Troy Hudson and a brilliant international team created a device that would hammer its way below the surface of Mars. Mars had other ideas. The Jet Propulsion Lab engineer and scientist returns to tell us the heroic tale of the InSight lander’s Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package, also known as the mole.  Stay with us for a tour of the current night sky and a new space trivia contest from Bruce Betts. There’s more to discover at https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/troy-hudson-insight-mole See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

InSight’s Mole: A Martian Science Odyssey

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.

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This week on Planetary Radio we take a trip to The Planetary Society’s Eclipse-O-Rama festival in Fredericksburg, Texas, where hundreds gathered to witness the April 8 total solar eclipse.

Eclipse-O-Rama

We explore NASA's first tabletop role-playing game with senior multimedia specialist Christina Mitchell and a new way to find water worlds with Amaury Triaud from the University of Birmingham.

Tabletops and telescopes: NASA’s RPG and the hunt for habitable worlds

This week on Planetary Radio, Latif Nasser, co-host of Radiolab shares the story behind the naming of Zoozve, a quasi-moon of Venus.

Radiolab helps name a quasi-moon of Venus

Former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin discusses his claim that there is a tension between the so-called Real reasons that motivate spaceflight and the prosaic, Acceptable reasons used to justify space exploration within the public sphere.

Space Policy Edition: Real and Acceptable Reasons for Space Exploration

Planetary Radio marks its last show before the Apr. 8 total solar eclipse with a look back at discoveries made during totality.

InSight’s Mole: A Martian Science Odyssey

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