Planetary Radio

Series produced by Mat Kaplan

Series image

The Planetary Society's travel show that takes you to the final frontier, featuring commentary by Society CEO Bill Nye the Science Guy.

For over 20 years, we've been proud to bring Planetary Radio to our dedicated listeners. However, after careful consideration, we discontinued our traditional broadcast distribution on Aug. 2, 2023. We invite Radio stations to continue airing the extended podcast version of the show, along with any of our previous episodes. You can find the extensive archive of our broadcasts and our new podcast MP3s here: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/radio-episodes-files For more information about Planetary Radio, visit our website at https://www.planetary.org/radio. For inquiries or support, contact Sarah Al-Ahmed, the host and producer of Planetary Radio, at planetaryradio@planetary.org. Thank you again for being an integral part of the Planetary Radio family. We look forward to continuing our cosmic journey together through the wonders of our podcast and beyond. Hide full description

For over 20 years, we've been proud to bring Planetary Radio to our dedicated listeners. However, after careful consideration, we discontinued our traditional broadcast distribution on Aug. 2, 2023. We invite Radio stations to continue airing the extended podcast version of the show, along with any of our previous episodes. You can find the extensive archive of our broadcasts and our new podcast MP3s here: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/radio-episodes-files For more information about Planetary Radio, visit our website at https://www.planetary.org/radio. For inquiries or support, contact Sarah Al-Ahmed, the host and producer of Planetary Radio, at planetaryradio@planetary.org. Thank you again for being an integral part of the Planetary Radio family. We look forward to... Show full description


519 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Caption: Artist's concept of a giant O'Neill cylinder space settlement., Credit: NASA, Art by Rick Guidice
Gerard K. O’Neill envisioned vast, magnificent human settlements in space. His followers, including Jeff Bezos, are working to turn his vision into...

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  • Added: Apr 14, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 10
Caption: THE BOLDEST TEST FLIGHT IN HISTORY John Young (left) and Bob Crippen pose for a crew portrait prior to STS-1, the first flight of space shuttle Columbia, in April 1981., Credit: NASA
Robert Crippen and John Young became the first humans to fly a space shuttle into orbit when Columbia launched on April 12, 1981.

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  • Added: Apr 07, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 10
Caption: Artist's impression of the TESS spacecraft on orbit., Credit: NASA
Exoplanet hunter and artist Natalia Guerrero of MIT reveals the discovery of many more possible new worlds by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Sa...

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  • Added: Mar 31, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 12
Caption: Taken on 5 March 2021, this color-calibrated image from a Navigation Camera aboard NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover shows tracks from the rover's first drive (darker marks in the foreground) and an area scoured by the Mars 2020 mission's descent stage , Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Perseverance rover deputy project scientists Katie Stack Morgan and Ken Williford share the latest developments from Mars’ newest robot resident.

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  • Added: Mar 23, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 9
Caption: Hayabusa2 sees its shadow during the second touchdown rehearsal on 15 October 2018. The spacecraft was 47 meters above Ryugu., Credit: JAXA, University of Tokyo, Kochi University, Rikkyo University, Nagoya University, Chiba Institute of Technology, Meiji University, University of Aizu, AIST
Hayabusa2 project manager Yuichi Tsuda shares the exciting success of Japan’s sample return mission ti asteroid Ryugu.

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  • Added: Mar 17, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 10
Caption: The heat-flow probe known as the mole sticks out of the Martian surface in this image captured by NASA's InSight spacecraft in February 2020. Engineers and scientists spent nearly two years using InSight's robotic arm to help the mole dig before formally , Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA engineer and scientist Troy Hudson shares the sad but ultimately inspiring story of a two-year attempt to dig deep beneath the surface of Mars.

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  • Added: Mar 10, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 10
Caption: Spinoff 21 has been published online by NASA., Credit: NASA
We examine a few of the thousands of technologies and innovations developed by NASA that are making lives better around our planet.

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  • Added: Mar 03, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 12
Caption: The Mars 2020 rover Perseverance imaged as it is lowered to the Red Planet's surface by the sky crane., Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Relive the most dramatic and awe-inspiring moments from NASA’s Perseverance rover landing on Mars.

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  • Added: Feb 24, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 12
Caption: Mars awaits.
Author of The Martian Andy Weir and the leader of the United Arab Emirates’ successful Hope Mars orbiter mission joined other Mars all-stars at Pla...

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  • Added: Feb 17, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 9
Caption: Marc Hartzman's fascinating and entertaining book about Mars in popular culture and more., Credit: Quirk Books
Author Marc Hartzman’s new book celebrates the wonder of the Red Planet and how it entered popular culture.

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  • Added: Feb 10, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 9
Caption: The Hale Telescope dome at the Palomar Observatory, Credit: Palomar/Caltech
How astronomers at California’s Palomar Observatory revolutionized our understanding of the cosmos.

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  • Added: Feb 03, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 10
Caption: Harvard professor Avi Loeb takes issue with this cigar-like impression of interstellar object 'Oumuamua., Credit: ESO / M. Kornmesser
Is interstellar object ‘Oumuamua an alien artifact? Harvard professor Avi Loeb explores his hypothesis in a new book and in a fascinating conversat...

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  • Added: Jan 27, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 11
Caption: This illustration shows the events that occur in the final minutes of the nearly seven-month journey that NASA's Perseverance rover takes to Mars. Hundreds of critical events must execute perfectly and exactly on time for the rover to land on Mars safely , Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
JPL engineer Gregory Villar prepares us for the perilous descent and landing of the 2020 Mars rover on February 18th.

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  • Added: Jan 20, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 8
Caption: Volcano Loki Patera erupts on Jupiter's moon Io. Io inspired the first movement of The Moons Symphony., Credit: NASA
Composer Amanda Lee Falkenberg is joined by Cassini project scientist Linda Spilker and retired astronaut Nicole Stott as she shares excerpts from ...

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  • Added: Jan 13, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 8
Caption: Artist concept of the Solar Cruiser sail approaching the Sun, though it won't actually get nearly this close., Credit: NASA
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 b...

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  • Added: Jan 05, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 10
Caption: NASA astronauts Bob Behnken (left) and Doug Hurley are all smiles after safely returning to Earth aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon on 2 August 2020. The mission, Demo-2, was the first crewed flight of NASA's Commercial Crew program., Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
In spite of everything, 2020 was a good year for space exploration according to five of The Planetary Society’s experts.

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  • Added: Dec 30, 2020
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 9
Caption: Artist concept of the Perseverance rover examining an outcrop on Mars., Credit: NASA/JPL-CALTECH
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 s...

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  • Added: Dec 16, 2020
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 12
Caption: China's Chang'e-5 lunar lander makes an impression on the Moon., Credit: PRC
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 ...

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  • Added: Dec 09, 2020
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 8
Caption: The great radio telescope at Arecibo in better days., Credit: NSF/UCF
Host Mat Kaplan talked with the Arecibo Observatory director just hours before the giant radio telescope came crashing down.

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  • Added: Dec 02, 2020
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 10
Caption: This illustration highlights the Moon’s Clavius Crater with an illustration depicting water trapped in the lunar soil there, along with an image of NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) that found sunlit lunar water., Credit: NASA/Daniel Rutter
Astronomer Jane Greaves returns with an update on the phosphine gas floating above Venus, before Casey Honnibal takes us through her team’s discove...

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  • Added: Nov 25, 2020
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 9