#39 - September 2015

The Discussion: A dismissal of paranoid woo-pedalling, following
what seems be an upsurge in space-based pseudoscience this month,
and we introduce you to the first in our series of astronaut
interviews recorded at Cosmiccon.


The News: This month we get a little disappointed at the lack of
news from the New Horizons team after the initial press releases
of NASA’s Pluto flyby. We take a look at the nearest confirmed
rocky exoplanet to Earth, at 21 light years away, and ask ‘could
we send a probe there within the span of a human lifetime?’ New
evidence from many of the world’s most productive telescopes that
shows the steady heat death of the universe. And a happy story to
end on as NASA are offering the public the opportunity to send
their names to Mars encoded on a microchip on the Insight Mars
Lander next year.


The 5 Minute Concept: We follow up on last month’s first
back-to-basics 5 Minute Concepts with an introduction to what you
can expect to realistically achieve with amateur telescopes – and
Paul gives you his own ‘patent pending’ formula to help you
decide if you’re likely to resolve that faint fuzzy.


The Interview: This month we wrap the whole show around our
interview with 4 time Shuttle astronaut, Dr Don Thomas. Veteran
of 4 Space Shuttle missions (STS-65, STS-70, STS-83, STS-94), Don
tells us about how he never gave up in his pursuit to become an
astronaut, the incredible views from space (including Mount
Everest, meteors and Comet Hale Bopp!), what’s in the Lake Eerie
water that Ohio produces to many astronauts, flying through the
Challenger & Columbia disasters, the future direction of NASA
to the moon, asteroids and Mars and hanging out with Neil
Armstrong in the run up to a launch.


Q&A: Listeners’ questions via email, Facebook & Twitter
take us on a journey into the astronomy issues that have always
plagued our understanding or stretched our credulity. This month
Ralph & Paul answer:


· This blew my mind! With a small telescope you can track some
binary stars orbiting each other over the years. If I was going
to watch a double star year to year looking for movement, what
would be my best bet?Andrew Burns, from Reading, England &
Randy Anokye from Kumasi, Ghana via the Facebook Group