Universe University – Details, episodes & analysis

Dr. Brent D. Ziarnick serves as an assistant professor at the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base. He is also author of ‘To Rule the Skies: General Thomas S. Power and the Rise of Strategic Air Command in the Cold War’.

In this episode, he discusses the birth of the U.S. Space Force along with the military and economic implications of future space exploration and expansion.

"Slow Burn" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
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When the formation of the U.S. "Space Force" was announced, the new military branch was the butt of many jokes but what role will it serve in the 21st century? Tensions are currently high between the United States, Russia, and China. Is a war in outer space inevitable or will this new frontier offer prosperity for all who join in the adventure? A new guest on the program helps us to answer this important questions.

REFERENCES:

'The Battle for the Soul of the Space Force'
by Brent Ziarnik, 'The Hill'

MUSIC:

"Nonstop" Kevin MacLeod (incomptech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

"Perspectives" Kevin MacLeod (incomptech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

"Ossuary 6 - Air" Kevin MacLeod (incomptech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

"Crypto" Kevin MacLeod (incomptech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

"Thunderbird" Kevin MacLeod (incomptech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Mars has captivated the human imagination for generations. Yet the question remains: is there organic life on the Red Planet? If so, how can we search for it and what would such life be like? And what will day-to-day life be like for the first astronauts to set foot on Mars? The brilliant Dr. Robert Zubrin joins us to help answer some of these questions.

If you would like to make a contribution to the program, click this link: https://www.patreon.com/universeuniversity?fbclid=IwAR0GJjAwa3C1f8KKxDi7aeGVEO-Ou3dL10vmf1kQHjssQu5eEgmCkyNFMgw

VOICE CREDIT: A very generous, anonymous Patreon contributor offered to act as the voice to Agustina Lusky because Lusky does not speak English as her first language. The words in the episode are entirely Lusky's words.

REFERENCES:

"The Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must"
By Robert Zubrin PhD

"The Mars Underground" [2007 Documentary]
Dir. Scott J. Gill

"From Antarctica to Outer Space: Life in Isolation and Confinement"
Edited by A.A. Harrison, Y.A. Clearwater, and C.P. McKay

"Strife and Despair at South Pole Illuminate Psychology of Isolation"
By Robert Reinhold, New York Times

"A Brief History of Mars Missions" Space.com

"Mars and Its Canals" by Percival Lowell

MUSIC:

"Nonstop" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

"Ossuary 6 - Air" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

"Infinite Perspective" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

"Thunderbird" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

"Perspectives" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

"Ossuary 1 - A begining" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Special Guest: Robert Zubrin.

Nick Conant, a science communicator and Theater Manager of the Fiske Planetarium, sits down for an After Talk about: Native American astronomy, craters, comets as a (proposed) water source on Earth, and the ethics of asteroid mining.

If you would like to make a contribution to the program, click this link: https://www.patreon.com/universeuniversity?fbclid=IwAR0GJjAwa3C1f8KKxDi7aeGVEO-Ou3dL10vmf1kQHjssQu5eEgmCkyNFMgw

MUSIC:

"Slow Burn" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
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Special Guest: Nick Conant.

Centuries ago, the work of Edmond Halley demonstrated to the world that comets were not evil omens as many superstitious Europeans believed but celestial bodies in outer space. Even so, comets and asteroids could pose a direct threat to all life on Earth. The real question is whether humanity has the tools to meet that threat?

If you would like to make a contribution to the program, click this link: https://www.patreon.com/universeuniversity?fbclid=IwAR0GJjAwa3C1f8KKxDi7aeGVEO-Ou3dL10vmf1kQHjssQu5eEgmCkyNFMgw

PHOTO CAPTION: Comet Lovejoy near the constellation Ursa Major
NASA/MSFC/Jacobs Technology/ESSSA/Aaron Kingery

REFERENCES:

'Edmond Halley: Charting the Heavens and the Seas'
by Alan Cook

'The Day the Mesozoic Died: How the Story of the Dinosaurs' Demise was Uncovered'
by Sean B. Carrol
http://nautil.us/issue/32/space/the-day-the-mesozoic-died

'Ernst Florens Friedrich Chladni (1756-1827) and the origins of modern meteorite research'
by Ursula B. Marvin

'Asteroid Apocalypse? Why Scientists Worry About 2036 'Planet Buster'. Newsweek.com
by Michio Kaku
https://www.newsweek.com/asteroid-apocalypse-why-scientists-worry-about-2036-planet-buster-63395

'Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Mission', NASA.gov
https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense/dart

MUSIC:

"Shores of Avalon" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

"Perspectives" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

"Infinite Perspective" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

"Ossuary 1: A Begining" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

"Ossuary 6: Air" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Host and producer recap a year of podcasting in a holiday after talk.

