Small Steps, Giant Leaps
136 episodes - English - Latest episode: 3 days ago - ★★★★★ - 56 ratingsNASA’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.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 128: Engineering Inflatable Structures for Space
April 24, 2024 12:02 - 26 minutes - 287 MBHow inflatable habitats moved from concept papers to the International Space Station, and what NASA is doing to eventually put one on the Moon.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 127: Chief Program Management Officer
April 03, 2024 09:58 - 34 minutes - 48 MBDave Mitchell brings extensive experience as an engineer and project manager to a new position leading a small team with the broad mandate of improving acquisitions and program and project management across NASA.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 126: Gateway: The Logistics of an Outpost at the Moon
March 20, 2024 10:36 - 24 minutes - 33.2 MBIn this episode we’ll focus on Gateway, a small space station NASA is developing to place in orbit at the Moon. We’ll speak with Mark Wiese, who leads the team that will ensure Gateway will receive the cargo, equipment, and supplies it needs to support Artemis astronauts.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 125: Capstone Project: Artemis I Lessons Learned
March 06, 2024 13:42 - 27 minutes - 37.4 MBJanet Karika, who retired recently from NASA after 43 years in the aerospace industry, shares career highlights and her approach to leading the Artemis I Lessons Learned process.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 124: The Game-Changing Potential of In-Space Manufacturing
February 21, 2024 10:54 - 24 minutes - 34 MBDive deep into the world of in-space manufacturing (ISM) with our guest, Zach Courtright, the In-Space Manufacturing Portfolio Manager at NASA. Zach shares his perspectives on cutting-edge advancements and collaborations in the field and the potential of the technology for game-changing impacts on space exploration and resource utilization.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 123: Examining Earth’s Atmosphere with NASA’s PACE Mission
February 07, 2024 13:27 - 24 minutes - 34 MBToday, we look at NASA’s PACE mission, which seeks to unravel some of the mysteries of Earth’s atmosphere and the vital role played by aerosols and clouds. Join us as we delve into this fascinating journey with atmospheric scientist Dr. Kirk Knobelspiesse.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 122: Charting New Horizons: Inside NASA's Orion Mission
January 24, 2024 04:00 - 23 minutes - 32 MBIn this episode, we step behind the scenes of NASA's Orion project to explore the remarkable teamwork, leadership, and communication that drive this groundbreaking endeavor. Join us as we sit down with Stu McClung, the NASA Orion Test lead, to talk about the Orion mission and the human side of space exploration.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 121: The Artemis and Ethics Report Explained
December 13, 2023 13:44 - 22 minutes - 31.4 MBIn this episode, we chat with Dr. Zach Pirtle, a policy analyst for NASA’s Office of Technology, Policy and Strategy about NASA’s Artemis and Ethics workshop, which explored the ethical, legal, and societal implications of its Artemis and Moon to Mars missions.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 120: Fueling Innovation: How NASA Shares Knowledge for Progress
November 30, 2023 10:40 - 23 minutes - 31.6 MBIn this episode, we sit down with Jim Rostohar, Chief Knowledge Officer for NASA's Johnson Space Center, to explore the vital role of knowledge sharing within the organization.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 119: Rocket Propulsion Test Program
October 18, 2023 13:09 - 23 minutes - 32.6 MBRocket Propulsion Test Program Manager Christine Powell discusses chemical propulsion testing at NASA’s world-class facilities.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 118: Center Innovation Fund and Early Career Initiative
October 04, 2023 13:33 - 19 minutes - 27.2 MBNASA SpaceTech's Michael LaPointe and John Nelson discuss the Center Innovation Fund and Early Career Initiative.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 117: NASA Trade and Technical Professionals, Part 3
September 20, 2023 12:00 - 34 minutes - 47.7 MBNASA Marshall Space Flight Center Engineering Technicians John Hood, Amy Meekham, and Mark Sloan discuss details of their work on the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 116: NASA Trade and Technical Professionals, Part 2
September 06, 2023 13:54 - 59 minutes - 81.5 MBNASA Technicians Scott Bartram, Eric Bentley, Maria Salinas, and Phil Steele discuss their hands-on work on a variety of projects and technologies.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 115: NASA Trade and Technical Professionals, Part 1
