Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science

By The Planetary Society

Technology

What's Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science about?

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 Mat Kaplan and Planetary Society colleagues including Bill Nye the Science Guy, Bruce Betts, and Emily Lakdawalla as they dive deep into the latest space news. 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 the space trivia contest, an episode guide, and much more.

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LAST EPISODE

Getting psyched for Psyche

03.22.2023

Lindy Elkins-Tanton, the principal investigator for NASA’s Psyche mission to explore a metallic asteroid, joins Planetary Radio to share the mission’s status and look forward to the wonders that await when the spacecraft reaches its target.

Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science episodes:

03.22.2023 Getting psyched for Psyche Lindy Elkins-Tanton, the principal investigator for NASA’s Psyche mission to explore a metallic asteroid, joins Planetary Radio to share the mission’s status and look forward to the wonders that await when the spacecraft reaches its target.
03.15.2023 Universal Harmonies: Sonifying images for science and accessibility Kim Arcand from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory joins Planetary Radio to share her team’s new album “Universal Harmonies.”
03.08.2023 Looking back on Voyager’s 45th Anniversary Planetary Radio’s creator Mat Kaplan guest hosts for this look back at the Jet Propulsion Lab’s celebration of the 45th anniversary of the Voyager mission.
03.03.2023 Space Policy Edition: The Tricky Ethics of Space Settlement Dr. Erika Nesvold, astrophysicist and author of the new book “Off-Earth: Ethical Questions and Quandaries for Living in Outer Space” explores the ethical challenges facing our species as it dips its toe into living beyond our home planet.
03.01.2023 The Canadian Lunar Rover with Peter Visscher Director of Canadensys West Peter Visscher fills us in on the upcoming Canadian lunar rover. Visscher has been working on the rover for years.
02.22.2023 Martian rock collecting: From meteorites to Mars Sample Return Meenakshi Wadhwa, principal scientist for Mars Sample Return at NASA JPL, updates us on the missions that will bring bits of the red planet back to Earth.
02.15.2023 Are we alone? The search for alien technosignatures A new volunteer SETI science project to search for alien technosignatures has launched! Two of its creators tell you how to sign up.
02.08.2023 More on Mars’ Watery History Mars expert Tanya Harrison shares the details on some of the newest discoveries about Mars’ history, including potential megatsunamis and the discovery of opals in Gale Crater.
02.03.2023 Space Policy Edition: The White House's Matt Daniels on the U.S.'s New Cislunar Strategy Dr. Matt Daniels of the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy joins the show to discuss the White House’s new cislunar space strategy, its ambitions, and implications for the future of lunar exploration and development.
02.01.2023 JWST confirms its first exoplanet We celebrate the James Webb Space Telescope's first confirmed exoplanet discovery this week on Planetary Radio. Jacob Lustig-Yaeger, one of the leads on the team that made the detection, joins us to discuss the details.
01.25.2023 Juno Journeys to Jupiter’s Moons Dive into the latest discoveries about Jupiter’s moons, Ganymede, Europa, and Io, with Scott Bolton, the principal investigator for NASA’s Juno mission.
01.18.2023 Martian Mic Drop Jason Achilles, a musician who partnered with NASA’s JPL to help put one of the first microphones on Mars, shares his journey and the joy of listening to the sounds of the red planet.
01.11.2023 Celebrating NASA’s Artemis I mission to the Moon Jeremy Graeber, the assistant launch director at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, joins Planetary Radio to recount his experience on the night of Artemis I’s historic launch.
01.06.2023 Space Policy Edition: JPL Director wants "every brain" to have the chance to work in space exploration Jet Propulsion Lab director Laurie Leshin joins the Planetary Society's Casey Dreier for a conversation about challenges faced by the famous lab and the entire aerospace industry.
