IRrelevant Astronomy
Encyclopedia
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
feed produced by NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
's Spitzer Space Telescope
Spitzer Space Telescope
The Spitzer Space Telescope , formerly the Space Infrared Telescope Facility is an infrared space observatory launched in 2003...
. Unlike many other podcasts, it is set up more like a television network, with multiple series and stand-alone videos released on this single "channel." To date, the content included on the feed has all incorporated animation
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
in some manner, and generally tends to be comedic. The "IR" in the title stands for "infrared", meaning the title actually refers to "infrared-relevant astronomy."
History
The first episode launched on January 15, 2008, with the second episode being released two days later. Since then, new episodes have been released on average every one-to-two months. Each episode is released in both widescreen HD (16:9) and standard television (4:3) resolution.Early episodes often featured appearances by astronomers. Beginning in April 2009, new episodes have begun to feature celebrities. Since its launch, the show has regularly ranked as one of the top 100 video podcasts in both the "Science & Medicine" and "Natural Sciences" categories on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
.
Awards
On October 19, 2008, IRrelevant Astronomy was nominated for "Best Technology/Science Podcast" at the 2008 Podcast AwardsPodcast Awards
The People's Choice Podcast Awards, better known as the Podcast Awards, are an annual set of awards given to the best podcasts as voted by the people...
. It was one of 10 finalists in this category following a nomination process that included 281,000 votes. In October 2009, the IRrelevant Astronomy episode "Psych Out" was an official selection at the 2nd annual Imagine Science Film Festival. The IRrelevant Astronomy episode "M51 & Gizmo" has previously won multiple awards including an Aegis Award, CINE Golden Eagle, and winning a "Best of Festival" award at the Kids First Film Festival.
Production Crew
Tim Pyle - director/co-creator/writer/animator/producerTim
Tim Pyle
Tim Pyle is a filmmaker based in Southern California. He currently produces a number of animations for NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, and is a principal in an independent production company, Hogofilm....
worked for 10 years as an animator in the visual effects industry, including on the cult-favorite Invader Zim
Invader Zim
Invader Zim is an American animated television series created by Jhonen Vasquez. It was produced by and subsequently aired on Nickelodeon. The series revolves around an extraterrestrial named Zim from the planet Irk, and his ongoing mission to conquer and destroy Earth...
. Other projects include the Academy Award nominated Jimmy Neutron, Emmy nominated series Starship Troopers: the Series
Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles
Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles was a CGI animated television series based on both the novel by Robert A. Heinlein and the 1997 film adaptation directed by Paul Verhoeven...
, and the Emmy winning Children of Dune
Children of Dune
Children of Dune is a 1976 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, third in a series of six novels set in his Dune universe. Initially selling over 75,000 copies, it became the first hardcover best-seller ever in the science fiction field...
. He has personally won two Aegis Awards, a Telly
Telly Awards
The Telly Award is an award presented by the namesake, New York City-based organization. The stated purpose of the award is to "honor the very best local, regional, and cable television commercials and programs, as well as the finest video and film productions, and work created for the Web." The...
Award, a CINE
CINE
CINE is a consortium formulated to depict American life and thought realistically for a global audience. CINE recognizes and fosters the highest quality of non-theatrical film and video production through its semi-annual film competitions....
Golden Eagle, and 2006 & 2008 NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
awards for producing CG
Computer graphics
Computer graphics are graphics created using computers and, more generally, the representation and manipulation of image data by a computer with help from specialized software and hardware....
animation. Recently, he was the writer and director of Decaying Orbit
Decaying Orbit (film)
Decaying Orbit is an independent film directed by Tim Pyle and produced by Hogofilm, LLC., a production company in Southern California...
, a sci-fi DVD feature.
Jim Keller - co-creator/writer/producer
Jim is a member of the Screen Actors Guild
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...
, AFTRA, and the Actors' Equity Association
Actors' Equity Association
The Actors' Equity Association , commonly referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing the world of live theatrical performance, as opposed to film and television performance. However, performers appearing on live stage productions without a book or...
