Show overview
Small Steps, Giant Leaps has been publishing since 2018, and across the 8 years since has built a catalogue of 183 episodes. That works out to roughly 75 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a fortnightly cadence.
Episodes typically run twenty to thirty-five minutes — most land between 20 min and 30 min — though episode length varies meaningfully from one episode to the next. None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-US-language Science show.
The show is actively publishing — the most recent episode landed 5 days ago, with 20 episodes already out so far this year. Published by Katie Konans.
From the publisher
NASA’s technical workforce put boots on the Moon, tire tracks on Mars, and the first reusable spacecraft in orbit around the Earth. Learn what’s next as they build missions that redefine the future with amazing discoveries and remarkable innovations.
Latest Episodes
View all 183 episodesNASA's Flight Dynamics Facility
State Hubs: Opening Doors for Technical Students
Human Factors: Designing Systems with People in Mind - Part 2 of 2
Human Factors: Designing Systems with People in Mind - Part 1 of 2
Passing Down Knowledge
The X-59 Goes Supersonic: What's Next?
Life Support Systems: From Space Station to Orion
Science Takes a Village (in Alabama)
Transformative Aeronautics
Calibrating Satellite Image Data
Space Nuclear Propulsion
Test Like You Fly
Soft Skills for Tough Missions
Tracking Launches: Views from a NASA Pilot
How NASA's Pandora Mission Unboxes Distant Worlds
Choreographing Astronaut Recovery
For any crew returning to Earth from space, the journey home includes a carefully choreographed recovery effort to bring them safely back on dry land after splashing down in the ocean. Christine St. Germain, NASA recovery director for the Commercial Crew Program, tells us about this critical phase of flight.
Ep 168Dragonfly: Mission to Titan
NASA's Dragonfly spacecraft, a rotorcraft the size of a small car, is set to explore Titan, Saturn's largest moon. Rich in organic compounds, Titan offers a rare window into the kinds of chemical conditions that may have existed on Earth long before life began.
Ep 169Designing the Roadmap to Mars
Nujoud Merancy, NASA's deputy associate administrator for the Strategy and Architecture Office, talks about how NASA is developing the roadmap for Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond.
Ep 167The Many Hats of NASA Engineer Jennifer Lu
From her experience working with the Commercial Crew Program, which sends astronauts to the International Space Station aboard commercial spacecraft, to the Artemis missions to the Moon, aerospace engineer Jennifer Lu shares how working with a variety of teams — including circus performers before coming to NASA — has helped her see the bigger picture.
Ep 166Bringing Back Supersonic Flight
Currently, flying faster than the speed of sound over land is prohibited for commercial flights because it creates disruptive sonic booms. NASA's experimental X-59 plane will research how to turn those booms into "sonic thumps," about as loud as a slamming car door. Lead pilot Nils Larson explains how the X-59 could usher in the next era of commercial supersonic flight.