Space

Geoff Notkin on the past - and future - of space exploration.

AZPM | By Mark McLemore

Published July 24, 2019 at 1:52 PM MST

NASA, Moon, Astronaut, Apollo hero — Astronaut Charles M. Duke Jr., lunar module pilot of the Apollo 16 lunar landing mission, is photographed collecting lunar samples at Station no. 1 during the first Apollo 16 extravehicular activity at the Descartes landing site. This picture, looking eastward, was taken by Astronaut John W. Young, commander. Duke is standing at the rim of Plum crater, which is 40 meters in diameter and 10 meters deep. The parked Lunar Roving Vehicle can be seen in the left background.

Stars, Night Sky, Grand Canyon hero — A field of stars lights up the night sky above the Grand Canyon in northern Arizona.

Geoff Notkin on the past - and future - of space exploration.

Featured on the July 25th, 2019 edition of ARIZONA SPOTLIGHT with host Mark McLemore:

 - Tucson-based author and meteorite expert Geoff Notkin is the current president of the National Space Society. The group’s mission is to help prepare humanity for the future of space exploration. Mark talks with Notkin about the anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, recent successes in privatized space travel, and the difference between having a “Space Force” and a “Space Guard”.

moon team titley — Left to right: Astronaut Donn Eisele, Don Wilhelms (USGS), Spencer Titley (UA), Ray Zedekar (NASA), Astronaut Theodore Freeman, Astronaut Frank Borman, Astronaut Eugene Cernan, and Harold Masursky (USGS)
(1964)

geoff notkin desert desk hero — Geoff Notkin crunches some meteorite data while at his spacious desert field desk.

  - From Mexico City, KJZZ's Rodrigo Cervantes reports on a new wave of rock ’n’ roll protest songs, as Mexican musicians sing out about immigration.

Joaquín Rosendo uniszed image — Joaquín Rosendo is a musician and producer in Mexico City.

And, on a hot summer night, Andrew Brown joins visitors at Tohono Chul to witness the annual spectacle of a Night-blooming Cereus, a desert flower often called “The Queen of the Night”.

night blooming cereus tohono chul hero — A night-blooming cereus flower, one of more than 400 in the gardens at Tohono Chul.

Arizona Spotlight airs every Thursday at 8:30 am and 6:00 pm and every Friday at 8:00 pm on NPR 89.1 FM / 1550 AM. You can subscribe to our podcast on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, or the NPR App. See more from Arizona Spotlight.

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Geoff Notkin on the past - and future - of space exploration.