Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science
1,200 episodes - English - Latest episode: 15 days ago - ★★★★★ - 1.2K ratingsPlanetary 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.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
Back to Planetary Radio Live With the Mars Rovers
February 04, 2014 06:00 - 38 minutes - 35.6 MBOur celebration of the Mars rovers continues from Southern California Public Radio’s Crawford Family Forum, this week featuring planetary scientist and author Jim Bell, Curiosity Project Scientist John Grotzinger, JPL Mars Engineering Manager Rob Manning and Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye. Emily takes us to Curiosity’s latest find on the red planet, and Bruce Betts joins Mat to gaze at the night sky and give away ISS-Above, the little device that tells you when the International Space Station...
Planetary Radio Live Celebrates the Mars Rovers
January 28, 2014 06:00 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBOpportunity has been rolling across Mars for 10 years! We celebrate the Mars Exploration Rovers and their sisters on the red planet at Planetary Radio Live, this week featuring MER Principal Investigator Steve Squyres. Emily Lakdawalla and Bill Nye join Mat in front of a capacity crowd at Southern California Public Radio’s Crawford Family Forum. Bruce Betts closes the show with a live Random Space Fact and rover trivia contest.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See...
From Earth to the Edge of the Universe: A New Edition of “The Cosmos”
January 21, 2014 06:00 - 30 minutes - 28.3 MBAstronomers Jay Pasachoff and Alex Filippenko join us for a conversation about their newest version of their monumental textbook, "The Cosmos." Emily Lakdawalla helps us say good morning to the just-awakened Rosetta spacecraft, while Bill Nye is fascinated and puzzled by what looks like a jelly doughnut on the Martian surface.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Gemini Planet Imager: Worlds Made Visible
January 13, 2014 06:00 - 31 minutes - 28.7 MBPrincipal Investigator and physicist Bruce Macintosh joins astronomer Franck Marchis to celebrate first light from the most powerful instrument for imaging exoplanets.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
A 2014 Preview From Emily Lakdawalla
January 06, 2014 06:00 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MB24 spacecraft are either busy exploring the solar system or speeding toward an exciting destination. The Planetary Society's Senior Editor takes us on a whirlwind advance tour.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Amy Mainzer Is Hunting Asteroids With NEOWISE
December 30, 2013 06:00 - 34 minutes - 31.3 MBTake a spacecraft that can no longer survey the realm of galaxies and repurpose it to discover thousands of much nearer asteroids and comets. Put it to sleep for 2.5 years, then wake it up and start discovering even more! JPL’s Amy Mainzer is Principal Investigator for NEOWISE, the mission using this amazing space telescope. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10 Years A Roving: A.J.S. Rayl on the Mars Exploration Rovers
December 23, 2013 06:00 - 53 minutes - 48.8 MBWhat a long, wonderful trip it has been for Spirit and Opportunity, the Mars Exploration Rovers. Planetary Society reporter A.J.S. Rayl has been writing about their adventure every month for ten years. She looks back on this week’s show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
A Big Week for Space Science at the AGU and Beyond
December 16, 2013 06:00 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBThe annual fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union revealed lots of science, some of it astounding. Emily Lakdawalla was there with Advocacy and Outreach Coordinator Casey Dreier, whose news was not quite as good. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Comet ISON: Much More Than a Memory
December 09, 2013 06:00 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBMaybe it wasn’t “the comet of the century,” but ISON has left a scientific legacy that is beyond compare. That’s according to Karl Battams of NASA’s Comet ISON Observing Campaign on this week’s show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Celebrating the Admiral of the Solar System
December 02, 2013 06:00 - 29 minutes - 27 MBThe life of explorer and teacher Dr. Bruce Murray was celebrated last November 10th at Caltech. This week we present a few excerpts from the tributes paid to the former JPL Director and co-founder of the Planetary Society.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Alyssa Rhoden and the Rise of the Europa Underground
November 25, 2013 06:00 - 30 minutes - 27.8 MBAlyssa Rhoden studies Jupiter’s moon Europa…from a distance. She, many other scientists and millions of space exploration fans around the globe want to see a mission to this ice world that hides a vast, warm ocean. That’s why she and several colleagues have created Destination: Europa, and they want your help.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Planetary Radio Live Celebrates the Launch of MAVEN
November 18, 2013 06:00 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBThe successful launch of MAVEN was covered by Mat Kaplan, Bruce Betts and Emily Lakdawalla, with special, launch site reports from Jim Bell and Bill Nye.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
SpaceUp LA: What would you do with $13 Billion?
