How Lying In Bed For 60 Days Helps Astronauts

More from NASA's Curious Universe

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   S10 · E5 · 23 Sep 2025 · 28 min

   What Webb Is Teaching Us About Our Solar System

   NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is hard at work answering our biggest questions about the birth of our universe and faraway galaxies. But some astronomers are pointing its powerful eyes much closer to home. In this episode, Caltech astronomer Katherine de Kleer explains how Webb is rewriting our understanding of objects within our solar system–from space rocks in the asteroid belt to the icy and volcanic moons of Jupiter and Saturn.

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   S10 · E4 · 3 Sep 2025 · 24 min

   Webb's Exoplanet Research Sounds Like Sci-Fi—But It's Real

   Some exoplanets—like a gas giant with rain made of glass and 5,000-mile-per-hour winds—sound like worlds dreamed up by a science fiction writer. But they’re real. From light-years away, scientists can uncover details about planets orbiting distant stars and even ask whether some exoplanets could support life. Néstor Espinoza, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute, explains how NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is revealing new details about exoplanets, especially rocky worlds like Earth.

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   S10 · E3 · 4 Aug 2025 · 28 min

   Why Webb's Earliest Galaxies Are Blowing Scientists' Minds

   With the James Webb Space Telescope, we are seeing the early universe like never before. Webb produces beautiful images and detailed scientific data that leave astronomers in awe. In this episode, Mic Bagley, a NASA scientist on the Webb team, guides us through new discoveries made possible by Webb. Mic tells the story of a remarkable galaxy discovered in the early days of Webb’s science mission and explains why Webb is teaching us “everything” about how galaxies form and evolve.

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   S9 · E5 · 20 May 2025 · 29 min

   Earth Series: What's Next for NASA Earth Science

   NASA has a record of Earth observations going back more than 50 years. What might be in store for the next 50 years? In this finale of our Earth series, we hear from two scientists helping to chart the course of NASA Earth science. There are still many unanswered questions about our home planet. As the only planet that we know to have life, studying Earth is also crucial as NASA searches for other habitable worlds.

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   S9 · E4 · 6 May 2025 · 39 min

   Earth Series: Monitoring the Air We Breathe

   Take a deep breath, and you’re inhaling oxygen from Earth’s atmosphere. Take a walk outside, and the atmosphere is shielding you from harmful radiation. NASA research provides crucial data to understand air quality and the intricate processes happening in the sky above us. In this episode, hear the inside story of NASA’s research into the ozone layer. Left unchecked, our reliance on ozone-depleting chemicals threatened to expose the entire planet to dangerous UV radiation. We’ll also fly along with Laura Judd, a NASA scientist studying air quality in the U.S. and around the world.

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   S9 · E3 · 29 Apr 2025 · 32 min

   Earth Series: From Space to Your Plate

   Earth has an incredibly varied and ever-changing landscape—jagged mountains, arid deserts, lush rainforests, rolling wheat fields. Before NASA came on the scene, no one was keeping a systematic eye on the ground from above. NASA scientist Brad Doorn explains how one long-running satellite program collects the data farmers need to grow the crops that feed the world.

7. 

   S13 · E6 · 22 Sep 2026 · 26 min

   Encore: Welcome to the Dark Side

   Normal matter—the kind that makes up our home planet and everything we can see—adds up to just five percent of the known universe. The other 95 percent is dark matter and dark energy. NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will settle essential questions about this dark side, especially dark energy, one of the biggest mysteries in all of science. In this encore presentation, hear how NASA astrophysicists study dark matter and dark energy and why they are making scientists reconsider our basic understanding of the universe. This episode was originally published in 2023. For the latest news…

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   S13 · E5 · 5 Sep 2026 · 22 min

   Roman Series: Liftoff!

   NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is in space, taking its first steps to explore the cosmos. Relive Roman’s launch—and the emotion that goes along with the roar of a rocket—with NASA experts who worked on the telescope for years. Plus, learn what happens next and when to expect Roman’s first images. Learn more about the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope at nasa.gov/roman.

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   S13 · E4 · 27 Aug 2026 · 27 min

   Roman Series: Why NASA’s Roman Space Telescope Will Make Unexpected Discoveries

   Take a deep dive into the science of NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope with Julie McEnery, Roman's senior project scientist. Learn why Roman’s survey data will be so detailed that they could cover a 4K screen the size of dozens of city blocks and why Julie says she doesn’t hope Roman changes our understanding of the universe—she knows it will. A video version of this episode is available on YouTube.

10. 

    S13 · E3 · 25 Aug 2026 · 33 min

    Roman Series: The Technology Inside NASA’s Newest Space Telescope

    What makes NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope a powerful tool with an unprecedented wide view of the cosmos? NASA engineers who designed, built, and tested Roman pop the hood to explain the unique technology inside. Go inside the huge NASA clean room where Roman was built, and get an up-close look at the testing campaign that ensures Roman will succeed in the cold, inhospitable conditions of space. Learn more about the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope at nasa.gov/roman

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