Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science

Can you buy science the way you buy a rocket launch? NASA is exploring the idea of “science as a service,” asking industry how commercial companies could provide scientific data and capabilities for Earth science, space weather, and astrophysics. But the concept isn’t new. It’s the latest chapter in a four-decade effort to commercialize space science that stretches back to the brief, troubled privatization of Landsat in the 1980s. Casey Dreier is joined by Jack Kiraly, chief of advocacy for The Planetary Society, and Britney Schmidt, planetary scientist, astrobiologist, and Planetary Society board member, to unpack what commercial science services can and can’t deliver. 

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In this second of two episodes from the 2026 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Symposium at Wichita State University, Sarah Al-Ahmed talks with researchers developing the propulsion and life support technologies that could open up new frontiers in deep space exploration.

First, Artur Davoyan, associate professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, discusses Coilable Stacked Solar Sails, a new sail architecture that could enable fast missions to the outer planets and interstellar space. Then, James Bickford of Charles Stark Draper Laboratory introduces TFINER, the Thin Film Isotope Nuclear Engine Rocket, a project that generates thrust from the natural decay of radioactive thin films, enabling rendezvous with interstellar objects and missions to the solar gravitational focus. Finally, Alvaro Romero-Calvo, assistant professor at Georgia Tech, and Theo St. Francis, graduate researcher in Georgia Tech's Low-Gravity Science and Technology Lab, discuss their concept, Breathing Beyond Earth, a pump-free oxygen production system for long-duration space missions to Mars. Plus, Bruce Betts, chief scientist of the Planetary Society, joins Sarah for What's Up, with a look ahead to the launch of JAXA's Martian Moons Exploration mission, MMX.

Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2026-niac-symposium-part-2

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Some of the most exciting science in our Solar System is hidden in places we've never been able to reach. In this episode, Sarah Al-Ahmed shares three conversations from the 2026 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC)Symposium at Wichita State University, all about the bold, early-stage concepts being developed to explore them.

First, Peter Cabauy, CEO and co-founder of City Labs Incorporated, and Mason Peck, former NASA Chief Technologist and collaborator on the project, discuss their Phase II concept, Autonomous Tritium Micropowered Sensors, tiny nuclear-powered probes designed to survive and operate in the permanently shadowed craters of the Moon and beyond. Then, Daniel Drew, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, introduces SPARK, a Phase I concept for silent, solid-state flying robots that could explore caves on Saturn's moon Titan. Finally, Gilly Elor, physics lead at Stone Aerospace, and Bill Stone, founder of Stone Aerospace, walk us through LUX, the Lunar Underground Explorer, a Phase I concept for a laser-powered, fiber-tethered drone that could be the first mission to enter a cave on another world. Plus, Bruce Betts, chief scientist of The Planetary Society, joins Sarah for What's Up, where they preview Saturn at opposition and the start of World Space Week on October 4th.

Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2026-niac-symposium-part-1 

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JAXA's Hayabusa2 flew within 400 meters (1,300 feet) of asteroid Torifune on July 5 and confirmed that it's a contact binary, two lobes stuck together. Paul Abell, NASA's Chief Scientist for Small Body Exploration at Johnson Space Center, walks us through the findings on the asteroid, what they mean for planetary defense, and what's ahead as the spacecraft cruises toward its next target. Then Bruce Betts, chief scientist at The Planetary Society, digs into Hayabusa2's history of firing things at asteroids.

Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2026-hayabusa2-torifune

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Where are we most likely to find evidence of life, past or living, in the Solar System? Planetary scientist and author Kevin Hand looks to warm, salty ocean depths beneath protective layers of ice on worlds such as Europa and Enceladus. His enthralling book became a popular selection in The Planetary Society’s member book club. He recently joined the Society’s Mat Kaplan for a deep exploration of the best science. Kevin also shared tales of his own harrowing, revealing journeys through Earth’s undersea world.

Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/book-club-kevin-hand

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This is part two of our Star Trek 60th anniversary series. Robert Picardo, the Emergency Medical Hologram on Star Trek: Voyager and a member of The Planetary Society's board of directors, reads a vintage letter from Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry asking fans to join a brand new organization called The Planetary Society. Tim Russ, who played Tuvok on Star Trek: Voyager, Deep Space Nine, Lower Decks, and Picard, joins us to talk about what the Vulcans can teach us about the discipline we'll need to survive in deep space, and shares his own experience as an amateur astronomer who contributed data to NASA's Lucy mission. Karim Diané, Jay-Den Kraag on Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, talks about playing a Klingon who defies everyone's expectations of what it means to be strong. And Bruce Betts, chief scientist of The Planetary Society, is here with What's Up, discussing Star Trek technologies.

Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2026-star-trek-at-60-part-2

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Star Trek turned 60 on Sept. 8, 2026, and to celebrate, we're kicking off a special two-part series exploring the franchise's deep and lasting connection to real-world space exploration. In Part 1, Robert Picardo, the Emergency Medical Hologram from Star Trek: Voyager, now starring in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy and a member of The Planetary Society's Board of Directors, joins Sarah Al-Ahmed to trace the relationship between Star Trek and The Planetary Society all the way back to a 1980 letter from Gene Roddenberry himself. Bob talks about how playing a holographic doctor for 30 years led him to become a real-world space advocate, and what Star Trek's non-human characters can teach us about what it means to be human. Then, Bruce Betts, Planetary Society Chief Scientist, joins for What's Up and a discussion of solar sails in the franchise.

Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2026-star-trek-at-60-part-1

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We tend to think of private space exploration as a recent phenomenon. But as Alex MacDonald, former Chief Economist at NASA, argues in his book "The Long Space Age," privately funded space exploration has deep roots in American history, stretching back more than two centuries.

In this 2017 conversation with The Planetary Society's Chief of Space Policy Casey Dreier, originally aired on the Space Policy Edition of Planetary Radio, MacDonald traces the economic history of American space exploration from the 1769 transit of Venus all the way to the present day, and makes the case that the government-dominated model we grew up with may actually be the historical anomaly.

Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/long-space-age

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Dennis Stone, president and co-founder of the World Space Week Association, takes us behind the scenes of the largest annual space event on Earth. From its origins as a volunteer effort in Houston to a UN-declared celebration reaching 50,000 events in over 100 countries, Dennis shares how World Space Week inspires the next generation, and how you can get involved this Oct. 4 through 10. Then, Science Editor Asa Stahl breaks down the end of the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, the 21-year-old space telescope that's falling out of orbit after a bold rescue mission fell short. Plus, Chief Scientist Bruce Betts looks back at a milestone centennial in this week's What's Up, 100 years since Robert Goddard launched the world's first liquid-fueled rocket.

Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2026-world-space-week-and-swift

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After decades of development, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is preparing to launch. Once in orbit, Roman will conduct the widest surveys of the universe ever attempted, probing the nature of dark energy, discovering thousands of new exoplanets, and capturing images of billions of galaxies. In this episode, we sit down with Julie McEnery, senior project scientist for Roman at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, and Jason Rhodes, project scientist for Roman at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, to explore what the telescope will reveal and how scientists around the world will be able to access and work with its data. Plus, in What's Up, we look at Roman's coronagraph and what it will take for the Habitable Worlds Observatory to push that technology far enough to image Earth-like worlds around Sun-like stars.

Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2026-nancy-grace-roman

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