Bill Nye Takeover

About This Episode

How can we build a new Moon program while slashing science funding? Bill Nye takes the host’s chair alongside Chuck Nice to tackle one of the most urgent issues facing our future in space with Casey Dreier, Chief of Space Policy at The Planetary Society, who’s been tracking and analyzing NASA’s funding for years.

Why are we cutting NASA’s budget in half, right when we need it most? What’s the difference between human spaceflight and scientific exploration? Bill and Casey trace NASA’s mission back to its origins in 1958, exploring how Earth observation became one of its most vital roles. What happens to climate research when we stop monitoring our planet?

What do space cuts mean for everyday life? With less than half of a percent of the federal budget going to NASA, are we really “saving” money or just shrinking our curiosity? From Mars sample return missions and the search for life to the philosophical question of whether we want to keep looking up, the team explores why exploration matters.

We confront the new space race with China, the politics behind NASA’s funding, and how ordinary citizens can make a difference. If space exploration reflects who we are as a people, the question isn’t just what’s out there, it’s what kind of future do we want to build here? Together, they unpack what these unprecedented cuts mean for science, exploration, and our place in the cosmos.

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