The Firsthand Story of Homer Hickam "Don't Blow Yourself Up" - Astronomy News with The Cosmic Companion 12 October, 2021
October Sky inspiration Homer Hickam talks about his life from Coalwood, West Virginia to the stars - with some SCUBA diving along the way.
Rocket Boys author Homer Hickam tells us his story, from Coalwood, West Virginia to becoming a legendary rocket designer and underwater explorer.
This week on Astronomy News with The Cosmic Companion, we welcome NASA legend Homer Hickam to the show. The inspiration for the movie October Sky talks about growing up in a West Virginia coal-mining town, his new book, Don’t Blow Yourself Up, and... teaching David Letterman how to SCUBA dive?
But first, we look in on an extreme exoplanet where iron rains down from the sky, we join NASA as they ready to deflect an asteroid for the first time, and we will join a Russian film crew which recently arrived at the ISS, preparing to shoot the first movie in space.
Watch the video here, or listen to this episode as a podcast at: https://bit.ly/TCC-211012-pod
Upcoming Guests
19 October (s5/e15): Dr. Jenifer Millard, co-presenter, Awesome Astronomy podcast. Science journalist, Fifth Star Labs Sky Guide
plus – just added~ Esen Ercan Alp of Argonne National Laboratory – Studying samples from the asteroid Ryugu!
26 October (s5/e16): Halloween Special! ~just added~ The science of Halloween with Erika Engelhaupt, author of Gory Details.
More great shows to be announced soon!
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Thanks for watching, listening, and sharing!
Clear skies,
James