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Dr. Stern is a planetary scientist, a member of the Challenger Center board and the former Associate Administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate. He is the principal investigator of the New Horizons mission to Pluto. Dr. Stern records a popular monthly series of space science podcasts for Challenger Center.

• Suborbital Science: Barnstorming the Space Frontier; Featuring Challenger Center Board member Dr. Alan Stern
  Credit: Jim Arthurs, Producer

• The Pluto Files with Dr. Neil Tyson on NOVA

Interviews with Challenger Center on YouTube

• Dwarf Planets and Exoplanets with Dr. Alan Stern
  Dr. Alan Stern, planetary scientist, discusses dwarf planets in and out of our solar system and NASA missions to explore them; and introduces types of exoplanets around other stars and NASA missions to search for them.
• Exploring Comets!
  Dr. Stern, a planetary scientist and principal investigator for NASA's New Horizon mission to Pluto talks about comets, where they come from, what they are made of and what they tell us about our solar system.
• Jupiter’s Amazing Moons
  Dr. Alan Stern introduces us to the gas giant Jupiter, and some of its interesting Moons: Ganymede, Callisto, Europa, Io and Amalthea.
• Origin of Our Solar System
  Explore the origin of the solar system with Dr. Alan Stern and learn more about how our Sun, moons, planets and dwarf planets evolved.
• Asteroid Impact Hazards
  Explore the dangers of asteroid impacts with Dr. Alan Stern. How is NASA tracking large asteroids that may collide with Earth? How could we deflect a collision course asteroid?

Audio Podcast Interviews

• Dragon and DragonLab with Dr. Alan Stern
  Dr. Stern, Director of the Florida Space Institute, discusses the NASA Commercial Crew and Cargo Program Office and the Dragon spacecraft designed to send cargo and crew to the International Space Station.

• NASA Missions for 2012 with Dr. Alan Stern
  Dr. Alan Stern, planetary scientist, discusses the Mars Science Laboratory mission scheduled for November of 2011 and a series of new NASA missions for 2012.
  
• The New Horizons Mission to Pluto
  In this exclusive interview Dr. Alan Stern, planetary scientist and principal investigator for the New Horizons mission to Pluto discusses the composition of this icy dwarf planet and its four moons, his role as principal investigator on the New Horizons Mission, its extended mission to the Kuiper Belt and details about the mission instruments and timeline.
• Exoplanets and the Kepler Mission with Dr. Alan Stern
  Dr. Alan Stern, planetary scientist, talks about exoplanets and NASA’s Kepler mission to discover Earth-sized planets around other stars.
• The NASA GRAIL Mission with Dr. Alan Stern
  Dr. Alan Stern, planetary scientist, discusses the NASA lunar Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory, or GRAIL, mission - scheduled to launch this September. GRAIL will fly twin spacecraft in tandem orbits around the moon for 82 days to measure its gravity field. 
  
• Commercial Crews
  NASA Commercial Crew Programs – Dr. Alan Stern former Associate Administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate discusses the new commercial crew vehicle program at NASA where four private companies have been selected to compete for the job of flying crews between Earth and the International Space Station.
• Satellite Planets with Dr. Alan Stern
  Planetary scientist, Dr. Alan Stern gives an explanation of the many interesting satellite planets in our solar system including, our Moon, Titan, Triton and the Galilean satellites at Jupiter (and others).
• Juno to Jupiter with Dr. Alan Stern
  Dr. Alan Stern, planetary scientist, discusses the upcoming mission Juno, scheduled to launch in August of 2011 to the planet Jupiter to learn more about it's atmosphere and magnetosphere.
• The Planetary Decadal Survey with Dr. Alan Stern
  Dr. Alan Stern, planetary scientist, discusses the Planetary Decadal Survey, a ranking for NASA by planetary scientists of the highest priority robotic space missions for the coming decade.
• Shuttle Era Science
  Dr. Alan Stern, planetary scientist, discusses the last three decades of science on the Space Shuttle including astronomy, earth science, microgravity research and student experiments.
• Space Station Science
  Dr. Alan Stern, planetary scientist, discusses current and past science activities and results on the International Space Station and plans for continuing the space station into the 2020s.
• Stardust NExT: Flyby of Comet Tempel 1 with Dr. Alan Stern
  Planetary scientist, Dr. Alan Stern, discusses the NASA Stardust NExT spacecraft that flew by Comet Tempel 1 on February 14, 2011. The comet had been previously visited by the Deep Impact mission in 2005.
  
