Space and Things

On 24th March of this year, George Abbey died at the age of 91. One of the most influencial people working behind the scenes at NASA for many years and someone who has come up many times during many interviews. So we wanted to spend an episode to pay tribute to his contributions. To do this we’re joined by Michael Cassutt, author of the 2018 book “The Astronaut Maker - How One Mysterious Engineer Ran Human Spaceflight for a Generation”George Abbey NASA Obituary:https://www.nasa.gov/people/george-w-s-abbey/Michael Cassutt:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-cassutt-5680841/X: https://twitter.com/MichaelCassutt The Astronaut Maker:https://www.chicagoreviewpress.com/the-astronaut-maker-products-9781613737002.php?page_id=30&cid=347961Full show notes: https://spaceandthingspodcast.com/Show notes include links to all articles mentioned and full details of our guests and links to what caught our eye this week.Image Credits: NASA Space and Things:X: https://www.twitter.com/spaceandthings1Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spaceandthingspodcastFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/spaceandthingspodcast/Merch and Info: https://www.spaceandthingspodcast.comPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/SpaceandthingsBusiness Enquiries: info@andthingsproductions.com

On April 8th there will be a total eclipse travelling across Mexico, the United States and Canada so today we talk to Stephen Wolfram, who earlier this year released a book called “Predicting the Eclipse: A Multimillennium Tale of Computation.” - we learn about the history of predicting eclipses and so much more. Stephen Wolfram:https://www.stephenwolfram.com/ X: https://twitter.com/stephen_wolfram LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenwolfram/ Predicting the Eclipse:A Multimillennium Tale of Computationhttps://www.wolfram-media.com/products/predicting-the-eclipse/Full show notes: https://spaceandthingspodcast.com/podcast/stp188-predicting-the-eclipse-a-multimillennium-tale-of-computation-with-stephen-wolframShow notes include links to all articles mentioned and full details of our guests and links to what caught our eye this week.Image Credits: NASA/Aubrey GemignaniSpace and Things:X: https://www.twitter.com/spaceandthings1Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spaceandthingspodcastFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/spaceandthingspodcast/Merch and Info: https://www.spaceandthingspodcast.comPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/SpaceandthingsBusiness Enquiries: info@andthingsproductions.com

This week we talk to Dr. Tracy Scott who has just started a project to bring together her own history as an early era “astronaut kid” (daughter of David R. Scott: Gemini 8, Apollo 9, Apollo 15) with her professional expertise as a sociologist and teacher.100 Patreons By Show 200: https://www.patreon.com/SpaceandthingsDave’s Tour Dates: http://www.davejgiles.com/gigsDr Tracy Scott:https://tracylscott.org/https://sociology.emory.edu/people/bios/Scott-Tracy%20L..htmlInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/prof.t.l.scott/ Full show notes: https://spaceandthingspodcast.com/podcast/stp187-moonshot-astronaut-families-exploring-image-vs-reality-in-the-early-space-era-with-dr-tracy-scottShow notes include links to all articles mentioned and full details of our guests and links to what caught our eye this week.Image Credits: Life MagazineSpace and Things:X: https://www.twitter.com/spaceandthings1Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spaceandthingspodcastFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/spaceandthingspodcast/Merch and Info: https://www.spaceandthingspodcast.comPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/SpaceandthingsBusiness Enquiries: info@andthingsproductions.com

Sad news this week as the space world mourns the loss of General Thomas P. Stafford, pilot of Gemini 6 and commander of Gemini 9a, Apollo 10 and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. A true legend of spaceflight and he will be missed.100 Patreons By Show 200: https://www.patreon.com/SpaceandthingsDave’s Tour Dates: http://www.davejgiles.com/gigsTom Stafford Obituary: https://www.space.com/nasa-astronaut-thomas-stafford-obituary Bill Moore: https://www.facebook.com/bill.moore.18007218 Full show notes: https://spaceandthingspodcast.com/podcast/stp186-remembering-general-thomas-p-stafford-with-bill-mooreShow notes include links to all articles mentioned and full details of our guests and links to what caught our eye this week.Image Credits: NASASpace and Things:X: https://www.twitter.com/spaceandthings1Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spaceandthingspodcastFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/spaceandthingspodcast/Merch and Info: https://www.spaceandthingspodcast.comPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/SpaceandthingsBusiness Enquiries: info@andthingsproductions.com

This week we conclude the interviews we recorded at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in January by asking about what it means to be a curator at the museum. We had three interview and we spoke to each of the individually about various aspects of life as a curator and have merged those aspects into this episode. We hope that you enjoyed the episode from our field trip and hope that we get to do more.100 Patreons By Show 200: https://www.patreon.com/SpaceandthingsDave’s Tour Dates: http://www.davejgiles.com/gigsDr. Margaret A. Weitekamp:https://airandspace.si.edu/people/staff/margaret-weitekampLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaretweitekamp/Dr. Jennifer Levasseur:https://airandspace.si.edu/people/staff/jennifer-levasseur Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-levasseur-00695612a/Dr Teasel Muir-Harmony: https://airandspace.si.edu/people/staff/teasel-muir-harmonyLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teasel-muir-harmony-3a67519/The Smithonsian Air And Space Museum:https://airandspace.si.edu/ Full show notes: https://spaceandthingspodcast.com/podcast/stp185-the-art-of-museum-curation-with-dr-teasel-muir-harmony-dr-jennifer-levasseur-and-dr-margaret-weitekampShow notes include links to all articles mentioned and full details of our guests and links to what caught our eye this week.Image Credits: NASMSpace and Things:X: https://www.twitter.com/spaceandthings1Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spaceandthingspodcastFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/spaceandthingspodcast/Merch and Info: https://www.spaceandthingspodcast.comPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/SpaceandthingsBusiness Enquiries: info@andthingsproductions.com