August 23, 2023 13:41 - 32 minutes - 44.8 MBNASA Armstrong Flight Research Center Engineering Technicians Jason Nelson, Kyle Whitfield, and Alex Zamora discuss their essential contributions to NASA missions.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 114: Last Stop Before Retirement
August 09, 2023 13:02 - 28 minutes - 39.7 MBNASA Langley Research Center Retired Chief Scientist Dennis Bushnell discusses highlights of his 60-year NASA career and the future of the agency.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 113: OSIRIS-REx Sample Return Preparation
July 26, 2023 12:00 - 17 minutes - 23.8 MBOSIRIS-REx Mission Systems Engineer Ron Mink discusses preparation for the return of the United States' first asteroid sample from space to Earth.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 112: TechLeap Nighttime Precision Landing Challenge
July 12, 2023 12:00 - 16 minutes - 22.8 MBNASA TechLeap Nighttime Precision Landing Challenge Manager Greg Peters discusses the lunar landing challenge.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 111: Flight Opportunities
June 28, 2023 12:00 - 21 minutes - 29.7 MBNASA Flight Opportunities Program Manager Danielle McCulloch discusses rapid demonstration of technologies and capabilities for NASA missions and commercial spaceflight.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 110: APPEL Knowledge Services
June 14, 2023 12:00 - 27 minutes - 37.2 MBNASA Chief Knowledge Officer and APPEL Knowledge Services Director Tiffany Smith discusses knowledge sharing and learning and development.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 109: NASA Engineering and Safety Center
May 31, 2023 11:17 - 18 minutes - 25.2 MBNASA Engineering and Safety Center Director Tim Wilson discusses the NESC's contributions to NASA mission success.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 108: Underwater Training for Astronauts
May 17, 2023 04:00 - 18 minutes - 25 MBNASA Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory Critical Systems Engineer Jim Sarafin discusses training astronauts for spacewalks.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 107: Perovskite Solar Cells
May 03, 2023 12:00 - 17 minutes - 23.9 MBNASA Research Electrical Engineer Lyndsey McMillon-Brown discusses development of perovskite solar cell technology for Moon and Mars exploration.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 106: Surface Water and Ocean Topography
April 19, 2023 12:00 - 31 minutes - 43.3 MBSurface Water and Ocean Topography Project Manager Parag Vaze discusses the first global survey of Earth's surface water.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 105: Samples from Mars
April 05, 2023 12:00 - 23 minutes - 32.1 MBMars Sample Return Deputy Lead Scientist Lindsay Hays discusses plans to bring the first samples of Mars material to Earth.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 104: Workplace Safety Culture
March 22, 2023 13:11 - 44 minutes - 61.1 MBNASA Administrator Bill Nelson, Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, and Associate Administrator Bob Cabana discuss the importance of a strong safety culture.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 103: Legacy of Inspiration
March 08, 2023 17:00 - 30 minutes - 41.4 MBNASA Human Spaceflight Historian Jennifer Ross-Nazzal discusses how careers for women have changed over the past 50 years as the workforce has become more diverse.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 102: Legacy of Connection
February 22, 2023 17:00 - 18 minutes - 24.8 MBNASA Kennedy Space Center’s Rob Grant discusses the agency’s Black History Month theme: Building a Legacy of Achievement, Connection, and Knowledge.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 101: Artemis Missions
February 08, 2023 17:00 - 30 minutes - 42.1 MBArtemis Mission Manager Mike Sarafin discusses Artemis I and NASA's increasingly complex Moon to Mars missions.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 100: NASA’s Extraordinary Workforce
January 25, 2023 18:00 - 13 minutes - 18.6 MBNASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy discusses NASA's positive impact on humanity—and the people who make it happen.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 99: Webb Space Telescope’s First Year
December 14, 2022 17:00 - 22 minutes - 30.4 MBNASA James Webb Space Telescope Mission Systems Engineer Mike Menzel discusses highlights of the observatory's first year in space.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 98: Voyager
