts in geology, so they know what to look for when they're scoping out rocks and other features. Kelsey Young of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center describes her experience of teaching astronauts through analog sites, places on Earth

Recent maps of the Moon's gravity have taught us a lot about its overall shape, and have been invaluable for lunar exploration. Maria Zuber, principal investigator of the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission, reflects on the twin spacecraft and their implications for future investigations.

Just like earthquakes help scientists figure out what's going on inside our home planet, moonquakes have taught scientists a lot about the interior of the Moon.

Early in its history, the Moon was molten, with “fire fountains” erupting from its surface. How did the Moon cool down and become the quiet, cratered world we know today? NASA’s Chief Scientist Jim Green chats with NASA’s Deputy Chief Scientist Dave Draper about the Moon’s volcanic past and what we have learned from Apollo lunar samples.

From lunar samples brought back in the Apollo program, scientists have figured out that the Moon once had a shield around it called a magnetosphere, just like the Earth has today. As NASA prepares to send humans to the Moon, and eventually on to Mars, scientists are exploring the Moon's magnetic past.

It's been 50 years since humans walked on the moon. Now NASA is planning to return, this time to stay. What will future lunar missions look like? Why do we go back at all?

Why do we see only one face of the Moon? What would happen to Earth if the Moon didn't exist? We dive into questions you asked on social media.

Learn how Moon rocks can reveal all kinds of information about our nearest neighbor, as NASA prepares to send astronauts to the Moon and on to Mars.

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, launched 10 years ago this month, has made groundbreaking discoveries about the Moon, and will pave the way for future human exploration with NASA's Artemis mission.

NASA's Artemis program will send astronauts to the lunar south pole by 2024, where there is a giant impact crater. Learn how craters teach us about the history of both the Moon and Earth.

The Moon has a large supply of water that could be useful in future human exploration, says NASA scientist Jennifer Heldmann.

Learn about how the Moon formed in this conversation with Robin Canup of the Southwest Research Institute.

With NASA planning to send astronauts to the Moon by 2024, Steve Mackwell chats about the Moon’s exciting unexplored areas.

Steven Clarke, the Deputy Associate Administrator for Exploration at NASA, talks about NASA’s plans to partner with companies for delivering new instruments and technology demonstrations to the Moon.

NASA’s got big plans to send people to the Moon, and then on to Mars. What are we going to do at the Moon?

What’s so special about our Moon? Join Jim Green, NASA’s chief scientist, for a podcast season that dives into the Moon’s history and mysteries, as well as NASA’s plans to send astronauts there by 2024.

Thomas Zurbuchen, the Associate Administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, joins NASA Chief Scientist Jim Green to discuss the mysterious we still need to solve about the Sun, and more!

NASA Chief Scientist Jim Green sits down with Dr. Kelly Fast, a planetary astronomer to discuss planetary defense and Oumuamua.

NASA Chief Scientist Jim Green sits down with solar scientist Alex Young to discuss the Sun’s powerful explosions.

Listen in as NASA Chief Scientist Jim Green discusses the Mars dust storm with a dust storm expert, Melinda Kahre.

Listen to Chief Scientist Jim Green and a co-investigator on the Kepler and TESS missions, Jon Jenkins, discuss exoplanet-hunting and all the amazing discoveries Kepler has made.

NASA has been on the lookout for any asteroid that could cause our planet harm and, in the thousands of objects found, determined that none poses a threat to Earth.

NASA’s Spirit and Opportunity rovers were only supposed to rove around Mars for 90 days. Listen in with Steve Squyers from Cornell University as he recounts the amazing discoveries we’ve made about the Red Planet because of these two long-lived rovers.

With its seismometer and heat probe instruments, InSight will investigate the deep dynamics of Mars, helping scientists discover what lies within its core and learn more about how rocky bodies form throughout the solar system.

On Monday, April 16th, NASA is scheduled to launch its newest exoplanet hunter: the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS).

The year was 1958; the space race was on. NASA’s first space satellite, Explorer 1, launched a Geiger counter and miniature tape recorder into space that registered astonishingly high radiation levels above Earth. This discovery gave humanity its first glimpse of the Van Allen radiation belts, named for James Van Allen.

NASA’s Jim Green and bestselling author Andy Weir explore the fascinating intersection of science and science fiction.

In this episode of Gravity Assist, Jim Green talks with New Horizons Principal Investigator Alan Stern about what we’ve learned about Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69.

In this episode of Gravity Assist, Jim Green talks with New Horizons Principal Investigator Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute about what the July 2015 flyby of Pluto revealed about this mysterious and diverse world.

n this episode of Gravity Assist, NASA’s Jim Green and Amy Simon discuss Uranus, Neptune, and Neptune’s intriguing moon – Triton -- and what we still have to learn about these mysterious bodies.

With me today is Dr. Linda Spilker from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She's the project scientist for our Cassini Mission, which as everyone knows, had a recent spectacular finale at Saturn.

As large as 1,000 Earths, Jupiter is the heavy hitter of the solar system. Even its Great Red Spot is larger than Earth, yet it’s shrinking! In this episode of Gravity Assist, Planetary Science Director Jim Green talks with Jared Espley of NASA’s Juno mission.

With Jim Green today is the “man about Mars,” Bruce Jakosky from the University of Colorado. Bruce is the principal investigator of NASA's MAVEN mission. Joining them is Michael Meyer the lead Mars scientist at NASA Headquarters.

Jim Green is joined by lunar expert Sarah Noble to discuss how the Moon was formed, lava tubes and moonquakes, the “dark side of the Moon,” and mysteries we have yet to solve about Earth’s nearest neighbor.

NASA not only seeks to unravel the secrets of the solar system and the universe, we have a robust program to better understand how Earth works as a system, how it’s changing, and to assist when natural disasters like hurricanes and earthquakes occur.

The next stop on our virtual tour is Venus, the closest planet to Earth and the hottest planet in our solar system, with surface temperatures scorching enough to melt lead.

Our virtual tour of the solar system continues with Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun. Since it’s tough to observe Mercury except at dawn or twilight, most of what we know about Mercury is from NASA’s Mariner 10 and MESSENGER missions.

We start our “Gravity Assist” virtual tour of the solar system with – where else – the Sun! Jim is joined by Project Scientist Dr. Nicky Fox of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab to talk about our fascinating star and NASA’s upcoming Parker Solar Probe—a mission to “touch the Sun.”

Hi, I'm Jim Green, NASA's director of planetary science. I'm excited to tell you about a new podcast series. It's called NASA's Gravity Assist. Please join me as I talk with some of the greatest planetary scientists of our time.