November 11, 2013 06:00 - 32 minutes - 29.8 MBWhat would YOU do with an extra $10 Billion for space exploration and development? That’s what Mat Kaplan asked the passionate space enthusiasts at the 2013 SpaceUp LA Unconference.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
All-Sky Optical Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
November 04, 2013 06:00 - 31 minutes - 29.2 MBA burst of laser light could let humanity know it is not alone in the universe. Harvard’s Paul Horowitz and Curtis Mead will give us an update on the technological wonder of Optical SETI that watches the entire sky for billionth of a second pulses from the stars.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
It's Hot! Plutonium 238 is Back
October 28, 2013 05:00 - 32 minutes - 29.5 MBCasey Dreier tells the winding tale of Plutonium 238, the radioactive isotope that is vital for exploration of the solar system. The US came dangerously close to exhausting its supply. Even with production restarted, there are major challenges facing explorers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Juno's Brief Home Visit on the Road to Jupiter
October 21, 2013 05:00 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBJuno Principal Investigator Scott Bolton reviews the spacecraft's Earth flyby and previews its long stay at our solar system's king of planets.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Emily Lakawalla's DPS Report
October 14, 2013 05:00 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBThe Planetary Society’s Senior Editor and Planetary Evangelist recaps this year’s revealing meeting of the Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The New Horizons Initiative
October 07, 2013 05:00 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBCarl Sagan’s longtime artistic collaborator, Jon Lomberg, designed the cover for the Voyager Interstellar Record. Now he wants to upload another message from Earth to New Horizons, the spacecraft on its way to Pluto. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Gregory and James Benford on the "Starship Century"
September 30, 2013 05:00 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MB“Starship Century—Toward the Grandest Horizon” is the new collection of fact and fiction assembled by Gregory and James Benford. The brothers are among the leaders of a renaissance in research and thinking about interstellar travel. They have returned to Planetary Radio to talk about this story of human destiny among the stars.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Can We Touch the Stars? Lou Friedman at the 100-Year Starship Symposium
September 23, 2013 05:00 - 30 minutes - 28 MBOnly days after Voyager 1 reached interstellar space, forward thinkers met in Houston, Texas to consider how humans can become a starfaring species. Planetary Society Emeritus Executive Director Lou Friedman reports from the meeting. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
MAVEN Mars Mission's Bruce Jakosky
September 16, 2013 05:00 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBThe Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission (MAVEN) orbiter leaves for the red planet in November of 2013. Bruce Jakosky of the University of Colorado Boulder is its Principal Investigator. Mat Kaplan sat down with Bruce at a recent MAVEN workshop.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
PLANETARY RADIO LIVE: LADEE Launches for Luna
September 09, 2013 05:00 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBPlanetary Radio returned to the Crawford Family Forum for live coverage of the LADEE launch on September 6th.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Remembering Bruce Murray
September 02, 2013 05:00 - 49 minutes - 45.4 MBThe passing of Planetary Society co-founder and former JPL Director Bruce Murray has been marked around the world. Planetary Radio takes its turn with this special tribute.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Taikonauts on the Moon? A Conversation With Leonard David
August 26, 2013 05:00 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBLeonard David has been writing about space exploration for more than five decades. Now he has turned his attention to China’s ambitious plans.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
NASA's Charlie Bolden Visits Earth Missions at JPL
August 19, 2013 05:00 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBTwo missions are coming together in a high bay clean room at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. SMAP and ISS RapidScat went on display for a visit by NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. Mat Kaplan and Emily Lakdawalla provide special coverage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Bleeding Edge--NIAC Chooses 12 New Out There Projects