November 30, 2022 17:00 - 22 minutes - 31.5 MBVoyager Project Manager Suzanne Dodd discusses NASA's longest-operating mission and the only spacecraft to explore interstellar space.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 97: Mars InSight
November 17, 2022 17:00 - 29 minutes - 40.8 MBNASA InSight Mars Lander Principal Investigator Bruce Banerdt discusses the first mission dedicated to studying the deep interior of Mars.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 96: Airworthiness
November 02, 2022 06:30 - 21 minutes - 29.3 MBNASA Armstrong Flight Research Center Chief Engineer CJ Bixby discusses what it takes to achieve airworthiness.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 95: Developmental Assignments
October 19, 2022 16:00 - 22 minutes - 31.3 MBNASA's Nick Jedrich and Andrew Maynard discuss the benefits of developmental assignments.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 94: Mars Sample Return
October 05, 2022 16:00 - 27 minutes - 37.6 MBMars Sample Return Scientists Lindsay Hays and Meenakshi Wadhwa discuss the mission to return samples from the surface of Mars to Earth.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 93: Circuit Theory Application to Animal Movement
September 21, 2022 20:33 - 29 minutes - 40.6 MBThe Nature Conservancy's Kim Hall discusses the use of NASA Earth observation data to map animal movement and patterns.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 92: Evolved Structures
September 07, 2022 13:54 - 27 minutes - 38.4 MBNASA Research Engineer Ryan McClelland discusses digital engineering technologies that are transforming classical engineering tasks and processes.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 91: OSAM-1
August 24, 2022 16:00 - 31 minutes - 43.7 MBOSAM-1 Lead Systems Engineer Wendy Morgenstern discusses NASA's On-orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing 1 mission to robotically refuel a satellite that wasn't designed to be serviced.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 90, Effects of Space Radiation
August 10, 2022 15:20 - 32 minutes - 44.4 MBNASA Space Radiation Element Scientist Robin Elgart discusses research aimed at reducing radiation health risks.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 89, The Big Dig
July 27, 2022 15:30 - 36 minutes - 50.7 MBBoston University Assistant Professor Virginia Greiman discusses enduring lessons from the largest, most technically challenging highway project in U.S. history.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 88, Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Flight
July 13, 2022 16:30 - 20 minutes - 28.2 MBIngenuity Mars Helicopter Chief Pilot Håvard Grip discusses the rotorcraft's history-making flights on the Red Planet.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 88, Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Flights
July 13, 2022 12:30 - 28.2 MBIngenuity Mars Helicopter Chief Pilot Håvard Grip discusses the rotorcraft's history-making flights on the Red Planet.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 87, NuSTAR
June 29, 2022 16:21 - 19 minutes - 26.3 MBNuSTAR Principal Investigator Fiona Harrison discusses NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 86, Astrobiology Research Coordination Networks
June 15, 2022 16:00 - 29 minutes - 40.2 MBNASA Astrobiology Program Senior Scientist Mary Voytek discusses Research Coordination Networks.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 85, Moon to Mars Habitation
June 01, 2022 16:00 - 19 minutes - 26.6 MBNASA's Tiffany Nickens discusses habitats being developed for living on the lunar surface and traveling to Mars.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 84, NASA’s Role in Weather Research
May 18, 2022 14:39 - 35 minutes - 48.7 MBNASA's Edward Kim and NOAA's Pam Sullivan discuss NASA's role in weather research.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 83, NASA’s Role in Climate Research
May 04, 2022 16:00 - 14 minutes - 20.3 MBNASA Chief Scientist and Senior Climate Advisor Kate Calvin discusses the agency's role in climate research.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 82, NASA’s Role in Agriculture
April 20, 2022 16:00 - 27 minutes - 37.4 MBNASA Water Resources and Agriculture Program Manager Brad Doorn discusses how NASA tools and data help solve big problems on Earth.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 81, Engineering Best Practices 4
April 06, 2022 16:00 - 28 minutes - 38.6 MBNASA Johnson Space Center Engineering Director Julie Kramer White discusses the skills required to be a top-notch engineer.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 81, Engineering Best Practices – Part 4
April 06, 2022 12:00 - 38.6 MBNASA Johnson Space Center Engineering Director Julie Kramer White discusses the skills required to be a top-notch engineer.