Host Dave Schlom is joined by science educator and author Trisha Muro to discuss her new book, It's (Just) Rocket Science: Exploring Physics Through Spaceflight Missions. Muro has taught high school physics, worked at the Space Telescope Science Institute, and been a lifelong lover of all things related to space.
Her book helps to unpack basic concepts in physics by using actual NASA space missions as examples. From the rocket equation to Newton's laws of motion and many other basic physics topics, Muro helps us understand why spaceflight is very difficult to do from an engineering standpoint, but actually not that complicated in terms of the fundamental science principles involved.
Find out why astronauts are weightless on the International Space Station, even though they are in a gravitational field that is nearly as strong as the surface of the Earth and how NASA uses the gravitational fields of the Sun, Moon and planets to propel space probes like the Voyagers to the edge of the solar system and beyond!
