Episodes

Friday Aug 14, 2020
AstroChat - training for the Space Station
Friday Aug 14, 2020
Friday Aug 14, 2020
ESA astronauts Thomas Pesquet and Matthias Maurer take the time to chat while training for upcoming missions to the International Space Station missions at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, USA.
This audio was originally a four-part video series filmed in June 2020. You can watch the full series on ESA's YouTube channel.

Monday Jul 20, 2020
ESA Explores – ESA missions return to science
Monday Jul 20, 2020
Monday Jul 20, 2020
After a brief shutdown of science instruments and a period in ‘safe standby’, ESA’s planetary missions are getting back to what they do best – gathering science data from around the Solar System.
Paolo Ferri, Head of Mission Operations at ESA’s mission control centre in Germany, and Markus Kissler-Patig, Head of Science and Operations at the Agency’s ESAC Astronomy Centre in Spain discuss the extraordinary and challenging times facing teams on the ground, the return to science for four key missions, and what it's like to make key decisions about the safety of their workforce and Europe’s fleet of space explorers in light of a global pandemic.
This podcast episode was originally released in April 2020.

Wednesday Mar 18, 2020
Beyond Series – Luca reflects on a mission E10
Wednesday Mar 18, 2020
Wednesday Mar 18, 2020
Just a short time after returning from 201 days in orbit on the International Space Station, ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano talks to Ally Koehler about his Beyond mission and life back on Earth.

Wednesday Feb 19, 2020
Beyond Series – Looking beyond Beyond E09
Wednesday Feb 19, 2020
Wednesday Feb 19, 2020
Dr Aidan Cowley is a science advisor at ESA working with students and researchers on ideas that could shape the way we go forward to the Moon. In this episode, he discusses an initiative called Spaceship EAC, the future of space exploration and an alternative use for your kitchen microwave as we look beyond low Earth orbit.

Wednesday Jan 15, 2020
Beyond Series – Back to Earth E08
Wednesday Jan 15, 2020
Wednesday Jan 15, 2020
As Luca's time in space draws to a close, hosts Ally Koehler and Stephen Ennis chat to ESA flight surgeon Maybritt Kuypers about the medical challenges of returning an astronaut to Europe from the International Space Station.

Tuesday Dec 17, 2019
Beyond Series – Space celebrations E07
Tuesday Dec 17, 2019
Tuesday Dec 17, 2019
The festive season is in full force. Find out how astronauts celebrate special occasions on the Space Station with ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet, BME/Eurocom coordinator for ESA Andrea Boyd and your hosts Ally Koehler and Stephen Ennis.

Tuesday Dec 10, 2019
Beyond Series – Italian bonus E02
Tuesday Dec 10, 2019
Tuesday Dec 10, 2019
ESA explores Beyond: L' addestramento degli astronauti.
Episodio in italiano: Massimiliano Signori e Flavie Rometsch ci parlano dell' addestramento degli astronauti, ed in particolare cosa imparano al Centro Astronauti Europeo (EAC) a Colonia, ed alcuni aneddotti divertenti.
Episode in Italian: Massimiliano Signori and Flavie Rometsch tell us about the training of astronauts, and in particular what they learn at ESA's Astronaut Centre (EAC) in Cologne, Germany, along with some funny anecdotes.

Monday Nov 25, 2019
Beyond Series – Fit for space E06
Monday Nov 25, 2019
Monday Nov 25, 2019
Exercise in space is about more than just looking good – it's essential for astronaut health. In this episode Ally Koehler and Stephen Ennis chat to ESA exercise team lead Nora Peterson and ESA biomedical engineer Beate Fischer about how astronauts like Luca stay fit and healthy in space.

Monday Nov 11, 2019
Beyond Series – Luca spacewalk special E05.1
Monday Nov 11, 2019
Monday Nov 11, 2019
ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano is preparing for a series of spacewalks to service the dark-matter-hunting Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer AMS-02. In this bonus episode he speaks about his upcoming spacewalk, its tasks and its challenges directly from the International Space Station.

Tuesday Oct 15, 2019
Beyond Series – Spotlight on spacewalking E05
Tuesday Oct 15, 2019
Tuesday Oct 15, 2019
October 2019 is a busy month for spacewalking, and November will be no different. In this episode Ally and Stephen look at what it takes to prepare for and perform a spacewalk or EVA with head of ESA's EVA and Parabolic Flight Training Unit Hervé Stevenin.