This week we speak to David Woods, the editor of a brand new movie called ‘Galileo Moon’ which is all about the Apollo 15 mission and is produced by the commander of that mission, Dave Scott.100 Patreons By Show 200: https://www.patreon.com/SpaceandthingsDave’s Tour Dates: http://www.davejgiles.com/gigsDavid Woods:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-woods-22979734/ Galileo Moon:https://film.apollo15hub.org/Apollo Space Journal:https://www.nasa.gov/history/afj/index.html Full show notes: https://spaceandthingspodcast.com/Show notes include links to all articles mentioned and full details of our guests and links to what caught our eye this week.Image Credits: NASASpace and Things:X: https://www.twitter.com/spaceandthings1Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spaceandthingspodcastFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/spaceandthingspodcast/Merch and Info: https://www.spaceandthingspodcast.comPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/SpaceandthingsBusiness Enquiries: info@andthingsproductions.com

This week we speak to Dr. Margaret Weitekamp, the Space History Department Chair at the Smithsonian Institution and the curator of the Air and Space Museum’s social and Cultural history of spaceflight collection, more than 5,000 artefacts that include space memorabilia and space science fiction objects. Dr. Weitekamp also recently published Space Craze: America’s Enduring Fascination with Real and Imagined Spaceflight, a wonderful book which we highly recommend. 100 Patreons By Show 200: https://www.patreon.com/SpaceandthingsDr. Margaret A. Weitekamp:https://airandspace.si.edu/people/staff/margaret-weitekampLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaretweitekamp/Space Craze: https://airandspace.si.edu/research/publications/space-crazeRight Stuff, Wrong Sex: https://airandspace.si.edu/research/publications/right-stuff-wrong-sex-americas-first-women-space-program Full show notes: https://spaceandthingspodcast.com/podcast/stp183-space-craze-our-enduring-fascination-with-real-and-imagined-spaceflight-with-dr-margaret-weitekampShow notes include links to all articles mentioned and full details of our guests and links to what caught our eye this week.Image Credits: NASMSpace and Things:X: https://www.twitter.com/spaceandthings1Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spaceandthingspodcastFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/spaceandthingspodcast/Merch and Info: https://www.spaceandthingspodcast.comPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/SpaceandthingsBusiness Enquiries: info@andthingsproductions.com

This week we speak to Logan Jaeren who is just about to launch STEAM4SPACE to try and use his extensive mission patch collection to help inspire the next generations.100 Patreons By Show 200: https://www.patreon.com/SpaceandthingsSTEAM4SPACE:https://steam4space.org/?page=section/home.htmlSpace exploration Patches:https://sxpatches.com/ Logan Jaeren:https://www.linkedin.com/in/loganjaeren/ Full show notes: https://spaceandthingspodcast.com/podcast/stp182-using-mission-patches-to-inspire-the-next-generation-steam4space-with-logan-jaerenShow notes include links to all articles mentioned and full details of our guests and links to what caught our eye this week.Image Credits: STEAM4SPACESpace and Things:X: https://www.twitter.com/spaceandthings1Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spaceandthingspodcastFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/spaceandthingspodcast/Merch and Info: https://www.spaceandthingspodcast.comPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/SpaceandthingsBusiness Enquiries: info@andthingsproductions.com

There are only 3 Space Shuttle Orbiters left. Atlantis is on display at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Endeavour will be on display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles and Discovery is at the Udvar-Hazy Center just outside of Washington DC. While we were in Washington we caught up with Dr. Jennifer Levasseur, the curator of the Space Shuttle Program for the Smithsonian and we tried to find out how you use a Space Shuttle to tell it’s history and inspire the next generation.100 Patreons By Show 200: https://www.patreon.com/SpaceandthingsDr. Jennifer Levasseur:https://airandspace.si.edu/people/staff/jennifer-levasseur Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center:https://airandspace.si.edu/visit/udvar-hazy-center Being Discovery’s Curator by Dr. Jennifer Levasseur:https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/being-discoverys-curator Apollo 13 Minute Podcast Featuring Dr. Jennifer Levasseur: https://www.apollo13minute.com/cm/episodes/minute-009-give-me-a-lever-long-enough/ Full show notes: https://spaceandthingspodcast.com/podcast/stp181-telling-the-story-of-the-space-shuttle-with-dr-jennifer-levasseurShow notes include links to all articles mentioned and full details of our guests and links to what caught our eye this week.Image Credits: NASMSpace and Things:X: https://www.twitter.com/spaceandthings1Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spaceandthingspodcastFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/spaceandthingspodcast/Merch and Info: https://www.spaceandthingspodcast.comPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/SpaceandthingsBusiness Enquiries: info@andthingsproductions.com