Further Together the ORAU Podcast

Further Together the ORAU Podcast


So much left to discover: A conversation with Ben Hord, PhD, NASA Postdoctoral Fellow

May 15, 2025

Looking up at the night sky can make anyone feel small, but for Ben Hord, Ph.D., a NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow, looking at the sky is also a reminder of how much there is left to discover, and how many people can be part of that journey. Hord is in his second year of his Fellowship, working on the Pandora SmallSat mission. Set to launch in fall 2025, Pandora will study at least 20 exoplanets, planets outside our solar system, and their stars to figure out what their atmospheres are made of. In this episode of Further Together, Hord discusses his research, his career trajectory, how he became a scientist and more. To learn more about the NASA Postdoctoral Program and when applications open, visit https://npp.orau.org/index.html