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Are We There Yet?
New episodes every Tuesday
Hosted by Brendan Byrne

A podcast about humanity’s next giant leap into space.
There’s a lot going on up there—and 'Are We There Yet?' is your guide to it all. Hosted by space reporter Brendan Byrne, this weekly podcast takes you inside the latest developments in space exploration, from NASA missions to commercial spaceflight.

What You’ll Hear

  • Deep Space Missions – NASA’s efforts to return to the Moon and journey toward Mars.
  • Solar System Science – Probes and rovers uncovering the secrets of planets, moons, and beyond.
  • Space Industry Insights – How private companies are reshaping the future of exploration.
  • Human Stories – Interviews with astronauts, engineers, and visionaries pushing boundaries.

Why Listen?
Are We There Yet? connects you to the people and ideas behind humanity’s boldest adventure. Whether you’re fascinated by rocket launches, curious about space science, or inspired by the dream of becoming an interplanetary species, this podcast brings the universe a little closer to home.

Ways To Subscribe
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Latest Episodes
  • UCF's Addie Dove and Kerri Donaldson Hannah speak with Brendan Byrne at the first Space on Tap event at the Judson's Live in Orlando.
    Space
    Moon science and Curious Space
    Brendan Byrne, Marian Summerall & Orion Boone
    This is the first event as part of Central Florida Public Medias special Space on Tap event series. We'll speak with UCF scientists about the moon and what's ahead for some lunar missions. Then, Veteran NASA astronaut Winston Scott will answer questions from curious kids and audience members.
  • Moon dust or Lunar regolith made at the Florida Space Institute’s Regolith Lab in Orlando.
    Space
    Scientists at UCF are making moon dirt for lunar chickpeas
    Marian Summerall, Orion Boone & Brendan Byrne
    Humans are getting closer to landing on the moon once again, and understanding the environment is crucial as humanity prepares to spend time on the lunar surface. That's why technicians are making artificial moon dirt and why scientists are using that synthetic lunar soil to grow plants.
  • The curblike ridge in this view is part of a series of crisscrossing features that form what's called a boxwork pattern. NASA's Curiosity Mars rover captured the image with its Mast Camera, or Mastcam, on May 16, 2025, the 4,541st Martian day, or sol, of the mission. This panorama was stitched together from 15 individual images. The color in these images has been adjusted to match the lighting conditions as the human eye would see them on Earth. When viewed from space, the boxwork patterns look a bit like spiderwebs. They have fascinated scientists since before Curiosity's 2012 landing on the Red Planet and are believed to have formed from groundwater trickling through rock cracks billions of years ago. Minerals left behind by the water hardened like cement within the rock; after eons of sandblasting by wind, the rock was carved away, revealing networks of resistant ridges within.
    Space
    Martian robots and a new space weather project
    Brendan Byrne, Marian Summerall & Orion Boone
    The Perseverance and Curiosity Rovers are exploring Mars, looking at things like boxwork formations and using new technology to navigate around the planet. Plus, a new project aims to look at how gravity waves are impacting things like GPS, radio, satellites and more.
  • This artist's concept depicts NASA's Lunar Trailblazer in lunar orbit about 60 miles (100 kilometers) from the surface of the Moon. The spacecraft weighs only 440 pounds (200 kilograms) and measures 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) wide when its solar panels are fully deployed. Lunar Trailblazer is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and its science investigation and mission operations are led by Caltech with the mission operations center at IPAC. Managed for NASA by Caltech, JPL also provides system engineering, mission assurance, the HVM3 instrument, as well as mission design and navigation. Lockheed Martin Space provides the spacecraft, integrates the flight system, and supports operations under contract with Caltech.
    Space
    A lost lunar mission and space travel impacts on reproduction
    Brendan Byrne, Marian Summerall & Orion Boone
    NASA has released the anomaly report for the Lunar Trailblazer mission, highlighting what went wrong. Plus, we will look at how scientists are learning about reproduction health from mice.
  • Engineers and technicians at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California assemble components of the Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) mission instrument in December 2021. The upper portion consists of EMIT's optical subsystem, including a telescope and imaging spectrometer, while the baseplate below holds electronics. EMIT will collect measurements of 10 important surface minerals – hematite, goethite, illite, vermiculite, calcite, dolomite, montmorillonite, kaolinite, chlorite, and gypsum – in arid regions between 50-degree south and north latitudes in Africa, Asia, North and South America, and Australia. The data EMIT collects will help scientists better understand the role of airborne dust particles in heating and cooling Earth's atmosphere on global and regional scales.
    Space
    Detecting plastics from space and how rovers can think for themselves
    Orion Boone, Brendan Byrne & Marian Summerall
    NASA's EMIT mission uses a spectrometer to detect dusts and minerals from space, and it now can detect plastics from land. Plus, the Mars rovers can move around the red planet and do science, without human help.
