The Podcast App
By The Planetary Society
Space exploration, astronomy and planetary science. (Weekly)
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01.20.2021
JPL engineer Gregory Villar prepares us for the perilous descent and landing of the 2020 Mars rover on February 18th.
Casey Drier and our special guest, former National Space Council chief of staff Jared Zambrano-Stout, consider the troubling events at the U.S. Capitol in this special episode.
Composer Amanda Lee Falkenberg is joined by Cassini project scientist Linda Spilker and retired astronaut Nicole Stott as she shares excerpts from The Moons Symphony.
NASA has given the green light to Principal Investigator Les Johnson and his team for construction of a solar sail that dwarfs all that have come before.
In spite of everything, 2020 was a good year for space exploration according to five of The Planetary Society’s experts.
18 astronauts on the Artemis Team have a shot at walking on the Moon, and Stephanie Wilson is one of them.
Making oxygen from the Martian atmosphere will be essential if humans are ever to visit and work on the Red Planet, and the MOXIE experiment will soon show us how.
Bill Nye helps us welcome the Planetary Society’s new president who also leads a new Moon mission, while China’s lunar sample return spacecraft is headed home.
Space historian Teasel Muir-Harmony argues in her fascinating new book that the Apollo lunar program was promoted as a triumph of, not for, all mankind.
Host Mat Kaplan talked with the Arecibo Observatory director just hours before the giant radio telescope came crashing down.
Astronomer Jane Greaves returns with an update on the phosphine gas floating above Venus, before Casey Honnibal takes us through her team’s discovery of water right out under the Sun on Earth’s Moon.
Two pioneering Mars orbiters are still doing great work above the Red Planet, while the first operational Crew Dragon spaceship has delivered four astronauts to the International Space Station.
With the United States election over, Casey Dreier and Mat Kaplan welcome back Planetary Society Chief of D.C. Operations Brendan Curry for a review of what may be in store for the U.S. space program.
A distant, lonely planet has been discovered as it wanders the galaxy, while Bill Nye helps us celebrate selection of a radically-simple sample collection system for trips to the Moon and Mars’ moon Phobos.
Joel Sercel believes we are entering an era in which asteroid mining and other commercial development of space are imminent, but he’s concerned about how we will avoid the mistakes of past eras of human expansion.
The leader of the OSIRIS REx asteroid sample return mission shares more details of last week’s encounter in an exclusive interview, while we also learn about the proposed mission to look for life on Saturn’s moon Enceladus.
The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft appears to have collected its first sample from asteroid Bennu, while a team led by Jane Greaves has discovered what could be evidence of life in the clouds of Venus.
Creators of an outstanding new collection of poems about spaceflight and exploration join Mat Kaplan to talk about the book as Bill Nye and other notables read selections.
NASA’s planetary protection officer joined Mat Kaplan’s Humans to Mars summit panel for a great conversation about protecting worlds throughout the solar system from what could be devastating contamination.
Where would a Biden Administration take US space policy and NASA? Casey Dreier and space journalist Jeff Foust synthesize a best guess based on the available evidence.
Astronomer and planetary scientist Heidi Hammel’s AURA shines bright across our solar system and beyond.
Planetary Society Solar System Specialist Emily Lakdawalla makes a big announcement, and share stories from her long history with the organization.
It could be a profound and historic discovery made on Earth’s nearest planetary neighbor.
The National Space Council’s Scott Pace talks with Casey Dreier about the current administration’s sweeping new strategy that integrates all elements of space development and exploration.
Former Dawn mission director Marc Rayman of JPL reveals the secrets of the bright spots on dwarf planet Ceres, and we celebrate his 10 years as Planetary Society CEO with Bill Nye.
Georgetown University planetary scientist Sarah Stewart Johnson chronicles the long history of our fascination with Mars and the possibility of life there, culminating with Perseverance, the new rover now headed there.
How will the universe end? That’s the question explored by cosmologist Katie Mack in her very entertaining new book.
New research reveals why Earth is on its own in this solar system’s habitable zone where liquid surface water flows, but the same isn’t true across the galaxy.
SuperCam principal investigator Roger Wiens shares how his new and improved laser-based spectrometer will help look for past life in Jezero Crater, while its microphone lets us listen to the Red Planet.
The Coalition for Deep Space Exploration’s Mary Lynne Dittmar talks with Casey Dreier about how and why spacefaring nations prioritize funding for space development and exploration.
Splashdown! An astronaut and former leader of Dragon capsule development at SpaceX is back to celebrate the spacecraft’s successful mission, as a Planetary Society co-founder looks back.
Our special guests are the leaders of the Emirates Mars Mission whose Hope spacecraft is now headed for the Red Planet.
The United Arab Emirates is headed for Mars as comet NEOWISE speeds back to the outer reaches of the solar system, and three white papers address the future of planetary science and defense.
Join a Perseverance mission deputy project scientist to learn how the rover will search for past life on the Red Planet.
Principal Investigator Alan Stern returns on the 5th anniversary of the New Horizons encounter with Pluto to tell us about the wealth of knowledge the spacecraft is still sending home from across the solar system.
How big is the space economy, and how big might it grow? Space policy expert Dr. Bhavya Lal brings the numbers down to Earth in a great conversation with Casey Dreier.
The leader of the Mastcam-Z team talks about how the best cameras ever on the surface of Mars will help us explore a region that could once have supported life.
China has big plans for a space station, exploration of the Moon and Mars, and possibly a mission that will follow Voyager beyond the edge of the solar system.
Sail on! Leaders of the LightSail 2 mission join 50,000 supporters in celebration of a year in space.
Are we learning how to keep men and women alive on a 3-year round trip to Mars?
The safe arrival of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon at the International Space Station is a huge success for NASA and policymakers who gambled years ago on the value of commercial partnerships for the agency.
After a special message we present highlights of the successful arrival at the International Space Station of the Crew Dragon spacecraft, followed by a visit to chilly Mars with planetary scientist Edgard Rivera-Valentin.
Astrophysicist and former astronaut John “Hubble Repairman” Grunsfeld looks back over three decades of beautiful science and inspiration delivered by the Hubble Space Telescope.
Former astronaut Garrett Reisman helped lead development of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft that is about to carry astronauts to the International Space Station.
JPL scientist Kevin Hand is endlessly fascinated by the possibility of life in the hidden oceans of the outer solar system’s moons, and now he has written a great book about the quest to discover it.
American astronauts are about to fly from Florida to the International Space Station for the first time in nine years, thanks to the commercial space development initiative advocated for years by Lori Garver.
Philosopher James Schwartz shares his thoughts about the ethics of space exploration and settlement.
The search for life on Mars is at a critical stage. What will come next if we find it?
Celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Royal Astronomical Society and the life of the late astronomer Margaret Burbidge.
The U.S. space agency’s leader describes how NASA is responding to the pandemic crisis as it works to keep projects and missions on track.
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