This Week In Space podcast: Episode 188 — A New NASA Leader Rises?

Is a new NASA leader ascending? – Trump’s chosen NASA chief Jared Isaacman meets with Congress again – YouTube

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In episode 188 of This Week In Space, Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik talk about Jared Isaacman, the billionaire businessman, philanthropist, and private astronaut, who came to Capitol Hill this week for his second confirmation hearing as President Trump’s choice for the next leader of NASA. Here’s what it could mean, too:

A Russian cosmonaut was kicked off a SpaceX flight for allegedly trying to steal spacecraft secrets, China’s first reusable rocket, Zhuque-3, reached orbit but crashed and burned (and exploded) during landing, and Russia accidentally destroyed the only launch pad it has for astronauts with the launch of the new ISS crew on Thanksgiving Day.

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Space news of the week.

Falcon 9 model!

Lastly, did you know you can launch your own SpaceX rocket? Rocket model maker Estes Impressive scale model of a Falcon 9 rocket that you can purchase now. The launchable model is a detailed recreation of the Falcon 9 and sells for $149.99. You can save 10% by using code IN-COLLECTSPACE at checkout, courtesy of our partners CollectSPACE.com.

About this week in space

This Week in Space covers the new space age. Every Friday we delve into a fascinating topic. What is happening with the new race to the moon and other planets? When will SpaceX actually send people to Mars?

Join Space.com’s Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik as they tackle those questions and more each week on Friday afternoons. You can subscribe to your favorite podcatcher today.

Host of This Week In Space on TWiT

Host of This Week In Space on TWiT

Rod Pyle

Rod Pyle is an author, journalist, television producer and editor-in-chief of advertisement-astra magazine. He has written 18 books on space history, exploration and development, including Space 2.0, NASA-style innovation, Interplanetary robots, Blueprint for a Battlestar, Amazing stories from the space age, first on the moonand Destination Mars

In a previous life, Rod produced numerous documentaries and short films for The History Channel, Discovery Communications and Disney. He also worked on visual effects on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and the Galactic Battlestar reboot, as well as several sci-fi television pilots. His most recent television credit was with the NatGeo documentary about Tom Wolfe’s iconic book. The right thing.

This Week in Space Co-Host

This Week in Space Co-Host

Tariq Malik

Tariq Malik, responsible for Space.com’s editorial vision, has been editor-in-chief of Space.com since 2019 and has covered space news and science for 18 years. He joined the Space.com team in 2001, first as an intern and soon after as a full-time spaceflight reporter covering human spaceflight, exploration, astronomy and the night sky. He became editor-in-chief of Space.com in 2009. As an on-air talent, he has presented space stories on CNN, Fox News, NPR and others.

Tariq is an Eagle Scout (yes, he earned the Space Exploration merit badge), a veteran of Space Camp (four times as a child, once as an adult), and has last taken a “voke comet” trip while reporting on zero-gravity fires. Before joining Space.com, he served as a reporter for the Los Angeles Times covering city and education issues. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University.