, having appeared in shows like Days of our Lives and Melrose Place. His work on NASA's Ask an Astronomer video podcast series has won a Silver Telly Award, a Bronze Telly Award, an Aegis Award, and two Aegis Finalists. Additional awards include an Aegis Award and a CINE
CINE
CINE is a consortium formulated to depict American life and thought realistically for a global audience. CINE recognizes and fosters the highest quality of non-theatrical film and video production through its semi-annual film competitions....
Golden Eagle.
Kenneth worked 10 years with the Walt Disney Company including Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, and as a coordinator for the Disney Channel. He has worked as the CFO of the Kendrea International Corporation for the past five years, produced several indie short films, and also currently works as a producer for Hogofilm, where he assisted with the production of the feature film Decaying Orbit
Decaying Orbit (film)
Decaying Orbit is an independent film directed by Tim Pyle and produced by Hogofilm, LLC., a production company in Southern California...
. He began co-producing IRrelevant Astronomy starting with the episodes released in April 2009.
Austin Wintory - music composer
Austin is a music composer for film, TV, and video games. He composed the score for Captain Abu Raed
Captain Abu Raed
Captain Abu Raed is a 2007 Jordanian Film directed and written by Amin Matalqa. It was the first feature film produced in Jordan in more than 50 years. The Royal Film Commission of Jordan endorsed Captain Abu Raed to be submitted to the 81st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, the...
, a multiple award-winning film including the World Cinema Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
in 2008. The film has been submitted by the Kingdom of Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
for a 2009 Foreign Language Oscar. Austin also composed the score to Sony's Flow video game and expansion packs for the Sony PlayStation 3 & PSP, which earned strong reviews for the quality of music.
Cast and Guest Stars
Sean AstinSean Astin
Sean Astin is an American film actor, director, voice artist, and producer better known for his film roles as Mikey Walsh in The Goonies, the title character of Rudy, and Samwise Gamgee in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. In television, he appeared as Lynn McGill in the fifth season of 24...
Well-known for leading roles in such films as Goonies, Rudy
Rudy (film)
Rudy is a 1993 American sports film directed by David Anspaugh. It is an account of the life of Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger, who harbored dreams of playing football at the University of Notre Dame despite significant obstacles...
, and the Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
The Lord of the Rings is an epic film trilogy consisting of three fantasy adventure films based on the three-volume book of the same name by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. The films are The Fellowship of the Ring , The Two Towers and The Return of the King .The films were directed by Peter...
series, Sean first appears in the episode Part Two as a scientist struggling to save the Spitzer Space Telescope. He also provides the voice of a badly-edited audiobook in the episode Behind the Scenes: When Galaxies Collide, and appears as a fictional version of himself in Behind the Scenes: Dead Stars.
Veronica Belmont
Veronica Belmont
Veronica Ann Belmont is the co-host of the Revision3 show Tekzilla alongside Patrick Norton, and the former host of the monthly PlayStation 3-based video on demand program Qore. Formerly she was the host for the Mahalo Daily podcast and a producer and associate editor for CNET Networks, Inc...
Co-host of Tekzilla
Tekzilla
Tekzilla is a biweekly video podcast on the Revision3 network. It is currently hosted by Patrick Norton, Veronica Belmont and Robert Heron with Garnett Lee and Roger Chang as frequent guest hosts...
on Revision3, and host of Qore
Qore
Qore may refer to:*Qore, a Kush monarch*Qore , an interactive online magazine for the PlayStation Network*The Qore scripting language for SMP computing environments...
on the PlayStation 3, Veronica appears on Astronomy Anemone and is consumed...by her love of space science.
Brigitte Dale
A new media
New media
New media is a broad term in media studies that emerged in the latter part of the 20th century. For example, new media holds out a possibility of on-demand access to content any time, anywhere, on any digital device, as well as interactive user feedback, creative participation and community...
actress and producer, Brigitte voices the computer in Robot Astronomy Talk Show: Destroyer of Worlds, and stars in the episode Big Bang: The Musical.