Professor Alex Roland discusses how he became a historian for NASA, the financial costs of the U.S. shuttle program, the concept of "buying in", and the enormous challenges of manned space travel.

If you would like to make a contribution to the program, click this link: https://www.patreon.com/universeuniversity?fbclid=IwAR0GJjAwa3C1f8KKxDi7aeGVEO-Ou3dL10vmf1kQHjssQu5eEgmCkyNFMgw

MUSIC:

"Slow Burn" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

The space shuttle was a marvel of American ingenuity that ushered in a new era for the American space program. But the world would soon learn that reusable spacecraft were far from being perfect machines. Is the story of the U.S. shuttle program a tale of triumph for human space exploration? Or is the tale of a modern day Icarus?

If you would like to make a contribution to the program, click this link: https://www.patreon.com/universeuniversity?fbclid=IwAR0GJjAwa3C1f8KKxDi7aeGVEO-Ou3dL10vmf1kQHjssQu5eEgmCkyNFMgw

For listener questions and comments, email us here:
show@universeuniversity.space

PHOTO CAPTION: Computer generated simulation depicting the American space shuttle's thermal tiles displacing heat upon reentry into the Earth's atmosphere.

REFERENCES:

'After Apollo?: Richard Nixon and the American Space Program'
by John M. Logsdon

'Accountability in the Public Sector: Lessons from the Challenger', Public Administration Review
by Barbara S. Romzek and Melvin J. Dubnick

'Remembering Roger Boisjoly: He Tried to Stop Shuttle Challenger Launch', NPR.org
by Howard Berkes

'For Parts, NASA Boldly Goes... on Ebay', The New York Times
by William J. Broad

'Pentagon Chief Assails Article on Shuttle Trip', The New York Times
by Alex S. Jones

'Prepared Statement of Dr. Michael D. Griffin: "The Future of Human Space Flight"
House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology

MUSIC:

"Heavy Heart" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

"Perspectives" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

"Ossuary 6: Air" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

"Shores of Avalon" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

"Pepper's Theme" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
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"Ossuary 1: A Begining" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

"Perspectives" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

"Thunderbird" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

"Ossuary 1: A Begining" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
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An after talk discussion with Konner Blunt from the Blunt Report on Halloween celebrations around the world, weather control, S.E.T.I. research, anthropomorphizing extraterrestrials, sleep paralysis, and UFOs.

If you would like to make a contribution to the program, click this link: https://www.patreon.com/universeuniversity?fbclid=IwAR0GJjAwa3C1f8KKxDi7aeGVEO-Ou3dL10vmf1kQHjssQu5eEgmCkyNFMgw

MUSIC:

"Slow Burn" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Special Guest: Konner Blunt.

In the late 1940s, the United States military began to take an interest in reports of unidentified flying objects or U.F.O.s which included multiple projects designed to investigate and evaluate the sightings. Despite the fact that many UFO sightings were cases of mistaken identity that could easily be explained away, a minority of them proved extremely perplexing to the U.S. government, leading some high level officials to consider the possibility that the Earth was being visited by extraterrestrials... and at the center of it all, there was one astronomer named J. Allen Hynek who struggled to bring his scientific expertise to bear on the mystery.

If you would like to make a contribution to the program, click this link: https://www.patreon.com/universeuniversity?fbclid=IwAR0GJjAwa3C1f8KKxDi7aeGVEO-Ou3dL10vmf1kQHjssQu5eEgmCkyNFMgw

REFERENCES:

*'The UFO Phenomenon' *
by George Constable, Time Life Books Inc.

'The Close Encounters Man: How One Man Made the World Believe in UFOs'
by Mark O'Connell

'Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base'
by Annie Jacobsen

'Glowing Auras and 'Black Money': The Pentagon's Mysterious U.F.O. Program', New York Times
by Helene Cooper, Ralph Blumbenthal, and Leslie Kean

*'Maj. Gen. John A. Samford's Statement on "Flying Saucers" *(7/31/1952)
U.S. National Archives

'Two Pilots Saw a UFO. Why Did the Air Force Destroy the Report?', History.com
by Greg Daugherty

MUSIC:

"Shores of Avalon" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

"Ossuary 1: A Begining" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

"Perspectives" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
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"Tenebroud Brothers Carnival: Act Two" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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"Waltz of the Carnies" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
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"Thunderbird" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/