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Trouble Brewing At Blue Origin & The Search For Intergalactic Polluters

Jeff Bezos announced plans to build Blue Moon, a lander designed and developed by Blue Origin, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Draper. Photo: Blue Origin.
Jeff Bezos announced plans to build Blue Moon, a lander designed and developed by Blue Origin, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Draper. Photo: Blue Origin.

There’s trouble brewing at private aerospace company Blue Origin. Jeff Bezos’ rocket company took a gamble on its bid for NASA’s human lunar lander contract and lost, according to documents obtained by The Verge via FOIA requests. The documents shed light on how Blue Origin operates and NASA’s view of the commercial company.

That’s not all for Blue. Last week, 21 former and current employees published an essay detailing a hostile work environment, sexist managers and allegations of safety violations that the Federal Aviation Administration is now investigating.

We’ll speak with space reporter Joey Roulette about his reporting on NASA’s souring relationship with Blue Origin and the allegations made by its employees.

Then, to find aliens on other planets some astronomers are looking for intergalactic polluters. Florida Institute of Technology assistant professor Manasvi Lingam joins the show to talk about his search for life in our universe and how looking for signs of planetary pollution like greenhouse gas might help us uncover our galactic neighbors. He's also the co-author of the book  Life in the Cosmos: From Biosignatures to Technosignatures.

Brendan covers space news for WMFE, everything from rocket launches to the latest scientific discoveries in our universe. He hosts WMFE's weekly radio show and podcast "Are We There Yet?" which explores human space exploration. Brendan is a native Floridian, born and raised in Broward County. He moved to Central Florida in 2005 to attend the University of Central Florida. He began working at WMFE as a college intern where he discovered his love for public radio.