Looking for a fun way to keep up with all the cool science and engineering breakthroughs that are taking place at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center? Now available for free from the iTunes store is the official NASA Goddard Shorts podcast series. By going on iTunes and subscribing to the new podcast, you will gain an “all access” pass to the center, with short videos about the fascinating work being carried out by some of the most talented individuals that NASA employs.
Goddard Space Flight Center, located in Greenbelt, Md., is home to the Nation’s largest organization of scientists and engineers working to expand our knowledge of the Earth, solar system and the Universe. Goddard has dedicated its mission to discover and learn more about space and Earth sciences so that we may obtain a better understanding of our planet and the mysteries of the universe. With so many exciting projects going on at the center, this new podcast series gives us a chance to show the world what we’re up to.
The word “podcast” is short for “personal on-demand broadcast” and refers to a collection of audio or video content driven by subscription software called “Really Simple Syndication” (RSS). They generally use the popular Mp3 and Mp4 formats and can be subscribed to using a number of services and programs. Goddard’s new podcast consists of short videos that are updated weekly to show off all the activities, science, and engineering currently happening at the Center.
One way to subscribe and view the podcast is via Apple’s iTunes software. All you have to do is log in to the iTunes Store and do a search for “NASA Goddard”. Once there, you can download these cool videos as well as check out many of the other podcasts NASA offers.
NASA Goddard Shorts cover a wide array of topics that well reflect the diversity of the center. With more than a dozen exciting missions planned for the coming year, you can expect the podcast to keep you up to date on all of them. This includes the recently launched Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST), the preparations for Hubble Space Telescope’s Servicing Mission 4 this fall, and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Solar Dynamics Observatory, both spacecraft currently being built and tested in Goddard’s facilities.
Goddard’s scientific investigations and research promote greater knowledge of Earth and Space sciences for both the scientific community and the rest of the world. A few of the topics covered are the changing climate, space weather, and observations of deep space. Many of the videos feature the award-winning products of Goddard’s Scientific Visualization Studio, whose work facilitates the understanding of NASA discoveries through visualization.
Ultimately though, NASA Goddard Shorts is about the people who work at Goddard. From Nobel Prize winning physicist John Mather to the summer interns who flock to the center each June, the videos tell the stories of the brains behind every project, every invention and every discovery.
To subscribe to the podcast, go to the NASA Goddard Shorts home page: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/iTunes
Make sure to check out other NASA podcasts at: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/podcasting/
