NASA's Lucky Peanuts - Interview with JPL's Dr Morgan Cable
Season 1 Episode 6 · Whimsical Wavelengths
Episode overview
NASA is synonymous with cutting-edge technology, billion-dollar missions, and engineering precision. But beneath the equations, flight software, and mission timelines, NASA is also full of humans—and humans are wonderfully weird.
In this episode of Whimsical Wavelengths, geophysicist Jeffrey Zurek explores one of NASA’s most enduring traditions: Lucky Peanuts. What began as a light-hearted attempt to ease tension during a string of failed lunar missions in the early 1960s evolved into a ritual still observed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory today.
This episode blends space history, cultural anthropology, and planetary science, using the Ranger missions as a backdrop to examine how failure, superstition, tradition, and risk shape scientific progress. Along the way, Jeffrey is joined by Dr. Morgan Cable, research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, for a wide-ranging conversation that moves from lunar exploration to ocean worlds, astrobiology, and the search for life beyond Earth.
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What this episode covers
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The origins of NASA’s Lucky Peanuts tradition
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The Ranger lunar missions and why early spaceflight failed so often
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How repeated failure shaped NASA’s engineering culture
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Why rituals and traditions emerge in high-risk scientific environments
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The difference between superstition and tradition in science
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How humans cope with uncertainty when stakes are extremely high
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The role of risk, iteration, and learning in space exploration
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Why failure is not a bug—but a feature—of scientific progress
The science guest: Dr. Morgan Cable
This episode features an in-depth interview with Dr. Morgan Cable, a research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Dr. Cable’s work focuses on astrobiology and planetary chemistry, including the search for evidence of life and habitability across the solar system. She is:
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Science lead on the Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor (EELS) concept
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Co-Deputy Principal Investigator on PIXL, the X-ray instrument aboard NASA’s Perseverance rover
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A contributor to the Cassini, Europa Clipper, and Dragonfly missions
Her research bridges laboratory experiments, mission design, and planetary exploration—making her perspective ideal for a conversation about both the science and the culture of NASA.
From lunar failure to lucky peanuts
The story begins in the late 1950s and early 1960s, during the height of the Space Race. NASA’s Ranger missions were designed to photograph the Moon and prepare for future human landings. What followed instead was a painful streak of failure.
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Ranger 1 and 2 never reached proper orbit
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Ranger 3 missed the Moon entirely
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Ranger 4 crashed but returned no useful data
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Ranger 5 died early due to battery failure
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Ranger 6 reached the Moon—but its cameras failed
By the time Ranger 7 was ready to launch, pressure was enormous. Six failures had already occurred, the Soviet Union was ahead in the Space Race, and NASA desperately needed a success.
On launch day, a JPL engineer handed out peanuts in the control room—part joke, part stress relief. Ranger 7 succeeded spectacularly, returning the first close-up images of the lunar surface.
The peanuts stayed.
Why this question matters
It’s easy to dismiss rituals like Lucky Peanuts as superstition. But this episode asks a deeper question: what role do human traditions play in science?
Scientific work—especially in fields like space exploration—is filled with uncertainty. Engineers and scientists operate at the edge of what is possible, where failure is common and consequences are real. Traditions emerge not because scientists misunderstand physics, but because humans need ways to cope with risk, responsibility, and pressure.
Understanding this human side of science helps demystify how research actually works—not as a clean, linear process, but as a deeply human endeavor shaped by culture, memory, and experience.
Key concepts explained
Failure as data
Early space missions failed frequently, not because scientists were careless, but because they were exploring unknown territory. Each failure produced information that improved future designs.
Tradition vs superstition
NASA engineers are not “superstitious” in the mystical sense. Traditions like Lucky Peanuts serve as cultural touchstones—reminders of past failures, shared responsibility, and collective effort.
Risk in exploration
Whether launching a spacecraft, landing on Mars, or updating software on Voyager 1 from interstellar space, exploration requires accepting uncertainty and learning from mistakes.
Beyond peanuts: searching for life
The conversation with Dr. Cable expands far beyond NASA traditions into planetary science and astrobiology, including:
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Ocean worlds like Europa and Enceladus
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Cryovolcanism and volatile exsolution
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What makes a world habitable
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Why dynamic interiors may be important for sustaining life
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How missions like Europa Clipper, Dragonfly, and Mars Sample Return are designed
These topics connect volcanic processes on Earth to icy moons, plume eruptions, and the search for biosignatures elsewhere in the solar system.
Episode context
This episode continues Whimsical Wavelengths’ focus on how science actually works—not just the results, but the process. It highlights uncertainty, iteration, failure, and the human stories behind major scientific achievements.
It also marks an important milestone for the show: one of the first in-depth interviews, blending humor, history, and cutting-edge planetary science.
Frequently asked questions
Are scientists at NASA really superstitious?
No. Traditions like Lucky Peanuts are cultural practices, not beliefs that override physics or engineering.
Why did early lunar missions fail so often?
Spaceflight was new, experimental, and pushed technology beyond previous limits. Failure was expected—and informative.
What are ocean worlds?
Moons like Europa and Enceladus that contain liquid water oceans beneath icy shells, making them key targets in the search for life.
Why study traditions at scientific institutions?
Because science is done by humans. Understanding culture helps explain decision-making, teamwork, and resilience in high-risk environments.
Episode details
Podcast: Whimsical Wavelengths
Season: 1
Episode: 6
Format: Interview
Category: Space Science · Planetary Science · Astrobiology · Science Culture
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