Felicia Day
Felicia Day
Kathryn Felicia Day is an American actress, known for her work as "Vi" on the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and for parts in movies such as Bring It On Again and June, as well as the Internet musical, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog...
Famous for her web series The Guild
The Guild
The Guild is an American comedy web series created and written by Felicia Day, who also stars as Cyd Sherman . It premiered on YouTube on July 27, 2007. Subsequent webisodes premiered on Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace, Zune Marketplace, and MSN Video. The webisodes were later made available on...
, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is a 2008 musical tragicomedy miniseries in three acts, produced exclusively for Internet distribution. Filmed and set in Los Angeles, the show tells the story of Dr...
, and more, Felicia appears as a fictional version of herself in the comedic Behind the Scenes: When Galaxies Collide.
Phillip Gabriel
Phillip provides the voice of Mountie Martin in Dubya: Mountie Martin and the Space Diamonds. He also provides the voiceover for the film-within-a-film at the end of Behind the Scenes: When Galaxies Collide.
Mark Hamill
Mark Hamill
Mark Richard Hamill is an American actor, voice artist, producer, director, and writer, best known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the original trilogy of Star Wars. More recently, he has received acclaim for his voice work, in such roles as the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, Firelord...
Famous for the original Star Wars trilogy, his iconic turn as the Joker in the Batman Animated series
Batman: The Animated Series
Batman: The Animated Series is an American animated series based on the DC Comics character Batman. The series featured an ensemble cast of many voice-actors including Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Arleen Sorkin, and Loren Lester. The series won four Emmy Awards and was nominated...
, and countless other films & TV shows, Mark provides a cameo as a fictional version of himself in the episode Robot Astronomy Talk Show: Gravity & the Great Attractor.
Linda Hamilton
Linda Hamilton
Linda Carroll Hamilton is an American actress best known for her portrayal of Sarah Connor in The Terminator and its sequel Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Catherine Chandler in the television series Beauty and the Beast, for which she was nominated for two Golden Globes and an Emmy...
Linda spoofs her robot-fighting character from the Terminator
Terminator (franchise)
The Terminator series is a science fiction franchise encompassing a series of films and other media concerning battles between Skynet's artificially intelligent machine network, and John Connor's Resistance forces and the rest of the human race....
films in Robot Astronomy Talk Show: Back In Time.
Buffy Henshaw
Buffy is an actress with multiple awards, including: an Aegis Award, a CINE
CINE
CINE is a consortium formulated to depict American life and thought realistically for a global audience. CINE recognizes and fosters the highest quality of non-theatrical film and video production through its semi-annual film competitions....
Golden Eagle, a 2005 Inland Theatre League Award, a 2006 Inland Theatre League Award, two 2007 Inland Theatre League Awards, three 2007-2008 Season Footlighters Excellence Awards, and a Kids First "Best of Festival" award. Buffy provides voices for the episodes M51 & Gizmo, Dubya, and Psych Out. She also appears as a deluded film director in the episodes Behind the Scenes: When Galaxies Collide, Spitzer Space Telescope: The Musical, and Behind the Scenes: Dead Stars.
Amy Okuda
Amy Okuda
Amy Okuda is an American actress, best known for her portrayal of Tinkerballa in the web series The Guild.- Career :Okuda in her early years, focused on basketball, which she played from the age of five. She began dancing in the seventh grade and took up acting a few years later.She has appeared in...
Known for her role in the comedy series The Guild
The Guild
The Guild is an American comedy web series created and written by Felicia Day, who also stars as Cyd Sherman . It premiered on YouTube on July 27, 2007. Subsequent webisodes premiered on Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace, Zune Marketplace, and MSN Video. The webisodes were later made available on...
, Amy appears as a fictional version of herself in the episode Spaceship Spitzer: Bots of Both Worlds.
