April 16th radio show online

Sorry for the delay, but the April 16th radio show is now online and available here. This show marked the end of our ongoing series on Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), which I hoped you enjoyed listening to as much as I enjoyed compiling. On this program discussed:

• Calendar of upcoming science events in the greater Poughkeepsie / New York City area.
• Interview with Dr. Ann Hornschemeier of GSFC on Constellation-X, the proposed successor to current X-ray satellites Chandra and XMM.
• News: European Space Agency recruiting new astronauts, apply here; congratulations to Dr. Michael Luther for being promoted to head of NASA's Programs Office in Science Directorate; congratulation to the Stardust team for the multiple awards they have won, and good luck to them on Stardust-NExT which will flyby Comet Tempel 1 on Feb. 2011; congrats to the Cassini team for having their mission extended by two years to July 2010, and may it be extended many more times; flight path of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander adjusted in preparation for its May 25th landing on Mars (link); final pieces of GLAST being assembled on Delta II rocket in preparation for May 16th launch; HiRISE came of NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter takes color and 3D image of Mars's moon Phobos, available here; NASA launches new science website; Stephen Hawking to speak at lecture series honoring NASA's 50th birthday; call for Italy to invest more in science and technology.
• Neutron Stars: Bursts of X-ray emission detected from a radio pulsar never seen before from a radio pulsar but similar to that observed quite often from a "magnetar," a class of young neutron stars whose emission is powered by the decay of extremely strong magnetic fields (10^14 G, Earth has a magnetic field of 0.3 G) as opposed to the loss of rotation energy believed to power the emission of "normal" radio pulsars like the Crab Pulsar. Why this radio pulsar is now behaving like a magnetar is not known, but suggests that maybe some radio pulsars can evolve into magnetars (link, paper).

Thank you very much for listening, and hope you enjoyed. Please email or leave below any comments, questions, or concerns you might have. And again, thank you.