Cosmic Perspectives with Neil deGrasse Tyson

Gary Jordan (0:00)

Houston, we have a podcast. Welcome to the official podcast of the NASA Johnson Space Center, episode 437, Cosmic Perspectives. I'm Gary Jordan, and I'll be your host today. On this podcast, we bring in the experts, scientists, engineers and astronauts, all to let you know what's going on in the world of human spaceflight and more. The expansion of human spaceflight against the grandeur of the universe is infinitesimally small. Much of what we know about the observable universe has been thanks to powerful instruments and telescopes that provide different perspectives and new scientific data, which shape our understanding, rewrite textbooks and peak human curiosity. The new Nancy Grace Roman Telescope, for instance, will capture massive cosmic panoramas to map the structure of the universe. And the James Webb Telescope has looked backwards in time and revealed the expansiveness of the universe by showing clusters of galaxies with billions of stars each, peppered against the blackness of space. Telescopes are critical tools to unlock the secrets of the universe. That's not to say that human spaceflight is not a powerful contributor to cosmic understanding as well. Much like how each telescope launched into space helps us understand what telescope to send next, each human spaceflight mission contributes knowledge and understanding to help us understand how to go further and faster and longer. More than 25 years of continuous human presence aboard the International Space Station has advanced our understanding of how to live and work in space successfully and applies directly to designing how we're going to live and work on the moon under the Artemis and Moon base programs. Lunar samples have proven invaluable to our understanding of Earth's formation and by proxy the formation of planets. Future Artemis sample return missions could provide precious insight into furthering our knowledge of moons, planets and solar systems across the universe. On this episode, we are bringing in two great minds who have looked out into the vast universe to share their own cosmic perspectives. Chris Williams is a NASA astronaut and board certified medical physicist. He spent 241 days aboard the International Space Station as part of the Expedition 74 science mission and returned to Earth July of this year. Williams' background in physics is extensive. For his doctoral research at MIT, he focused on astrophysics, namely developing radio telescope instrumentation and data processing techniques for cosmology. He then took his astrophysics experience to the medical field, where in Boston, his practice and research was in radiation therapy for cancer treatments.

Joining Chris and I for an exciting discussion is Neil deGrasse Tyson, widely recognized as an American astrophysicist, author, and preeminent science communicator. He serves as the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History and host of the popular StarTalk podcast. Throughout his career, Tyson has appeared on television as a host and special guest, and he's been an advocate for science literacy in his endeavors. In his latest book, Lost in Space, 5,000 Facts for Navigating the Universe, Tyson discusses human spaceflight and astrophysics. With Williams' recent return to Earth from Space Station and astrophysics background, we bring these two together to explore these topics even deeper. For what it's worth, it was a fascinating discussion and a mind-blowing experience. So sit back, relax, and enjoy this fascinating conversation with Chris and Neil. Here we go.

Chris Williams, welcome back to Houston We Have a Podcast. It's great to speak with you again. You recently returned from orbit. Here we are, you're sitting next to me after being orbiting 250 miles above the Earth. It is a pleasure to have you. We are here with Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson.

What an honor it is to speak with you today, Dr. Tyson, a longtime fan.

Neil deGrasse Tyson (3:51)

Neil, please, call me Neil.

Gary Jordan (3:54)

Neil, of course, yeah, and a longtime fan, fan of the podcast as well, and all that you're doing. What's nice about this conversation, Chris has a background in astrophysics. You have a background in astrophysics, and I am a silent observer in the corner that just appreciates folks who can actually understand all of it. Neil, one of the things I appreciate about you most is how you can condense a lot of this very complicated information into something that's very understandable. Chris, you did this time and time again on orbit on the many in flights that you did.

You both have this love of astrophysics. I really want it to start there. There's got to be a passion.

Neil deGrasse Tyson (4:31)

You got Chris, so what do you need me for?

I haven't been in orbit. You know, I got nothing.

Gary Jordan (4:38)

Maybe not the first hand experience, but just your observation. I mean, it's just, and how you view the universe, that Cosmic Perspective is really what I want to get into.