Sandeep Parikh
Sandeep Parikh
Sandeep Parikh is an American writer, director, actor and producer of comedy currently residing in Silver Lake in Los Angeles, California. He is best known for his co-starring role as Zaboo on the award-winning web series The Guild...
Famous for starring in The Guild
The Guild
The Guild is an American comedy web series created and written by Felicia Day, who also stars as Cyd Sherman . It premiered on YouTube on July 27, 2007. Subsequent webisodes premiered on Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace, Zune Marketplace, and MSN Video. The webisodes were later made available on...
as well as creating, directing, writing, and producing The Legend of Neil
The Legend of Neil
The Legend of Neil is a comedy web series distributed by Comedy Central's partner Atom.com and is a parody of the Nintendo game The Legend of Zelda. Sandeep Parikh of The Guild fame directs the series. Tony Janning writes for the series, and acts as the title character Neil...
, Sandeep plays a fictional version of himself in the episode Behind the Scenes: Dead Stars.
Tom Phillips
Tom appears as "Flunky #2" (as well as additional Flunkies) in the episodes Behind the Scenes: When Galaxies Collide, Spitzer Space Telescope: The Musical, Behind the Scenes: Dead Stars, and Big Bang: The Musical.
Dean Stockwell
Dean Stockwell
Dean Stockwell is an American actor of film and television, with a career spanning over 65 years. As a child actor under contract to MGM he first came to the public's attention in films such as Anchors Aweigh and The Green Years; as a young adult he played a lead role in the 1957 Broadway and...
Recently known for playing an evil cylon robot on Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)
Battlestar Galactica is an American military science fiction television series, and part of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The show was developed by Ronald D. Moore as a re-imagining of the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series created by Glen A. Larson...
, Dean lends a sympathetic ear to the evil robots in Robot Astronomy Talk Show: Back In Time.
George Takei
George Takei
George Hosato Takei Altman is an American actor, author, social activist and former civil politician. He is best known for his role in the television series Star Trek and its film spinoffs, in which he played Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the...
Well-known as Mr. Sulu on the original Star Trek
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
, in addition to well-loved recurring appearances on Heroes
Heroes (TV series)
Heroes is an American science fiction television drama series created by Tim Kring that appeared on NBC for four seasons from September 25, 2006 through February 8, 2010. The series tells the stories of ordinary people who discover superhuman abilities, and how these abilities take effect in the...
, the Howard Stern Show
Howard Stern Show
The Howard Stern Show is an American radio show hosted by its namesake Howard Stern. It gained wide recognition in the 1990s when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from 1986 to 2005...
, and more, George appears as a fictional version of himself in the episode Robot Astronomy Talk Show: Gravity & the Great Attractor.
Danny Tieger
A singer/songwriter living in the Los Angeles area, Danny is a prolific writer of science-based songs, among other music. He composed the themes for, and stars in, the episodes Spitzer Space Telescope: The Musical and Big Bang: The Musical.
Osa Wallander
An independent film actress, and the winner of a Best Actress award at the 2007 Shockerfest Film Festival, Osa appears in the episode Part Two.
Ed Wasser
Ed Wasser
Ed Wasser is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Mr. Morden in 14 episodes of the US science fiction television series Babylon 5...
Famous for his recurring role as the sinister Mr. Morden on Babylon 5
Babylon 5
Babylon 5 is an American science fiction television series created, produced and largely written by J. Michael Straczynski. The show centers on a space station named Babylon 5: a focal point for politics, diplomacy, and conflict during the years 2257–2262...
, as well as other film & TV appearances, Ed is credited as the voice role of robot IR-2 in the Robot Astronomy Talk Show series beginning with episode 8. He also appears as robot IR-2 in the episode Spaceship Spitzer: Bots of Both Worlds.
Wil Wheaton
Wil Wheaton
Richard William "Wil" Wheaton III is an American actor and writer. As an actor, he is best known for his portrayals of Wesley Crusher on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Gordie Lachance in the film Stand by Me and Joey Trotta in Toy Soldiers...