  • The Moon is seen shining over the SLS (Space Launch System) and Orion spacecraft, atop the mobile launcher on January 29, 2026. The rocket is currently at Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, as teams are preparing for a wet dress rehearsal to practice timelines and procedures for the launch of Artemis II.
    The science of Artemis II and a lunar latrine
    Brendan Byrne, Orion Boone & Marian Summerall
    The science the Artemis crew II will participate in on their flyby around the moon, and the new toilet joining the mission.
  • This artist's concept depicts NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft in orbit around Jupiter. Scientists believe Jupiter's icy moon Europa harbors a vast internal ocean that may have conditions suitable for supporting life. While orbiting Jupiter, the spacecraft will fly by the moon about 50 times, allowing its science instruments to gather data on Europa's atmosphere, surface, and interior – information that will help scientists learn more about the ocean, the ice crust, and potential plumes that may be venting subsurface water into space. Europa Clipper's three main science objectives are to determine the thickness of the moon's icy shell and its interactions with the ocean below, to investigate its composition, and to characterize its geology. The mission's detailed exploration of Europa will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.
    Space
    Moon science, a deeper look at one of Jupiter’s moons and our own
    Orion Boone, Marian Summerall & Brendan Byrne
    Europa, one of Jupiter’s icy moons could harbor life, but maybe not in the same way that Earth has life. Plus, we will take a look at radiation on our own moon, and why studying its impacts is important for future missions.
  • NASA astronaut Christina Koch, Artemis II mission specialist, second from left, speaks to members of the media alongside fellow crewmates CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, Artemis II mission specialist, left, and NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Artemis II pilot, and Reid Wiseman, Artemis II commander as NASA’s Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft rolls out to Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. In the coming weeks, engineers will prepare for the wet dress rehearsal, a two-day test that simulates launch day. The Artemis II test flight will take Wiseman, Glover, Koch, and Hansen around the Moon and back to Earth no later than April 2026.
    Space
    Artemis II on the cover of TIME and Pandora on the hunt for other worlds
    Marian Summerall, Orion Boone & Brendan Byrne
    The crew of Artemis II is on the latest cover of TIME Magazine. In the issue, editor at large Jeffrey Kluger chronicles the mission. Plus, a new spacecraft is taking a closer look at exoplanets and their atmospheres.
  • This image shows NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) and Orion spacecraft rolling out of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. NASA's massive Crawler-Transporter, upgraded for the Artemis program, carries the powerful SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft on the Mobile Launcher from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in preparation for the Artemis II mission.
    Space
    Artemis II, lunar lessons and Canadian contributions
    Orion Boone, Brendan Byrne & Marian Summerall
    The second Artemis mission is preparing for launch. The Space Launch Systems rocket is now on the launch pad with the Orion spacecraft, waiting to take a crew of four on a flyby around the moon. Plus, for Canada, this will be the first time a one of their astronauts will flyby around the moon.
  • NASA’s SLS rocket makes its journey Saturday from Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B
    Space
    Artemis II readies for flight and a look at tardigrades, a microscopic marvel
    Marian Summerall, Orion Boone & Brendan Byrne
    NASA rolled out its Orion spacecraft and SLS rocket, preparing to launch the second Artemis mission. Plus, scientists are studying microscopic organisms called Tardigrades to see how resilient they are when it comes to extreme environments, like space.
  • Astronaut Robert L. Curbeam Jr., STS-116 mission specialist, meets the NASA logo up close during the Dec. 14 space walk to perform ISS work, which he shared with European Space Agency astronaut Christer Fuglesang.
    Space
    NASA’s next budget and the search for habitable worlds
    Orion Boone, Brendan Byrne & Marian Summerall
    Congress is moving forward with an appropriation that would only cut about 1% of NASA’s current budget. Plus, a look at a mission that will search for signs of life on distant planets.
  • CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist is seen as he can his crew mates NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, commander (not pictured); Victor Glover, pilot; and Christina Koch, mission specialist depart the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building to board their Orion spacecraft atop NASA’s Space Launch System rocket inside the Vehicle Assembly Building as part of the Artemis II countdown demonstration test, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. For this operation, the Artemis II crew and launch teams are simulating the launch day timeline including suit-up, walkout, and spacecraft ingress and egress. Through the Artemis campaign, NASA will send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars, for the benefit of all.
    Space
    Space 2026 and a plan to rescue a dying space telescope
    Orion Boone, Brendan Byrne & Marian Summerall
    It was a busy year for space news last year, and 2026 is shaping up to be another exciting year on the space beat. Plus, NASA and partners are trying to rescue a telescope before it burns up in Earth's atmosphere.