EVSN: Escape Velocity Space News

Dr. Pamela Gay, Erik Madaus, Ally Pelphrey

Get your weekly dose of all that's new in space and astronomy with Escape Velocity Space News. The sky is not the limit, as we bring you the latest scientific discoveries and rocket launches. EVSN is brought to you by the team behind CosmoQuest at the Planetary Science Institute and features hosts Dr. Pamela L. Gay and Erik Madaus, with audio engineering by Ally Pelphrey. EVSN is supported through Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/CosmoQuestX.

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20 episodes
Updated Thursday

Episodes20

Newest first

Thursday · 1 hr
After Hours: Doing Big Science with Light Tools with guest Dr Danny Jacobs
Science comes from many corners, and there is a need for both 600-m radio telescopes made on a great plain (Like the RATAN-600) and 60cm radio dishes built in a living room. In this After Hours, we talk with ASU professor Danny Jacobs about how he engages students of all kinds in space sciences through educational tools like the cardboard radio telescope (https://astrochart.github.io), and in space telescope operations with the SPARCS small sat (https://sparcs.asu.edu/)
July 23 · 57 min
After Hours: International Moon Day 2026 with guest Jekan Thanga
On July 20, the world celebrates International Moon Day. This UN designated holiday marks the anniversary of humanity's first landing on the Moon. The Apollo 11 landing in 1969 is now only a distant memory or a date from history for most people, but it is worth thinking about as the world prepares to return humans to the Moon in the coming decade. Joining us to discuss International Moon Day is Dr. Jekan Thanga, the head of the Space TREx Laboratory at the University of Arizona. Come learn how his interdiciplinary team is taking a page from the past as we plan for a Lunar future.
July 16 · 50 min
After Hours: Space Rocks Collected for Science with guest Dr Rhonda Stroud
Our solar system readily provides us with free samples of other worlds in the form of meteorites. The trick comes in first recognizing them, and then in understanding what science is locked in their minerals. One major center for collecting and studying these space rocks is Arizona State University's Buseck Center for Meteorite Studies which houses the Carleton B Moore Meteorite Collection. Join us as we discuss the collection with Director Rhonda Stroud.
July 9 · 46 min
After Hours: Exploring Physics Through Spaceflight Missions with author Trisha Muro
The physics behind modern spaceflight explores everything from aerodynamics to thermodynamics with a lot of kinematics playing a role along the way. We welcome on guest Trisha Muro to discuss her new book, "It's (Just) Rocket Science", which explores how we can learn physics through spaceflight missions.
July 2 · 17 min
Astronomy Asks: How did you get there?
How is this the last episode of the season? July snuck up on us. We'll be back Sept 2 with Season 5! For now, we've got astronomers asking questions; questions like "Did you eat a planet?" and "How did you get there?" Expect the unexpected with a side of rockets.
June 25 · 17 min
Tracing the hidden and revealing the past
In this episode we look at the hidden and unexpected geology that may lurk beneath East Antarctica's ice sheet, evidence of past worlds and lost moons that may once have populated our solar system, and evidence of a past Supernova that today may be showering the Earth with material.
June 18 · 1 hr 9 min
After Hours: Our shape shifting Universe with author Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
Join Pamela for an hour that looks at science and society as she talks with author and cosmologist Chanda Prescod-Weinstein. In her new book, "The Edge of Space-Time: Particles, Poetry, & the Cosmic Dream Boogie" Prescod-Weinstein weaves scientific and lyrical understandings of cosmology, bringing together the language of elders with the math of modern computational models. This combination puts our human state in a greater perspective of time and space that looks beyond western textbooks (Oh, and there is a lot of Star Trek referenced in there too!)
June 11 · 27 min
Tails SpaceX Fails, Heads We Lose the Earth
In this episode, we look at the SpaceX SEC initial filing and put its facts and figures in context and ask, can they do it? And can the Earth survive if they succeed?
June 4 · 14 min
