Liftoff is a podcast about space, the universe, and everything. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to understand the major developments as explained by enthusiastic space fans Stephen Hackett and Jason Snell.

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#81: Lasers Are the Best

September 28th, 2018 · 53 minutes

From a Californian satellite and the retirement of the Delta II to Hayabusa and Opportunity updates, it's been a busy couple of weeks. Plus, a review of Hulu's The First.

#80: Little Caesars Mars Probe

September 11th, 2018 · 64 minutes

Recent space news is all weird: Elon Musk's questionable podcast appearance, NASA looking into selling naming rights on its hardware, and a leak on the ISS.

#79: The Final Bridge to Crewed Flight

August 28th, 2018 · 37 minutes

NASA is inching toward crewed flights, with its Mobile Launcher Platform coming together and cis-lunar Gateway plans coming together, all while SpaceX and Boeing races to complete its crewed hardware.

#78: Shed Some Sunlight on It

August 14th, 2018 · 42 minutes

The Parker Solar Probe is on its way to study our sun, as New Horizons is exploring what is at the outmost reaches of its influence on the solar system.

#77: Belly Flop Situation

August 1st, 2018 · 34 minutes

What goes around, comes around: The James Webb Telescope, water on Mars and the Space Force are all back in the news.

#76: Talking Curiosity with Emily Lakdawalla

July 3rd, 2018 · 39 minutes

Jason and Stephen are joined by Emily Lakdawalla to discuss her new book, The Design and Engineering of Curiosity: How the Mars Rover Performs Its Job.

#75: Not a Guy, a Box

June 19th, 2018 · 33 minutes

Jason and Stephen talk about President Trump's call for a Space Force, then Opportunity's struggle against a Martian dust storm and Peggy Whitson's retirement from NASA.

#74: Scientific Research and Glory

June 5th, 2018 · 50 minutes

Jeff Bezos, Planet 9 and China's space station plans are all in the news, then Stephen and Jason remember Alan Bean and Donald Peterson.

#73: No Party Beyond the Event Horizon

May 22nd, 2018 · 43 minutes

Jason talks about launching from the west coast of the United States, then Stephen takes the new SLS SEGMENT out for a spin before they discuss black holes.

#72: Into the Black

May 8th, 2018 · 54 minutes

InSight is headed to Mars, the SLS Segment has a name, and Jason and Stephen read Into the Black, by Rowland White.