Starring in Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
, The Guild
The Guild
The Guild is an American comedy web series created and written by Felicia Day, who also stars as Cyd Sherman . It premiered on YouTube on July 27, 2007. Subsequent webisodes premiered on Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace, Zune Marketplace, and MSN Video. The webisodes were later made available on...
, and current recurring roles on Eureka
Eureka (TV series)
Eureka is an American science fiction television series that premiered on Syfy on July 18, 2006. Since then four seasons have aired, and a fifth is currently being filmed. The second half of season 4 began on SyFy on July 11, 2011 and ended on September 19, 2011...
and The Big Bang Theory
The Big Bang Theory
The Big Bang Theory is an American sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom serve as executive producers on the show, along with Steven Molaro. All three also serve as head writers...
, Wil appears in a dual role in the episode Spaceship Spitzer: Bots of Both Worlds: as both himself & and the voice of robot co-pilot Irwin. Wil next appears as "The Physician" in the Doctor Who spoof Robot Astronomy Talk Show: Destroyer of Worlds.
Betty White
Betty White
Betty White Ludden , better known as Betty White, is an American actress, comedienne, singer, author, and former game show personality. With a career spanning seven decades since 1939, she is best known to modern audiences for her television roles as Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and...
A celebrated actress for over 50 years, Betty's filmography includes the Mary Tyler Moore Show, Golden Girls, Boston Legal
Boston Legal
Boston Legal is an American legal dramedy created by David E. Kelley, which was produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television for the ABC...
, and many more films & TV shows too numerous to count. Betty voices a fictional version of herself in the episode Part Two.
IRrelevant Astronomy Shows
The Musical: (2 episodes) Mini-musicals, using song to teach astronomy concepts.
Behind the Scenes: (2 episodes) A mock behind-the-scenes look at the production of an educational video.
Part Two: (1 episode) A spoof of old action TV shows. The bulk of the episode shows scenes from a fictitious first episode that never existed, followed by a quick conclusion that appears to wrap everything up neatly.
Psych Out: (1 episode) A short about an astronomer visiting a therapist and taking a Rorschach-type inkblot test
Rorschach test
The Rorschach test is a psychological test in which subjects' perceptions of inkblots are recorded and then analyzed using psychological interpretation, complex algorithms, or both. Some psychologists use this test to examine a person's personality characteristics and emotional functioning...
using images from the Spitzer Space Telescope
Spitzer Space Telescope
The Spitzer Space Telescope , formerly the Space Infrared Telescope Facility is an infrared space observatory launched in 2003...
.
Robot Astronomy Talk Show: (10 episodes) A series about robots who want to rule the Universe, while producing a talk show featuring interviews with celebrities and astronomers.
Dub'ya: (1 episode) An old movie is edited down and re-dubbed with dialogue about current Spitzer Space Telescope
Spitzer Space Telescope
The Spitzer Space Telescope , formerly the Space Infrared Telescope Facility is an infrared space observatory launched in 2003...
science.
Spaceship Spitzer: (3 episodes) Spitzer astronomer Dr. Michelle Thaller
Michelle Thaller
Michelle Thaller is an American astronomer and research scientist. Thaller is currently the assistant director for Science Communication at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center...
travels with a robot pilot in a spaceship based on the design of NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
's Spitzer Space Telescope
Spitzer Space Telescope
The Spitzer Space Telescope , formerly the Space Infrared Telescope Facility is an infrared space observatory launched in 2003...
. Integrating live action and CG animation, there are currently two episodes: "Enemy Mine" and "The Slowlian Web."
M51 & Gizmo: (1 episode) Innocent alien M51 accidentally unleashes havoc on the planet Earth, and learns about how life exists in the Universe.
Skinfrared: (2 episodes) A series of direct educational narratives about infrared
Infrared
Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...
as it relates to the human body. Originally screened as part of the 2007 "Skin Festival" in Pasadena, CA.