Shows / Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science
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…
Episodes
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceField Test: Planetary Deep Drill
Drilling through many meters of ice to Europa’s ocean or to the pristine sub-surface layers of Mars will be hard. The Planetary Deep Drill prototype has shown…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceA Journey to Space
Journey to Space is both a new and spectacular IMAX movie and an exciting, hands-on exhibition at the California Science Center. We learn about both this…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceA Tiny Explorer Called Twinkle
A small but talented UK team is building Twinkle, a small spacecraft with a big mission—exploring the atmospheres of planets orbiting other stars.Learn more…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceMovers and Shakers at SpaceCom Expo
We join 1,600 space entrepreneurs and visionaries in Houston, and talk with Boeing, XCOR, Johnson Space Center Director Ellen Ochoa and more.Learn more about…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceSolar System Revelations, and the World’s Biggest Telescope Threatened?
Emily Lakdawalla returns from the annual Division for Planetary Sciences meeting with big news from around the solar system. Then we talk with science…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceFrom Mars to the Stars With Lou Friedman
The founding Executive Director of the Planetary Society has just written “Human Spaceflight: From Mars to the Stars,” an optimistic view of humanity’s future…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceA 35th Anniversary Party With Neil Tyson!
It was a grand night at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. CEO Bill Nye led the Planetary Society’s 35th anniversary party with guests including Neil deGrasse…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceA Conversation with Andy Weir of “The Martian”
“The Martian” has won universal acclaim from scientists, astronauts, NASA, science fiction fans, and people who thought they weren’t science fiction fans. Mat…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and SciencePluto Amazes!
Hal Weaver is a very happy Project Scientist. His New Horizons spacecraft has shocked his fellow researchers with magnificent images and data. He shares the…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceBig Rockets and Little LightSails
Digital editor Jason Davis is a lucky guy. He follows and reports on human spaceflight progress, as well as the progress of the LightSail solar sail, which is…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceImaging Hot Young Jupiters
Franck Marchis is on the team that has delivered an actual image of a young, hot world about 100 light years from Earth. We talk with him on the 20th…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceHumans Orbiting Mars!
Scott Hubbard and John Logsdon led the Humans Orbiting Mars Workshop last spring. They return with Casey Dreier as the report on that workshop is released to…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceZibi Turtle and a Mission to the Ice Giants
They are the most neglected planets in our solar system, but that status may be changing. Planetary scientist Elizabeth “Zibi” Turtle celebrates NASA’s…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceOSIRIS-REx Readies for Asteroid Bennu
Dante Lauretta heads the most ambitious mission to an asteroid ever mounted. With one year left till launch, he returns to Planetary Radio with an update.Learn…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceFlying High on SOFIA
Planetary Radio returns to SOFIA, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, but this time we fly in the giant 747 turned telescope platform. It was…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceZooming In On Mars With Mastcam-Z
Planetary Radio talks with Jim Bell and Justin Maki, leaders of the development team for the most advanced camera ever planned for the surface of Mars.Learn…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceThe Right Site: Choosing A Landing Spot on Mars
The 2020 Mars Rover may be years away, but determining where it will land is already a hot topic among scientists and engineers. Many of the former gathered in…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceLiving Under the Sea With NASA Aquanaut David Coan
Mat Kaplan talked with engineer and NEEMO Expedition 20 team member David Coan while he was hard at work with astronauts and other engineers living in the…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and SciencePlanetary Radio Extra: Checking in on NASA's Budget with the Planetary Society's Director of Advocacy Casey Dreier
Mat Kaplan sits down with our Director of Advocacy, Casey Dreier, for a deep dive into current space policy.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceA New Era For SETI Research: More on the Breakthrough Initiatives
We follow last week’s conversation with Ann Druyan about the $100 million funding of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence by visiting with two of the…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceAnn Druyan and the Breakthrough SETI Initiatives
The Breakthrough Initiatives will pump $100 million into the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence in the next 10 years, vastly expanding humanity’s quest…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceThe Royal Observatory, Greenwich and the Quest for Longitude
Come with us on a visit to the home of the prime meridian for a conversation with the curator of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich about the race to create a…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and SciencePlanetary Radio Live at the New Horizons Pluto Encounter
Join our live audience for highlights of an amazing evening, featuring Jim Bell, Bruce Betts, Mike Brown, Emily Lakdawalla, Linda Spilker, and Bill Nye the…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceA Small, Distant World: Kepler 138b
SETI Institute scientist Jason Rowe returns to tell us about the smallest exoplanet so far that has had its size and mass determined. Jason also talks with Mat…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceEmily Lakdawalla’s Pluto Preview
Two visits with the Planetary Society Senior Editor this week, as Emily first provides an update on the Rosetta comet mission and then returns with an extended…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceSaving the Planet: Voices From the Planetary Defense Conference
We’ve already brought you Planetary Radio Live from the 2015 PDC near Rome, Italy. Now you’ll hear a small sampling of the scientists, engineers, policymakers…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceExploring the Seas of Earth and Other Worlds
We return to the beautiful Aquarium of the Pacific in southern California for a fascinating conversation about ocean science. What we learn down here is…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceLightSail Triumphant! A Mission Press Conference
After a roller coaster ride that included a maddening eight-day silence, the LightSail test mission finally achieved all of its major goals. Leaders of the…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceCassini Update AND LightSail Spreads its Wings!
