The Future of Space Exploration Amid NASA Mission Shutdowns
The Michael Shermer Show
Michael Shermer
4.3 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 6 September 2025
⏱️ 67 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode of The Michael Shermer Show, Michael Shermer interviews Alan Stern, a prominent planetary scientist and astronaut. Stern discusses his recent suborbital flight, the differences between government and private space initiatives, and the scientific implications of UFO sightings. He also shares insights about the evolution and future of space exploration, including details about the rarely talked about upcoming termination of dozens of already paid-for NASA missions.
Alan Stern is a planetary scientist, astronaut, and author. NASA has selected him to be the first researcher NASA funded to fly to space as a crewmember aboard a commercial suborbital space mission. Since 2001 he has led NASA's $900M New Horizons mission that explored the Pluto system and is now exploring the Kuiper Belt—the farthest exploration of worlds in history. In 2007 and 2008, Dr. Stern served as NASA's chief of all space and Earth science programs, directing its $5B/year Science Mission Directorate (SMD), with 93 separate flight missions and a program of over 3,000 research grants. In 2022, he took part in a deep-sea expedition to explore the RMS Titanic in a submersible.
Transcript
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| 1:10.3 | You're listening to the Michael Shermer Show. |
| 1:21.7 | All right, everybody, it's time for another episode of the Michael Shermer show. |
| 1:25.3 | I'm your host, as usual. |
| 1:26.7 | Michael Shermer, my guest today is Alan Stern. |
| 1:30.6 | He is a planetary scientist, a flown commercial astronaut. |
| 1:34.9 | Oh, we've got to talk about that. |
| 1:36.7 | Space Program Executive Aerospace Consultant and an author. |
| 1:40.3 | He was last on the show with his co-author, David Grinspoon, |
| 1:43.7 | for their book, Chasing New Horizons, Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto. |
| 1:49.2 | So we'll get an update on that. |
| 1:50.9 | During's first space flight, a research and training mission occurred in 2023. |
| 1:56.1 | NASA has selected him to be the first researcher NASA funded to fly to space as a crew member aboard a |
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