Mysterious moons of ice and sea this week on planetary radio. Hi everyone, welcome to Public Radio's travel show that takes you to the final frontier.

I'm Matt Kaplan. Last week's Boulder

Colorado Workshop was officially titled,

Icees, Oceans and Fire,

satellites of the outer solar system. Planetary scientist Bill McKinnon was in the thick of it.

He'll help us explore Europa, Enceladus, and Titan, three bodies that dominated many of the

sessions.

Bruce Betts also checks in from the road. Our man reports from Space Fest

in Mesa, Arizona where it was almost too hot to go outside for a look at a very busy night sky.

I say say almost. And Emily Lock DiWala will answer

another of your questions about space exploration, this time focusing on what may be the

universe's most exotic rocket fuel.

The space shuttle heads home a day early.

That story moved as we were polishing off this week's show.

It was just a couple of days after NASA determined no repairs were necessary for the damage

to endeavors underside caused by foam or ice from the external tank. So why the rush? The Space Agency is worried that Hurricane

Dean could force the shutdown of mission control in Houston. It wants the

astronauts safely on the ground before that can happen. It was a busy mission, delivery of tons of cargo

for spacewalks, installation of a new truss and a gyroscope, and more student interaction

than usual, not surprising with teacher Barbara Morgan on board.

I bet you never thought you'd see a giant star that looks like a comet.

Check out the image of Mira taken by the Galaxy Evolution Explorer.

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