In late September 2026, NASA <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-selects-far-infrared-telescope-as-first-in-new-mission-class/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">announced</a> that a new telescope called PRIMA was getting a green light and advancing to something called Phase B of the development process. But what does that mean exactly? How does a billion-dollar space project get thought up, designed, approved, and constructed?Flora talks with Jason Glenn, an astronomer who led the initial concept study for PRIMA, about <a href="https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/prima-telescope/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the challenges ahead</a> and the process of getting a massive space project off the ground.Guest:Dr. Jason Glenn led the concept study for the PRIMA space telescope, and is now a professor of astronomy at the University of Virginia.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at <a href="https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/prima-telescope/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">sciencefriday.com.</a>
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