Chasing Chemistry: Missions measure comet & planet atmospheres
In this episode, we're going to look at Psyche's success at Mars, the cool 3I-ATLAS science coming from Europa Clipper and JUICE en route to the Jupiter system:, and we also look at JWST's efforts to study exoplanetary atmospheres and the weird weather of other worlds.
May 28 · 48 min
After Hours: Crowdsourcing Innovation with Trisha Epp
Trisha Epp joins us to talking about NASA's collaboration with Freelancer, and how Innovation is now getting crowdsourced. Join in to learn how to launch your own Moonshot! Guest Trisha Epp is a Physicist, Philosopher, and Futurist with a Masters in Geophysics from CalTech and a duel bachelors in physics and philosphy from the University of British Columbia. Since 2023, she's been the Director of Innovation for Freelancer.com's "NASA Tournament Lab". This crowdsourcing innovative invites the public to help solve global problems ranging from maternal morbidity to risk prediction.
May 21 · 16 min
Astronomers: Improbability Finders
Pamela is on the road in this episode as we look at how (and why) astronomers keep finding the improbable, follow the evidence to possible sources of little red dots, study the power of big star clusters to move gas, and examine the merger history of little black holes into bigger ones.
May 14 · 18 min
Uncommon Stars
In today's episode, we look at the Voyager mission's exploration beyond our solar system, the organics Mars Curiosity Rover has discovered, the distribution of planets uncovered by the TESS mission, and how JWST measured the surface of a rocky world 50 light years away!
May 7 · 18 min
The One With the Dark Matter
In this episode, we're going to be looking back in time at how Dark Matter may have influenced the formation of Supermassive Blackholes, newly catalogued remnants of left over hydrogen, an ancient star found as part of a class observing project, and tales from the launch pad.
April 30 · 48 min
After Hours: Launching the small(er) things with Exolaunch CEO Robert Sproles
As commercial space becomes a more and more mature industry, we're seeing new needs emerge. Front and the center is the need for someone - or some company - to make it easy for folks in need of a launch to find the right ride share for their satellite, no matter how small. Enter ExoLaunch. In this episode we talk with ExoLaunch CEO Robert Sproles about what their company is accomplishing as the shipping company to the stars (or at least Earth Orbit).
April 23 · 27 min
To Artemis, With Love
This is EVSN's love letter to the Artemis II mission.
April 16 · 13 min
Supervolcanoes: Erupt, Refill, Repeat
This week, in the first of our new shorter and more frequent episodes, we are going to take a look at the interplay of plate tectonics, geology, climate, and life. Specifically, we're looking at the interplay between super volcanoes and us! Did you know Naples is on a supervolcano? Also, in this episode: human sperm get lost in space.
April 2 · 25 min
Science in Pairs & Moon Plans Redux
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.
March 26 · 14 min
On Background - Comets, the basics
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.
March 19 · 33 min
Pretty Pictures & Ugly Artemis News
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.
February 26 · 26 min
Glaciers: Going, Going…Gone
The glaciers are melting, the volcanoes are erupting, and earthquakes are shaking things up. Let's discuss.

EVSN: Escape Velocity Space News

After Hours: Doing Big Science with Light Tools with guest Dr Danny Jacobs

After Hours: International Moon Day 2026 with guest Jekan Thanga

After Hours: Space Rocks Collected for Science with guest Dr Rhonda Stroud

After Hours: Exploring Physics Through Spaceflight Missions with author Trisha Muro

Astronomy Asks: How did you get there?

Tracing the hidden and revealing the past

After Hours: Our shape shifting Universe with author Chanda Prescod-Weinstein

Tails SpaceX Fails, Heads We Lose the Earth

Chasing Chemistry: Missions measure comet & planet atmospheres

After Hours: Crowdsourcing Innovation with Trisha Epp

Astronomers: Improbability Finders

Uncommon Stars

The One With the Dark Matter

After Hours: Launching the small(er) things with Exolaunch CEO Robert Sproles

To Artemis, With Love

Supervolcanoes: Erupt, Refill, Repeat

Science in Pairs & Moon Plans Redux

On Background - Comets, the basics

Pretty Pictures & Ugly Artemis News

Glaciers: Going, Going…Gone