August 12, 2013 05:00 - 31 minutes - 28.8 MBThey might be happy if one in ten of the projects they fund makes it in the real world…because that project just might change the world. We talk with Jay Falker, Program Executive for the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Program about 12 crazy and not so crazy ideas that have just received early seed funding. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Ancient Snows of Mars
August 05, 2013 05:00 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBWhen she was learning to forecast the weather in Hawaii, Brown University grad student Kat Scanlon didn’t suspect it would help her uncover evidence for rain or, more likely, snow that helped shape the surface of Mars billions of years ago. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Europa Report--New Science Fiction Film Embraces the Science
July 29, 2013 05:00 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBIf you’re willing to accept the premise, the thrilling new independent feature film presents one of the most scientifically and technically accurate tales ever put on screen. We’ll talk with the director and producer, and then ask science advisor Kevin Hand for a reality check. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
JPL and England Wave at Saturn
July 22, 2013 05:00 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBHundreds came out on the JPL mall on Friday, July 19th to salute the Cassini spacecraft as it captured a rare image of Earth from the outer solar system. Among them were the mission Deputy Project Scientist, Scott Edgington, and the Cassini Program Manager, Earl Maize.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Touring Mt. Wilson with George Ellery Hale's Descendants
July 15, 2013 05:00 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBOn this special vacation edition of the show, we climb to the Mount Wilson Observatory to join a special tour for the descendants of the facility’s fascinating founder, George Ellery Hale.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Tim Spahr of the Minor Planet Center
July 08, 2013 05:00 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBThere’s a place to go when you find a space rock headed our way, or headed any which way. Tim Spahr directs the Minor Planet Center, the global clearinghouse for all information about asteroids, comets and other relatively small bodies like moons.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Water on the Moon!
July 01, 2013 05:00 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBAmanda Hendrix looks for and studies water in our solar system, where it has been found in surprising locales. Earth's moon, for instance. She talks about Luna’s ice and the weathering of its ancient surface.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
A Cosmic Concert: Singer/Songwriter Peter Mayer on Planetary Radio Live
June 24, 2013 05:00 - 1 hour - 80.2 MBJoin us at the intersection of science, nature, music and wonder for a very special Planetary Radio Live with the great Peter Mayer. Bill Nye is with host Mat Kaplan on stage in this unique episode, the longest we've ever presented. You'll hear eight of Pete's beautiful songs, including one that will be on his new CD.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Landing On Mars With JPL's Matt Golombek
June 17, 2013 05:00 - 38 minutes - 34.9 MBJoin us at JPL for a conversation with Mars landing site selection leader Matt Golombek. Matt is also now Project Scientist for the Mars Exploration Rover program, and shares the great news from Opportunity about its latest discovery. Emily Lakdawalla presents a guest blog entry that features splendid images from Mars Express, while Bill Nye traces the convoluted ways of space science funding in Washington. Bruce Betts and Mat Kaplan are at a legendary Pasadena eatery for this week’s What’s U...
Saving Science Education With Pamela Gay AND Creating the Blackest Black
June 10, 2013 05:00 - 35 minutes - 32.3 MBA Planetary Radio double header includes a visit with CosmoQuest’s Pamela Gay. She and colleagues are working to replace vital federal funds for science education and citizen science programs. We also go to the dark side with David Carnahan of NanoLab, developer of carbon nanotubes that may help us discover Earth-like planets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Tasting the Air of Distant Worlds
June 03, 2013 05:00 - 31 minutes - 29.2 MBThere will soon be one thousand confirmed exoplanets, but how do we learn more about such distant worlds? We talk to the leader of a team that has recently developed technology capable of revealing the spectra of these planets, which allows us to tease apart their composition. Emily Lakdawalla invites you to find the next “face” on Mars, while Bill Nye says another asteroid flyby is good news. Our special What’s Up space trivia contest prize will put your picture in orbit!Learn more about you...
