Small Steps, Giant Leaps

Small Steps, Giant Leaps

NASA’s technical workforce put boots on the Moon, tire tracks on Mars, and the first reusable spacecraft in orbit around the Earth. Learn what’s next as they build missions that redefine the future with amazing discoveries and remarkable innovations.

Episodes

Calibrating Satellite Image Data

June 26, 2026 • 19 mins
Before scientists can use those satellite imagery for research, the data must be carefully calibrated to ensure measurements are accurate and consistent over time. Julia Barsi, NASA calibration scientist, explains.
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Space Nuclear Propulsion

June 15, 2026 • 22 mins
Space nuclear power and propulsion engineering could play a key role in sending robots and humans to deep space, enabling faster and farther journeys.
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Test Like You Fly

May 27, 2026 • 23 mins
The “test like you fly” approach is an engineering philosophy that means testing hardware, software, and flight operations as close to reality as possible. Erika Alvarez, deputy director of NASA's Space Systems Department, explains.
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Soft Skills for Tough Missions

May 13, 2026 • 16 mins
So-called “soft skills” like good teamwork and communication can become just as valuable as technical skills to advance exploration.
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Tracking Launches: Views from a NASA Pilot

April 29, 2026 • 17 mins
NASA pilots play a critical role in launch and recovery operations. Shannon Gregory, chief of flight operations at Kennedy Space Center, shares how his team supports crewed launches from the air, capturing real-time imagery, and staying ready for the unexpected.
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How NASA's Pandora Mission Unboxes Distant Worlds

April 19, 2026 • 12 mins
Studying planets in other solar systems isn’t easy, especially when their host stars keep stealing the spotlight. NASA’s Pandora mission will cut through the noise, revealing what the atmospheres of these distant worlds are really made of.
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Choreographing Astronaut Recovery

March 18, 2026 • 14 mins
For any crew returning to Earth from space, the journey home includes a carefully choreographed recovery effort to bring them safely back on dry land after splashing down in the ocean. Christine St. Germain, NASA recovery director for the Commercial Crew Program, tells us about this critical phase of flight.
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Dragonfly: Mission to Titan

March 4, 2026 • 20 mins
NASA's Dragonfly spacecraft, a rotorcraft the size of a small car, is set to explore Titan, Saturn's largest moon. Rich in organic compounds, Titan offers a rare window into the kinds of chemical conditions that may have existed on Earth long before life began.
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Designing the Roadmap to Mars

March 4, 2026 • 14 mins
Nujoud Merancy, NASA's deputy associate administrator for the Strategy and Architecture Office, talks about how NASA is developing the roadmap for Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond.
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The Many Hats of NASA Engineer Jennifer Lu

February 4, 2026 • 16 mins
From her experience working with the Commercial Crew Program, which sends astronauts to the International Space Station aboard commercial spacecraft, to the Artemis missions to the Moon, aerospace engineer Jennifer Lu shares how working with a variety of teams — including circus performers before coming to NASA — has helped her see the bigger picture.
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Bringing Back Supersonic Flight

January 21, 2026 • 25 mins
Currently, flying faster than the speed of sound over land is prohibited for commercial flights because it creates disruptive sonic booms. NASA's experimental X-59 plane will research how to turn those booms into "sonic thumps," about as loud as a slamming car door. Lead pilot Nils Larson explains how the X-59 could usher in the next era of commercial supersonic flight.
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Sailing the Solar System

December 17, 2025 • 13 mins
A solar sail uses light particles from the Sun to move through space without needing a single drop of fuel. NASA is demonstrating the lightweight technology that could open doors to low-cost missions to deep space.
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Simulating Moon and Mars Dust

December 3, 2025 • 15 mins
Dr. Jennifer Edmunson explains what it takes to simulate Moon and Mars dust on Earth, and lessons learned from preparing to build habitats on other worlds.
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NASA's Centennial Challenges Prize Program

November 19, 2025 • 20 mins
There’s a program at NASA that taps into the power of the public to solve some of the toughest problems in space exploration. It’s called Centennial Challenges, a prize competition that has awarded more than $24 million to hundreds of people ranging from academics, startup founders, small business owners, and independent inventors from across the U.S. and 86 countries.
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6,000 Exoplanets and Counting

September 18, 2025 • 22 mins
On September 17, 2025, NASA announced that the number of exoplanets, planets outside our solar system, tracked by NASA has reached 6,000. In the three decades since the groundbreaking detection of exoplanet 51 Pegasi b, the first confirmed planet orbiting a Sun-like star, astronomers have concluded that exotic worlds are everywhere.
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NASA's Zero Gravity Research Facility

September 3, 2025 • 19 mins
A steel vacuum chamber 50 stories deep at NASA’s Glenn Research Center lets researchers simulate near-weightlessness by letting test hardware freefall for 5.18 seconds.
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Turning Space Data Into Sound

August 20, 2025 • 26 mins
From black holes to star clusters, scientists are turning space data into sound with a process called sonification. Dr. Kimberly Arcand, visual scientist with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, joins us to explore how data sonification lets more people experience the cosmos and give researchers a new way to interpret science one note at a time.
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StarBurst: Gamma-ray Hunter

August 6, 2025 • 19 mins
StarBurst, a satellite the size of a washing machine, aims to detect the initial blast of gamma-rays, the most powerful bursts of energy in the universe. These huge explosions can occur when dense neutron stars collide, forging metals like gold and platinum. These metals are some of the building blocks of planets — like Earth.
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Hubble: An Engineering Marvel

July 23, 2025 • 23 mins
The Hubble Space Telescope has changed humanity’s understanding of the universe. Now in orbit for 35 years, it remains a remarkable feat of engineering.
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Fighting Wildland Fires with Drones

July 9, 2025 • 11 mins
Fighting wildland fires by air at night is especially hazardous. NASA’s ACERO Project aims to make firefighting safer, day or night, with drones and smarter airspace management.
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