• NASA EPOXI Mission to Comet Hartley-2 with Dr. Alan Stern
  Dr. Alan Stern, planetary scientist discusses the approach of the NASA EPOXI spacecraft a day in advance of its historic encounter with the comet. EPOXI is an extension of NASA's Deep Impact mission.
• New NASA Missions for 2011
  Dr. Alan Stern, planetary scientist, describes new NASA missions planned for 2011, including the last flights of the Space Shuttle, and the AQUARIUS, JUNO, GRAIL, and Mars Science Laboratory missions to study Earth, Jupiter, the Moon and Mars.
• Black Holes and Quasars
  Dr. Alan Stern, planetary scientist, describes two of the most mysterious objects in our universe, black holes and quasars. What are they and how do we know?
• Dwarf Planets and Exoplanets with Dr. Alan Stern
  Dr. Alan Stern, planetary scientist discusses dwarf planets in and out of our solar system and NASA missions to explore them, and the discovery of exoplanets in other solar systems and NASA missions to find other worlds.
  
• The WISE Mission
  Let planetary scientist Dr. Alan Stern introduce you to NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE mission, to map the sky in infrared, search for near-Earth objects and make other surprising discoveries.
• Interesting Moons of Saturn with Dr. Alan Stern
  Dr. Alan Stern discusses the moons of Saturn including Titan and Enceladus, possible sites of biological life, and the many types of moons including shepherd moons, moonlets and irregular moons, all in the context of the Cassini mission.
• Suborbital Science - Learn more about suborbital science opportunities and benefits with Dr. Alan Stern. Information about the upcoming Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference.
• The Sun-Earth Connection with Dr. Alan Stern - Dr. Alan Stern discusses the Sun and its influence on the Earth. Learn more about solar flares and their effects on spacecraft, satellites and humans.
• Exploring Comets - Dr. Stern, a planetary scientist and principal investigator for NASA's New Horizon mission to Pluto talks about comets, where they come from, what they are made of and what they tell us about our solar system.
• Birth and Death of Stars - Learn about how stars are born, live and die. Dr. Alan Stern discusses the colors and sizes of stars, stellar companions and the many diverse types of stars in our universe.
• Interesting Moons of Jupiter - Dr. Alan Stern introduces us to the gas giant Jupiter, and some of its interesting Moons: Ganymede, Callisto, Europa, Io and Amalthea.
• Origin of the Solar System - Explore the origin of the solar system with Dr. Alan Stern and learn more about how our Sun, moons, planets and dwarf planets evolved.
• Asteroid Impact Hazards - Explore the dangers of asteroid impacts with Dr. Alan Stern. How is NASA tracking large asteroids that may collide with Earth? How could we deflect a collision course asteroid?
• Space Weather - Dr. Alan Stern discusses "space weather", a term for the effects of the Sun on our planet (and solar system) and how scientists study it, are trying to predict it and learn how to mitigate its harmful effects.
• 2009 NASA Missions - Dr. Alan Stern discusses NASA's upcoming Hubble Servicing Mission, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) missions, and the Kepler and Glory missions.
• Exploring Our Universe - A discussion with Dr. Alan Stern exploring the many facets of our universe, its age, size, galaxies, black holes and more!
• Exploring Mars - Dr. Alan Stern discusses past, present and future missions to the planet Mars.
• Water on the Moon? - Dr. Alan Stern talks with Challenger Center about the implications of finding water on the Moon.
• The Pluto Controversy - Dr. Alan Stern, planetary scientist and former Associate Administrator at NASA's Science Mission Directorate discusses his views on "The Great Debate" about the classification of Pluto as a dwarf planet.