Live at the Space Tech Expo with Bill Nye, Xcor and Zero-G
May 27, 2013 05:00 - 34 minutes - 31.7 MBPlanRad Live takes to the road again, this time visiting the Space Tech Expo in Long Beach, California for a conversation with enthusiastic team members at Xcor Aerospace, where they are building the Lynx spaceplane, and the Zero Gravity Corporation, whose “G-Force One” plane has allowed thousands of men and women to experience weightlessness. Bill Nye joined the fun on stage, and Bruce Betts arrived with t-shirts for the winners of the live What’s Up space trivia contest. Learn more about yo...
Advocating for Planetary Science/Star Trek Meets Spacefarers
May 20, 2013 05:00 - 30 minutes - 28.2 MBThe director and cast of Star Trek: Into Darkness meet up with real space travelers. Also: Planetary science funding from NASA is in trouble, so a delegation led by Bill Nye the Science Guy descended on Washington DC last week to sound the alarm. Planetary Society Advocacy chief Casey Dreier provides a report, and comments on the Society’s support for NASA’s Asteroid Retrieval Mission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy infor...
Sun Rings: Music of the Spheres From the Kronos Quartet
May 13, 2013 05:00 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBThe internationally renown string quartet talk about creating and performing Terry Riley's Sun Rings, that incorporates Don Gurnett's space sounds.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Saving Earth: Asteroid Emergency Tabletop Exercise at the 2013 PDC
May 06, 2013 05:00 - 41 minutes - 38.1 MBThe last installment of our Planetary Defense Conference coverage makes a deep impact as hundreds of attendees participate in an asteroid mitigation exercise. You’ll hear from astronauts Ed Lu and Rusty Schweikart, Near Earth Object expert Don Yeomans, Cathy Plesko of the Los Alamos National Laboratory and many more.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Kindred Spirits: Alison Gibbings and Carolyn Shoemaker at the Planetary Defense Conference
April 29, 2013 05:00 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBOur special coverage of the PDC continues with two planetary scientists separated by almost 60 years in age, but with similar dedication and enthusiasm for saving the planet.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Live at the Planetary Defense Conference!
April 22, 2013 05:00 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBPlanetary Radio host Mat Kaplan joined Bill Nye and four passionate planetary explorers on stage at the Planetary Defense Conference in Flagstaff, Arizona.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Yuri's Night 2013 Under Space Shuttle Endeavour
April 15, 2013 05:00 - 30 minutes - 28 MBPlanetary Radio Live was on stage at the World Space Party with guests George and Loretta Whitesides and Bobak "Mohawk Guy" Ferdowsi.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Basics of Interplanetary Flight With Dave Doody
April 08, 2013 05:00 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBJPL’s Dave Doody doesn’t just fly around the solar system, he teaches others how it's done. We talk about what students learn in his non-technical class, the Basics of Interplanetary Flight.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Saturn Update from Cassini Project Scientist Linda Spilker
April 01, 2013 05:00 - 30 minutes - 27.7 MBWe pay another visit to the queen of planets with Cassini Mission Project Scientist Linda Spilker. She always brings us fascinating news from Saturn, its moons and rings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
More of Our ALMA Adventure in Chile's Atacama Desert
March 25, 2013 05:00 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBOur special coverage of the ALMA Observatory inauguration continues, with the President of Chile, the incoming ALMA Director, and much more from the Atacama Desert. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
ALMA Adventure
March 18, 2013 05:00 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBThe first of two shows about Mat Kaplan's journey to Chile's Atacama Desert for the inauguration of the Atacama Large Millimeter small millimter Array, the most ambitious, Earth-based astronomy project in history.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Drill Baby Drill! On Mars
March 11, 2013 05:00 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBWith the first use of its drill and delivery of samples to its internal instruments, Curiosity is now a fully-functioning science station on Mars. JPL Sampling System Scientist Luther Beegle provides an update.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Alan Stern's Golden Spike Sets Sights on the Moon
March 04, 2013 06:00 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBAlan Stern is back to tell us about Golden Spike, his new company that plans to put human clients on the surface of the moon by the end of this decade. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
One In A Million!
February 25, 2013 06:00 - 37 minutes - 34.6 MBUC Berkeley SETI researcher Andrew Siemion and his colleagues have put an upper limit on the number of civilizations in our galaxy that are capable of giving us a call. He’ll explain their reasoning and provide other search updates.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.