NASA's Curious Universe

Lili Villarreal, NASA’s landing and recovery director for Artemis II who leads the team that retrieves astronauts and Orion after splashdown. She walks through reentry and parachute sequences. She explains Navy recovery operations, realistic rehearsals, contingency planning, and the tense final minutes and well deck retrieval.

Behind NASA’s Artemis II mission and the astronauts who will fly around the Moon, teams on the ground are essential. Explore some of the epic equipment that makes Artemis II possible—the mobile launcher, crawler-transporter, and NASA’s barge Pegasus—and meet a few of the many specialists who act as the shoulders lifting astronauts into space.       For Artemis II news and the latest launch information, visit nasa.gov/artemis-ii 

Jancy McPhee, a neuroscientist studying human health risks in deep space. Kelsey Young, a lunar geologist training astronauts in field geology. They discuss how astronauts will observe unseen lunar terrain, intensive geology training in places like Iceland, selecting priority science targets, and experiments studying sleep, immune markers, and bone-marrow responses during Artemis II.

David Beeman, SLS lead and senior engineer who helped build NASA’s most powerful rocket. Branelle Rodriguez, Orion vehicle manager who designs life‑support for deep space. They tour Orion’s living systems and even the toilet. They also break down the Space Launch System’s engines, staging, testing and how it’s human‑rated for Artemis II.

Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, the NASA Artemis Launch Director, and Joe Pavisik, a Launch Engineer on the cryopropulsion team, share fascinating insights from the Artemis I mission. They delve into the intricate procedures for fueling rockets and recount their experiences from the nerve center during the launch. Joe highlights the quick response to a temperature anomaly that led to vital lessons learned, while Charlie reflects on her journey to become a launch director. Together, they discuss how these lessons set the stage for the upcoming Artemis II mission.

Join NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen as they prepare for the Artemis II mission, flying around the Moon for the first time in decades. Wiseman shares his extensive experience, while Glover talks about his role as pilot. Koch discusses her engineering insights, and Hansen shares his unique background with underwater and cave explorations. The crew dives into their intensive training, emotional preparations, and hopes for future lunar missions, making the challenges of space travel sound both thrilling and relatable.

This year, four NASA astronauts are flying around the Moon and back—and Curious Universe is bringing you along for the ride. The mission is called Artemis II. It’s a key test flight that will set the stage for future missions to land on the lunar South Pole for the first time and set up a long-term presence there. In this limited series, get to know your Artemis II astronaut crew, go behind the scenes at NASA facilities across the country and discover the teamwork, passion and problem-solving fueling humanity’s return to the Moon—and beyond.  For Artemis II news and the latest launch information, visit nasa.gov/artemis-ii

John Mather, a Senior astrophysicist at NASA and Nobel Prize laureate, discusses the groundbreaking James Webb Space Telescope. He shares the excitement of exploring cosmic dawn, the universe's infancy, and his personal journey in astronomy. Mather recounts the moment he received the Nobel Prize call and the collaborative spirit behind the telescope's ambitious projects. With insights into the documentary 'Cosmic Dawn,' he highlights the revolutionary discoveries of early galaxies and the importance of teamwork in tackling complex challenges.

Have you ever dreamed of spending a day in space? Humans have lived aboard the International Space Station for 25 years—or more than 9,000 consecutive days. In this episode originally published in 2021, experience a day in the life of astronauts Shane Kimbrough, Megan McArthur, and Thomas Pesquet living and working on the International Space Station. 

In this discussion, astronomer Ewine van Dishoeck, known for her work on molecules in space and developing an instrument for the James Webb Space Telescope, shares fascinating insights into star and planet formation. She explains how Webb's infrared technology reveals the chemistry of cold, dark clouds crucial for creating water and organic molecules. Ewine also highlights the significance of disk chemistries in shaping planets and the broader quest to understand life's ingredients beyond Earth, emphasizing the exciting implications of her research.