ENCORE For a half-century, space has been the playground of large, government agencies. While everyone could dream of becoming an astronaut, few could actually do so. Things have changed. We hear how a geeky son of immigrant parents incentivized the ground-breaking launch of SpaceShipOne, and spawned the commercial rocket industry.  And while you’re waiting for a ticket to ride, why not build your own satellite to keep tabs on the kids or just check out the back forty? A CubeSat could be your next basement project. And the hitherto untold story of how black women mathematicians a half-century ago helped get a man into orbit, and astronauts to the moon. Guests: Margot Lee Shetterly – Author of Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race. Simon “Pete” Worden – Chairman of the Breakthrough Prize Foundation and former Center Director of NASA Ames Research Center Julian Guthrie – Journalist and author of How to Make a Spaceship: A Band of Renegades, an Epic Race, and the Birth of Private Spaceflight Eddie Allison – Head of Aviation Services, Orbital Access Sean League – Cofounder and Spacecraft Engineering Director, SpaceFab.US John Gruener – Planetary Scientist, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston   Takanori Shibata – Chief Senior Research Scientist and Professor, National Institute for Advanced Industrial Science and Technology  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ENCORE For a half-century, space has been the playground of large, government agencies. While everyone could dream of becoming an astronaut, few could actually do so. Things have changed. We hear how a geeky son of immigrant parents incentivized the ground-breaking launch of SpaceShipOne, and spawned the commercial rocket industry.  And while you’re waiting for a ticket to ride, why not build your own satellite to keep tabs on the kids or just check out the back forty? A CubeSat could be your next basement project. And the hitherto untold story of how black women mathematicians a half-century ago helped get a man into orbit, and astronauts to the moon. Guests: Margot Lee Shetterly – Author of Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race. Simon “Pete” Worden – Chairman of the Breakthrough Prize Foundation and former Center Director of NASA Ames Research Center Julian Guthrie – Journalist and author of How to Make a Spaceship: A Band of Renegades, an Epic Race, and the Birth of Private Spaceflight Eddie Allison – Head of Aviation Services, Orbital Access Sean League – Cofounder and Spacecraft Engineering Director, SpaceFab.US John Gruener – Planetary Scientist, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston   Takanori Shibata – Chief Senior Research Scientist and Professor, National Institute for Advanced Industrial Science and Technology  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices