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Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science

Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science

The Planetary Society

Technology, Science

4.8 • 1.4K Ratings

Overview

Planetary Radio brings you the human adventure across our Solar System and beyond. We visit each week with the scientists, engineers, leaders, advocates, and astronauts who are taking us across the final frontier. Regular features raise your space IQ while they put a smile on your face. Join host Sarah Al-Ahmed and Planetary Society colleagues including Bill Nye the Science Guy and Bruce Betts as they dive deep into space science and exploration. The monthly Space Policy Edition takes you inside the DC beltway where the future of the US space program hangs in the balance. Visit planetary.org/radio for an episode guide and much more.

1253 Episodes

Celebrating 45 years of The Planetary Society at the Cosmic Shores Gala

Join us aboard the RMS Queen Mary as we celebrate 45 years of The Planetary Society at our Cosmic Shores Gala, featuring reflections from Bill Nye, Bethany Ehlmann, Jennifer Vaughn, and more.

Transcribed - Published: 23 April 2025

Passback budget breakdown: A 47% cut to NASA science

NASA's science programs face a proposed 47%budget cut. We break down what's at risk and how you can take action to help protect space exploration.

Transcribed - Published: 16 April 2025

Why is Mars red? A new clue to the history of habitability in Martian dust

Why is Mars red? A new study led by Brown University’s Adomas Valantinas points to ferrihydrite, not hematite, revealing a wetter past and new clues about the Red Planet’s potential to support life.

Transcribed - Published: 9 April 2025

Space Policy Edition: Lies, Damned Lies, and Space Data

The space sector is data-rich but insight-poor. Jack Kuhr of Payload talks about how he turns raw numbers into real narratives.

Transcribed - Published: 4 April 2025

Live from Washington, D.C.: The future of space politics

Join Sarah Al-Ahmed and Casey Dreier for a special live recording of Planetary Radio at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center in Washington, D.C., immediately following The Planetary Society’s Day of Action.

Transcribed - Published: 2 April 2025

The Other Moonshot: The untold stories of Apollo’s Black engineers in Los Angeles

Joanne Higgins joins Planetary Radio to share the untold stories of Black engineers who helped make the Apollo program possible. We explore their legacy, the challenges they faced, and how their stories can inspire a more inclusive future in space.

Transcribed - Published: 26 March 2025

The Mars Innovation Workshop

We explore bold ideas from the Mars Innovation Workshop and uncover why NASA’s decision to dissolve key advisory offices is raising concerns across the space community.

Transcribed - Published: 19 March 2025

An extinction-level event for NASA science

A reported 50% cut to NASA’s science budget threatens to shut down missions, halt new discoveries, and devastate scientific space exploration. This week, we break down the fight ahead with The Planetary Society’s space policy team and explore how grassroots advocacy can help protect the future of space science.

Transcribed - Published: 12 March 2025

Space Policy Edition: Locke, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (in space)

Can classical liberalism provide fresh insights to guide humanity’s activities in space? Philosopher Rebecca Lowe explains how it can.

Transcribed - Published: 7 March 2025

Breaking down Bennu: OSIRIS-REx finds life’s building blocks in asteroid sample

Scott Sandford, co-investigator on OSIRIS-REx and a research scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center, discusses the first published analyses of the Bennu sample, revealing insights into the early Solar System and the origins of life.

Transcribed - Published: 5 March 2025

Genesis: The sample return mission that fell to Earth and still succeeded

Amy Jurewicz, former project scientist for NASA’s Genesis mission, shares how the spacecraft survived a crash-landing and still reshaped our understanding of the solar wind and space weather.

Transcribed - Published: 26 February 2025

Astronaut Hayley shares her brave adventure

Hayley Arceneaux discusses her memoir “Wild Ride” and her newly released kid's book “Astronaut Hayley's Brave Adventure,” sharing the story of how her experiences with childhood cancer led to her space adventure aboard SpaceX's Inspiration4 mission.

Transcribed - Published: 19 February 2025

Near-Earth Asteroid 2024 YR4 and NASA under a new administration

Asteroid 2024 YR4 has captured global attention, but is it really a threat? Kate Howells breaks it down. Then, Casey Dreier and Jack Kiraly analyze how the new Trump administration is shaping NASA’s future

Transcribed - Published: 12 February 2025

Space Policy Edition: Mars Sample Return, but at what (fixed) price?

Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck outlines a $4B fixed-price plan for Mars Sample Return — and reveals new Venus mission details — before VP Richard French explains how a single, integrated team cuts costs and ensures success.

Transcribed - Published: 7 February 2025

Kiss-and-capture: The dance of Pluto and Charon

How did Pluto meet its largest moon, Charon? Adeene Denton, a research scientist at the University of Arizona, suggests a "kiss-and-capture" may solve this mystery.

Transcribed - Published: 5 February 2025

The Edward Stone Voyager Exploration Trail

We celebrate Ed Stone’s lasting legacy with the unveiling of the Dr. Edward Stone Exploration Trail at JPL.

Transcribed - Published: 29 January 2025

Does It Fly? Putting science in entertainment to the test

We discuss how to examine the science behind our favorite TV shows and movies with the co-hosts of the "Does It Fly?" podcast, Hakeem Oluseyi and Tamara Krinsky.

Transcribed - Published: 22 January 2025

Revisiting K2-18 b: JWST finds a lead in the search for life on a mysterious exoplanet

Knicole ColĂłn, the deputy project scientist for exoplanet science for JWST, joins Planetary Radio to discuss the detection of methane and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of K2-18 b.

Transcribed - Published: 15 January 2025

Emily Calandrelli becomes the hundredth woman in space

Emily Calandrelli, also known as “the Space Gal,” shares her experience becoming the hundredth woman in space after blasting off on a Blue Origin suborbital rocket.

Transcribed - Published: 8 January 2025

Space Policy Edition: The Challenges of Change at NASA

Marcia Smith, founder of Space Policy Online, joins the show to discuss the motivations and risks of pursuing change at NASA—and how much change can ultimately happen with Congress holding the purse strings.

Transcribed - Published: 3 January 2025

The Planetary Society’s 45th anniversary with Bill Nye

Planetary Radio kicks off The Planetary Society's 45th anniversary year with CEO, Bill Nye.

Transcribed - Published: 1 January 2025

Looking back on 2024

The Planetary Society team reviews the best space moments of 2024, from the China National Space Administration's return of samples from the far side of the Moon to the triumphant launch of NASA's Europa Clipper mission.

Transcribed - Published: 25 December 2024

Mars “spiders” recreated in the lab

Lauren Mc Keown, a postdoctoral fellow at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, discusses her experiences recreating Martian araneiform terrain, also called Mars spiders, in the lab.

Transcribed - Published: 18 December 2024

Space Policy Edition: The Myth of Presidential Leadership

We revisit a classic book on the limits of presidential power in setting the nation’s space agenda and explore how the increasingly powerful executive branch might be rewriting those expectations.

Transcribed - Published: 13 December 2024

StarTalk with Bill Nye and Neil deGrasse Tyson

We take you to Planetary Society headquarters, where Neil deGrasse Tyson, host of StarTalk, interviews Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye.

Transcribed - Published: 11 December 2024

A hundred weeks in space exploration

Sarah Al-Ahmed, the host of Planetary Radio, marks her one-hundredth episode with a look back at the defining moments of the past 100 weeks of space exploration.

Transcribed - Published: 4 December 2024

Seven worlds, one mission: The United Arab Emirates aims for the asteroid belt

Mohsen Al Awadhi and Hoor Al Hazmi, the director and science team lead for the Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt, join Planetary Radio for an update on the mission’s progress.

Transcribed - Published: 27 November 2024

What does the U.S. election mean for NASA?

Casey Dreier, the chief of space policy at The Planetary Society, analyzes what the incoming Trump administration could mean for NASA’s funding, human spaceflight, and its Science Mission Directorate.

Transcribed - Published: 20 November 2024

EELS: AI-enabled snake robots and the search for life on Enceladus

Morgan Cable and Hiro Ono from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory join Planetary Radio to discuss the Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor (EELS) robot concept.

Transcribed - Published: 13 November 2024

Spaceport Nova Scotia

This week, we learn more about Spaceport Nova Scotia, Canada’s first commercial launch site, with Steve Matier and Sasha Jacob, the CEO and Chairman of Maritime Launch Services.

Transcribed - Published: 6 November 2024

Space Policy Edition: NASA at a Crossroads

Norm Augustine, the distinguished aerospace industry veteran behind numerous influential studies, joins the show to discuss NASA at a Crossroads, the new report that raises alarm bells for NASA’s workforce, infrastructure, and technology capabilities.

Transcribed - Published: 1 November 2024

Splat or subsurface ocean? The mysterious positioning of Pluto’s heart

This week we discuss recent research on the origins of Pluto’s heart and what it can tell us about whether or not the dwarf planet has a subsurface ocean with Adeene Denton from the University of Arizona.

Transcribed - Published: 30 October 2024

Europa Clipper blasts off: How the mission team weathered Hurricane Milton

Bob Pappalardo, Europa Clipper project scientist, recounts the mission team's dramatic encounter with Hurricane Milton before their triumphant launch.