Cassini Project Scientist Linda Spilker, returns with another update on the magnificent mission at Saturn. You’ll also hear Bill Nye and the moment when…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceChris Carberry and Getting Humans to Mars
Explore Mars revealed the 2015 Humans to Mars Report at a recent conference in Washington. CEO Chris Carberry gives us a quick tour of this inspiring…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceThe Launch of LightSail
This special edition takes you behind the scenes on May 20, 2015 as LightSail is lifted into orbit. You’ll hear the thrilling launch, meet key team members as…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceSpiraling Closer to Ceres With the Dawn Mission’s Marc Rayman
It’s the biggest dwarf planet between here and Pluto, and it has a new permanent resident. The Dawn spacecraft is orbiting Ceres in the asteroid belt…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceAlan Stern and the Rise of Pluto
Humankind’s arrival at Pluto is barely two months away. The science and images have already started to flow from New Horizons, according to the mission’s…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceSean Solomon on the Climactic End of the MESSENGER Mission to Mercury
We open with the countdown to destruction—the MESSENGER spacecraft’s impact on Mercury ended its spectacularly successful mission. Principal Investigator Sean…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceCountdown to LightSail: An Update
The road to space has been a rocky one for most spacecraft, and LightSail is no different. Challenges remain even with the May 20th launch of a test mission…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceSaving the Planet at the Planetary Defense Conference
Planetary Radio Live was the only public event at the just-completed Planetary Defense Conference in Italy. Join us for excerpts from an all-star celebration…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceRob Manning and Landing on Mars
Landing on Mars is hard, and the bigger you are, the harder it gets. Rob Manning returns to tell us about one of NASA’s best hopes for getting much bigger…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceHumans Orbiting Mars: Report on the Workshop
A human mission to orbit Mars might be possible by 2033, and it might be accomplished at reasonable cost and with existing or nearly-ready technology. Three…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceRobert Bigelow and His Expandable Space Habs
Bigelow Aerospace’s BEAM expandable/inflatable space module will be attached to the International Space Station later this year. Mat travels to the company’s…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceBig News From Little Worlds
Senior Editor Emily Lakdawalla has returned from the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Texas with the latest revelations about our solar system. She…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceLeaving Behind a Life on Mars—Former Curiosity Project Scientist John Grotzinger
The Mars Science Laboratory rover has accomplished its primary goals on the Red Planet, and John Grotzinger has left his central role to become Chair of the…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceVirgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides on LauncherOne and the Return of SpaceShipTwo
6,000 job-seekers came to the new Long Beach, California home of Virgin Galactic’s LauncherOne rocket on a recent morning. We sit down with CEO George…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceJim Bell Welcomes “The Interstellar Age”
Planetary scientist and author Jim Bell has just written “The Interstellar Age—Inside the Forty-Year Voyager Mission.” He talks with Mat Kaplan about the…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceJonathan Goff Says Let’s Redirect an Asteroid
ARM is the Asteroid Redirect Mission, and sometimes it seems that it doesn’t have a friend in the world. But it does, and Jonathan Goff of Altius Space…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceFound! Beagle 2 on Mars
The Beagle 2 Mars lander disappeared after it separated from the Mars Express orbiter on Christmas Day, 2003. Eleven years later, it has been found…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and SciencePlanetary Radio Extra: A Deep Dive into the New NASA Budget—A New Mission to Europa, But the End of Opportunity?
The just-released budget for the US space agency has much that fans of planetary science can be grateful for, though the news is not all pos.Learn more about…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceYear of the Icy Worlds
We’ll visit the Jet Propulsion Lab on its Icy Worlds Day to learn more about spacecraft exploring Ceres, Enceladus and Europa from leaders of these missions…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceTales From a 4 Billion Year Old Piece of Mars...On Earth
Robina Shaheen and Mark Thiemens tell us how an ancient Mars meteorite has revealed much about the red planet. Mat holds a tiny fragment of the rock in their…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceLightSail Prepares to Take Flight
The Planetary Society has just announced that LightSail will be launched into orbit on its first test flight in May. We’ll talk with Project Manager Doug…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceA Recipe for a Small Planet
Astronomer and planetary scientist Courtney Dressing is the lead author of research that may have found the formula for the mass and composition of Earth-like…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceDr. J and the World’s Biggest Telescope
Joe Liske, host of Hubblecast, is also the top scientist on the European Southern Observatory’s European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), now under…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceThe Exciting Year Ahead on the Final Frontier
The Planetary Society’s experts look forward to a great year of firsts in the solar system and beyond.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science2014: The Year in Space
Our annual review of the greatest events and accomplishments over the last year features analysis and commentary by Bill Nye the Science Guy, Emily Lakdawalla…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceWhere Did The Air Go? Bruce Jakosky on the MAVEN Mars Mission
Not just the air. Where is the water that was plentiful on the red planet billions of years ago? MAVEN may help answer these questions. Principal Investigator…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceSara Seager and the Search for Earth’s Twin
MIT planetary scientist and astrophysicist Sara Seager is on a quest. She wants to find a warm, wet exoplanet with signs of life. It could be Earth 2.0.Learn…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceOrion Launches Into History
NASA’s Orion spacecraft has taken its first step toward Mars and an asteroid mission. The Planetary Society’s Jason Davis was at the Kennedy Space Center for…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceKip Thorne and the Science of Interstellar
Spoiler alert. Famed physicist Kip Thorne says you might be able to survive a plunge into a black hole after all! That’s just one molecule of the fascinating…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science2014: The Year We Landed on a Comet
Not just landed. Orbited, too. European Space Agency Senior Science Advisor Mark McCaughrean helps us celebrate the Rosetta orbiter and the Philae lander.Learn…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceCassini Mission Update From Project Scientist Linda Spilker
Cassini is safe! Project scientist Linda Spilker returns with a regular update on Saturn, its moons and rings not long after learning that the mission is…
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and ScienceDigging Deep With Kris Zacny and the Planetary Deep Drill
If there’s life on Mars, it’s probably deep beneath the surface. That’s just one reason we need a tool like Planetary Deep Drill on the red planet and other…