This more-or-less weekly, five-minute podcast about a key development in space exploration or space science has virtually nothing in common with such reverential productions as, say, the education-oriented, space-is-a-fascinating place daily radio series Earth & Sky. Slacker Astronomy takes a topic, gives the basic facts, and then uses a bit of comedy radio theatre to explain it. For example, a recent podcast about the fact that the first two Voyager probes were about to exit the solar system began with a clip from the inane "oh-wow" moment in "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" when Captain Kirk realized that the insignia VYGR in a stray satellite his crew encountered stood for... Voyager!
This was the perfect segue to the podcast's main theme - which described how Voyager 2 was actually launched before Voyager 1. "Astronomers always do weird things .. but since when do astronomers need a reason to be weird," co-host Pamela Gay says.
Still, Slacker Astronomy is mis-named. From the title, the production sounds like skateboarders reflecting on like what's up there, dewwd. No, not exactly, considering that Gay holds an Astronomy Ph.D. and works at Harvard Science Center. Her co-host Aaron Price has a master's in Astronomy. Neither are "slackers," but use that description to reinforce the notion that while Slacker Astronomy has a firm foundation in the facts, its theater-troupe flavor means it won't be full of either too much wonder or equation-ridden drone.
