Pluto passed in front of a star on the evening of August 14. Mat Kaplan joined pro and amateur astronomers on a mountain to observe this rare event. It may reveal more about the dwarf planet’s tenuous atmosphere and other properties. Everyone hopes that Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity will phone home when the waning worldwide Martian dust storm allows the robot to charge its batteries. Digital Editor Jason Davis tells us about the online mistake that had some fans believing it had already happened. And it will be “raining fire in the sky” when Bruce Betts drops another What’s Up segment. Learn more here: http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/planetary-radio/show/2018/0822-2018-franck-marchis-pluto-occultation.htmlLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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We have so much to learn about Venus, says JPL scientist Sue Smrekar.  What we learn will help us understand our own world and Mars.  Sue joins us this week to make a great case for a new Venus orbiter. The Parker Solar Probe has begun its exciting journey to “touch the Sun.” Our MaryLiz Bender talks with mission leaders before and after the launch. Bruce Betts and Mat Kaplan have two great space trivia contests to wrap up right after they take us on another What’s Up tour of the solar system and back through the history of space exploration.  Learn more at:   http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/planetary-radio/show/2018/0815-2018-sue-smrekar-venus-parker-solar-probe-launch.htmlLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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It has been 20 years since we learned the expansion of the universe is accelerating due to the mysterious force called dark energy. Saul Perlmutter shared the Nobel Prize in Physics because of his contributions. Now he shares his thoughts with us.  Also at this year’s COSPAR Assembly in Pasadena was the Director General of China’s National Space Science Center, Wang Chi.  Have you played with Eyes on the Solar System?  JPL’s Kevin Hussey conceived of the NASA Eyes app that will take you across the solar system and beyond.  And you’ll hear Planetary Society co-founder Carl Sagan’s message to the Martians in our future.  That’s right after this week’s What’s Up.  Learn more at:   http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/planetary-radio/show/2018/0808-2018-saul-permutter-wang-chi-nssc.htmlLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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The Senate just held a hearing on NASA's efforts to send humans to...Mars? A week later, the same committee advanced legislation to extend the life of the International Space Station to 2030, six years beyond the current end-date and two years beyond the current hardware safety ratings. Does that extension undermine efforts to get to Mars? What about the Moon? Casey and Jason also introduce The Planetary Society's new principles for human spaceflight, which provide a framework by which the organization will evaluate plans for human exploration.  More resources to explore this month’s topics are http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/planetary-radio/show/2018/space-policy-edition-28.htmlLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Our world was rocked by last week’s announcement of good radar evidence for a liquid water “lake” under the Red Planet’s south pole.   Senior Editor Emily Lakdawalla introduces us to the story that is then taken up by two of host Mat Kaplan’s favorite Martians.  The Goddard Space Flight Center’s James Garvin headed NASA’s Mars exploration program, while NASA Ames astrobiologist Chris McKay co-founded the Mars Underground more than 35 years ago. Look up!  Mars is still close by, and the Perseid meteor shower is around the corner. Bruce Betts gives us the What’s Up lowdown. Learn more at:   http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/planetary-radio/show/2018/0801-2018-garvin-mckay-mars-lake.htmlLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Japan’s Hayabusa2 is just 6 kilometers from asteroid Ryugu as it prepares to snatch samples of the space rock for return to Earth.  ISAS/JAXA Director General and former Hayabusa Mission Project Manager Hitoshi Kuninaka joins us for a conversation about the spacecraft and what’s ahead.  Then we hear from Hansjörg Dittus of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) about the German/French lander called MASCOT that was carried to Ryugu by Hayabusa2. Emily Lakdawalla is the new editor of the Planetary Society’s distinguished magazine, The Planetary Report.  Bruce Betts explains how to get the most out of a lunar eclipse and the closest Mars has come to Earth for many years.  We also give you an extra week to enter the space trivia contest! Learn more at:   http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/planetary-radio/show/2018/0725-2018-kuninaka-dittus-hayabusa2.htmlLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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One of the Planetary Society’s 2018 Shoemaker Near-Earth Object grants has gone to astronomers searching the sky from a mountaintop in the North African nation of Morocco.  Observer Michel Ory tells us about their work.  Tim Spahr ran the Minor Planet Center for many years.  He has moved from that worldwide coordinator for asteroid and comet discoveries to NEO Sciences LLC, and served once again as chair of the Shoemaker NEO judging committee.  Wait till you hear what poor Yuri Gagarin had for lunch as he orbited Earth.  That’s just one thing you’ll learn from this week’s What’s Up segment.  Hear complete interviews and learn more at:   http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/planetary-radio/show/2018/0718-2018-spahr-ory-shoemaker-neo.htmlLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Sextants have helped sailors find their way across oceans for centuries. Now one is onboard the International Space Station so that astronauts can learn to find their way across the solar system even if other technologies fail. Reaching the ISS on the same supply mission was the Cold Atom Lab.  It may achieve the lowest temperatures in the universe, helping to unlock cosmic secrets.  Every naked eye planet is visible!  Bruce Betts will tell you where to look in What’s Up.  Learn more about all our topics and hear extended interviews:   http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/planetary-radio/show/2018/0711-2018-sextant-and-cold-atom-lab-on-iss.htmlLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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The President recently ordered the creation of Space Force—but what does that mean? What are the implications for militarization of space? National security expert Dr. Brian Weeden joins the show to explain the announcement. Weeden also breaks down Space Policy Directive #3, which directs the Department of Commerce to begin tracking space debris and other potential dangers to spacecraft in Earth orbit. Casey, Jason and Mat take a detour to discuss the James Webb Space Telescope's latest breach, which delays the launch until March of 2021. More resources to explore this month’s topics are athttp://www.planetary.org/multimedia/planetary-radio/show/2018/space-policy-edition-27.htmlLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Ceres is the queen of the asteroid belt.  Her first Earthly visitor is nearing its last days in spectacular style.  Dawn Mission Director and Chief Engineer Marc Rayman returns with stunning images taken from just 35 kilometers or 22 miles above the dwarf planet, and a preview of the spacecraft’s last days.  Planetary Society Chief Scientist Bruce Betts has a summer guide to the night sky, looks back in space exploration history and delivers another Random Space Fact.  He and Mat Kaplan also have a new space trivia question for listeners.  Learn more about all our topics this week:   http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/planetary-radio/show/2018/0704-2018-marc-rayman-dawn-ceres.htmlLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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