NASA is Closed for Business - And Other Top Space Stories - YouTube
On Episode 180 of This Week In Space, Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik discuss the headlines, from the shutdown of NASA, to the risky dismantling of the space shuttle Discovery (because Texas insists), to a rogue exoplanet's weird weather, and much more.
Should we be worried about China investing in SpaceX? How about those close-up shots of the interstellar visitor 3I/Atlas? And are asteroids hiding out near Venus a threat to Earth? All this and more...
Space news of the week
- NASA closes doors to 15,000 employees as US government shutdown begins
- Senators Cruz and Cornyn Want To Chop Up Space Shuttle Discovery
- Could China return the Perseverance rover's possible biosignature sample from Mars?
- NASA Selects Blue Origin to Deliver VIPER Rover to Moon’s South Pole
- Nearly invisible asteroids around Venus could threaten Earth — but don't worry, not for a while
- Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS will be eyed by Mars and Jupiter probes as it zooms past the sun this month
- Elon Musk’s SpaceX Took Money Directly From Chinese Investors, Company Insider Testifies
- JWST delivers 1st weather report of nearby world with no sun — stormy and covered with auroras
Model Falcon 9!
Finally, did you know you can launch your own SpaceX rocket? Model rocket maker Estes' stunning scale model of a Falcon 9 rocket that you can pick up now. The launchable model is a detailed recreation of the Falcon 9 and retails for $149.99. You can save 10% by using the code IN-COLLECTSPACE at checkout, courtesy of our partners collectSPACE.com.
About This Week In Space
This Week in Space covers the new space age. Every Friday we take a deep dive into a fascinating topic. What's happening with the new race to the moon and other planets? When will SpaceX really send people to Mars?
Join Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik from Space.com as they tackle those questions and more each week on Friday afternoons. You can subscribe today on your favorite podcatcher.
Host of This Week In Space on TWiT

Host of This Week In Space on TWiT
Rod Pyle is an author, journalist, television producer and Editor-in-Chief of Ad Astra magazine. He has written 18 books on space history, exploration, and development, including Space 2.0, Innovation the NASA Way, Interplanetary Robots, Blueprint for a Battlestar, Amazing Stories of the Space Age, First On the Moon, and Destination Mars
In a previous life, Rod produced numerous documentaries and short films for The History Channel, Discovery Communications, and Disney. He also worked in visual effects on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and the Battlestar Galactica reboot, as well as various sci-fi TV pilots. His most recent TV credit was with the NatGeo documentary on Tom Wolfe's iconic book The Right Stuff.
This Week In Space co-host

This Week In Space co-host
Responsible for Space.com's editorial vision, Tariq Malik has been the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com since 2019 and has covered space news and science for 18 years. He joined the Space.com team in 2001, first as an intern and soon after as a full-time spaceflight reporter covering human spaceflight, exploration, astronomy and the night sky. He became Space.com's managing editor in 2009. As on-air talent has presented space stories on CNN, Fox News, NPR and others.
Tariq is an Eagle Scout (yes, he earned the Space Exploration merit badge), a Space Camp veteran (4 times as a kid, once as an adult), and has taken the ultimate "vomit comet" ride while reporting on zero-gravity fires. Before joining Space.com, he served as a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering city and education beats. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University.