Transcribed - Published: 23 October 2024

Internships, conferences, and grad school: A space student's guide

This week, Planetary Radio offers advice for students pursuing higher education in space-related fields. From internship insights to conference strategies and grad school survival tips, we've got you covered.

Transcribed - Published: 16 October 2024

Clipper’s champions: Space advocates and the fight for a mission to Europa

The Planetary Society and space advocates around the world fought to make Europa Clipper a reality. This week, we learn more about the tumultuous history of the mission with Casey Dreier, The Planetary Society’s chief of space policy.

Transcribed - Published: 9 October 2024

Space Policy Edition: The space policies of a Harris Administration

Space expert Lori Garver joins the show to explore Kamala Harris’ space policy priorities, the major issues facing NASA in the next four years, and Garver’s thoughts on the evolution of Elon Musk and NASA’s increasing reliance on the commercial space industry.

Transcribed - Published: 4 October 2024

Return to Dimorphos: Looking forward to the Hera launch

We look forward to the Oct. 7 launch of the European Space Agency's Hera spacecraft with Michael KĂĽppers, project scientist for the mission.

Transcribed - Published: 2 October 2024

2024 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Symposium: Part 2 - Stellar imaging and looking for life while mining water on Mars

We return to the 2024 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Symposium for part two of our coverage as we explore an Artemis-enabled stellar imager and an add-on to large-scale water mining operations on Mars to screen for introduced and alien life.

Transcribed - Published: 25 September 2024

2024 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Symposium: Part 1 - Human hibernation and swarming Proxima Centauri

Join us for part one of our journey to the 2024 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Symposium. We'll hear from the teams behind two of this year's NIAC projects that could help us study distant planets and potentially reach them ourselves.

Transcribed - Published: 18 September 2024

Chasing auroras with the Aurora Guy

Vince Ledvina, also known as the Aurora Guy, joins Planetary Radio to discuss the science behind the northern and southern lights and what they can tell us about our Sun, our planet, and worlds across our galaxy.

Transcribed - Published: 11 September 2024

Space Policy Edition: The Space Policy of a Second Trump Administration

Dr. Greg Autry, who served on Trump’s NASA transition team in 2016 and was nominated for the position of NASA CFO in 2020, joins the show to discuss the space policy issues facing a potential second Trump administration in 2025.

Transcribed - Published: 6 September 2024

Europa in reflection: A compilation of two decades

With less than two months to go until the highly anticipated launch of NASA's Europa Clipper mission, we take a look back at over twenty years of Planetary Radio episodes about Jupiter's most intriguing moon.

Transcribed - Published: 4 September 2024

Ramses and rockets: Commercial space adventures and the race to Apophis

Get up to speed on the latest in commercial space news and look forward to the European Space Agency’s Ramses mission to Apophis with members of The Planetary Society team.

Transcribed - Published: 28 August 2024

Crickets and gastrodiplomacy: The future of space food

We hear from Team Insecta, a group of Canadian students exploring crickets as a viable source of space food.

Transcribed - Published: 21 August 2024

An Earthling’s guide to the "Moons Symphony"

Planetary Radio takes a melodic adventure to the Ravinia Festival in Illinois, USA, for the public premiere of the "Moons Symphony."

Transcribed - Published: 14 August 2024

Hide and seek with Planet 9

Caltech's Mike Brown and Konstantin Batygin discuss their new paper, the latest evidence for Planet 9, and why they believe their hunt may soon be over.

Transcribed - Published: 7 August 2024

Space Policy Edition: Do we need a philosophy of space exploration?

Policy expert G. Ryan Faith argues for importance of communal engagement with our values and goals in space exploration. While easy answers may elude us, a careful and considered approach to this effort can help avoid common pitfalls and dead ends and ensure that future generations continue to explore space.

Transcribed - Published: 2 August 2024

Possible biomarkers: Perseverance rocks the Tenth International Conference on Mars

NASA's Perseverance rover has made a groundbreaking discovery on Mars: a sample that may hold evidence of ancient microbial life. We visit the Tenth International Conference on Mars to get the details.

Transcribed - Published: 31 July 2024

Victory for VERITAS

Darby Dyar, the deputy principal investigator for NASA’s VERITAS mission to Venus, returns triumphantly to Planetary Radio to share the story of how space advocates helped save this mission.

Transcribed - Published: 24 July 2024

The penguin, the egg, and the asteroid collision in Beta Pictoris

We celebrate the second anniversary of the James Webb Space Telescope's (JWST) science operations with Christine Chen, associate astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute.

Transcribed - Published: 17 July 2024

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