01.04.2023 Planetary Radio stories with Mat Kaplan New host Sarah Al-Ahmed bids a fond farewell to Mat Kaplan, Planetary Radio’s former host, in a special interview as Mat shares stories from his two decades as creator and producer of the show.
12.28.2022 Planetary Society All-Stars Review the Year in Space For his last episode as host, Mat Kaplan welcomes many of his Planetary Society colleagues for a review of a spectacular year of space exploration.
12.21.2022 Artemis 1 Orion capsule comes home, and the best of Planetary Radio Host Mat Kaplan greets the Orion capsule that has just returned from the Moon, and then presents some of the best of Planetary Radio’s 20 years.
12.14.2022 One Last Blast: Author of ‘The Martian’ Andy Weir with JPL Chief Engineer Rob Manning Outgoing Planetary Radio host Mat Kaplan realizes a dream by getting Rob Manning and Andy Weir together for one of the most entertaining conversations in our show’s two decades.
12.07.2022 Scientist and Hubble Repairman John Grunsfeld Astrophysicist, former astronaut and NASA associate administrator John Grunsfeld on human exploration of space and the science we will do there.
12.02.2022 Space Policy Edition: NASA's Economic Impact with Alex MacDonald and Joshua Drucker What is NASA’s return on investment? NASA chief economist Alex MacDonald and University of Illinois Chicago professor Joshua Drucker provide revealing answers from a new economic impact report.
11.30.2022 A Happy 20th Anniversary for Planetary Radio Join the Planetary Society’s CEO, its co-founder Louis Friedman and others as we mark Planetary Radio’s entry into its third decade.
11.23.2022 Giving the University of Arizona Mirror Lab a spin Join us for a tour of the University of Arizona’s Mirror Lab where they use a giant, spinning oven filled with molten glass to create the primary mirrors for the Giant Magellan Telescope.
11.16.2022 Voyager Mission Project Scientist Linda Spilker Cassini Mission Project Scientist Linda Spilker has now taken on the same job for the Voyager Interstellar Mission.
11.11.2022 Space Policy Edition: What the Congressional Midterms Means for Space Science Bethany Johns of the American Astronomical Society talks with Planetary Society Chief Advocate Casey Dreier about how changes in Washington after the midterm elections may affect support for science.
11.09.2022 Ann Druyan wishes you a happy Sagan Day Celebrate Carl Sagan’s birthday with his longtime collaborator and life partner Ann Druyan.
11.04.2022 Space Policy Edition Bonus: Q&A with Casey Dreier and Bill Nye A special Space Policy Edition featuring a recent policy and advocacy webcast that gave Planetary Society members the opportunity to query Chief Advocate Casey Dreier and Society CEO Bill Nye.
11.02.2022 DART smacked an asteroid! So what’s next in planetary defense? The Double Asteroid Redirection Test was a brilliant success. The leaders of NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office tell us what’s next in the quest to protect Earth.
10.26.2022 Meet the new Planetary Radio host! (and enjoy a beer with a cosmologist) 20 years after its creation, Mat Kaplan is ready to introduce the great new host of Planetary Radio. We also join an assembly of astrophysicists as they toast each other and the cosmos.
10.19.2022 Eyes on the Sky: Spacewatch and the Catalina Sky Survey Meet leaders of two of the most successful Earth-based searches for asteroids, including many that could threaten Earth.
10.12.2022 Innovate! NASA’s leading-edge fellows share their amazing projects Join us at the 2022 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Symposium for a taste of projects that just might change the world.
10.07.2022 Space Policy Edition: The Geopolitics of a Successful SETI Detection How will nations react if (when?) humanity detects the presence of an alien intelligence or civilization? That’s the topic Planetary Society Chief Advocate Casey Dreier takes up with his guest, astrophysicist Jason Wright.
10.05.2022 Grounded: The director of the SOFIA flying observatory looks back Director of SOFIA Science Mission Operations Margaret Meixner joins us to lament the end of the giant flying observatory and to celebrate its tremendous successes.
09.28.2022 Bull’s-eye! DART impacts Dimorphos, and we meet space image artist and processor Judy Schmidt Listen as the Double Asteroid Redirection Test spacecraft closes in on asteroid Dimorphos, followed by a triumphant conversation with DART Coordination Lead Nancy Chabot, and a visit with space image processor Judy Schmidt.
09.21.2022 Countdown to DART: Will We Move an Asteroid? The DART spacecraft’s impact on asteroid moonlet Dimorphos is days away, so we’ll check in with Mission Coordination Lead Nancy Chabot as well as Simone Pirrotta, program manager for the LICIACube probe that will be watching the smackdown.
09.14.2022 It’s Not Just NASA: Space Agency Leaders at the Artemis 1 Launch Attempt Leaders of several major, international space agencies talked with host Mat Kaplan during the first attempt to launch the Artemis 1 Moon mission.
09.07.2022 Countdown to Artemis, The Return to the Moon Join Mat Kaplan and Planetary Society colleagues in Florida for the first attempt to launch the Space Launch System rocket on a mission to the Moon.
09.02.2022 Space Policy Edition: Mike Gold on Crafting the Artemis Accords Former NASA Associate Administrator Mike Gold shepherded the Artemis Accords, a set of bilateral agreements for collaboration in human space exploration. Casey Dreier spoke with him in Florida as we awaited the launch of Artemis 1.
08.31.2022 The Voyager Mission: A 45th Anniversary Celebration It’s a party for Voyager and the team of scientists, engineers and others who have followed it across our solar system. Then we’ll visit with Ann Druyan, creative director for the Voyager Golden Record.
08.24.2022 Pieces of Mars: How We’ll Get Them to Earth Getting precious Mars rocks into Earthbound labs is an unprecedented challenge. We’ll hear how a lander, a rocket, a big solar-powered transfer vehicle and two helicopters will take on this challenge.
08.17.2022 A Venus Phosphine Scoop! The Return of Jane Greaves Delightful astronomer Jane Greaves is back with the latest evidence for phosphine gas in the atmosphere of Venus.
08.10.2022 Comets Stink! The Chemical Zoo Found at Comet Chury Scientists have found a menagerie of complex organic compounds on the comet visited by the Rosetta spacecraft that connect it with the birth of our solar system.
08.05.2022 Space Policy Edition: Lori Garver on Bringing Change to NASA Former NASA deputy administrator Lori Garver returns for a deep conversation with Casey Dreier about her fight to turn the agency toward commercial partnerships and away from the expensive Constellation program.
08.03.2022 Citizen Science: Join the search for Martian clouds Scientists need your help identifying clouds high above the surface of the red planet. The goal is figuring out where Mars’ water went.
07.27.2022 New Jet Propulsion Lab Director Laurie Leshin Laurie Leshin has just become the tenth director of JPL and the first woman to run the fabled center for space science and robotic exploration.
07.20.2022 Science from the Moon, and former NASA chief scientist Jim Green looks back The former director of NASA’s Planetary Science division, Jim Green, retired as the agency’s chief scientist in January. This episode opens with a special announcement from host Mat Kaplan.
07.13.2022 The JWST: An Awesome New Window on the Universe Opens Wide NASA and its partners have revealed the first stunning images from the new space telescope. We’ll talk about them with Bill Nye and members of the JWST team.
07.06.2022 A Hero of the New Space Age: Lori Garver and Escaping Gravity Lori Garver went up against powerful forces inside and outside NASA to create the hugely successful commercial cargo and crew programs.
07.01.2022 Space Policy Edition: Pathfinder and the Birth of the Discovery Program Space exploration historian Michael Neufeld traces the fascinating history of one of NASA’s most successful programs of planetary exploration.
06.29.2022 Asteroid Day! Earth Plays Defense A co-founder of the annual, worldwide event, and the leader of the European Space Agency’s planetary defense program mark the 114th anniversary of the Tunguska near-Earth asteroid disaster and the progress we’ve made toward avoiding another impact.
06.22.2022 Sail on! Bill Nye and others celebrate LightSail 2’s three years in space Celebrate the third anniversary of LightSail 2’s launch with Bill Nye and other leaders of The Planetary Society.

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