Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science
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About This Podcast
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 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.
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Recent Episodes
U.S. space science in flux: Grant rules, rockets, and reorganization
Between budget battles, proposed grant rule changes, and an exploding Blue Origin rocket, there's a lot to cover in U.S. space policy right now. Jack Kiraly, The Planetary Society's director of…
Space Policy Edition: A proposal to stifle American science
The White House's Office of Management and Budget has released a sweeping 400-page proposed rule change that would fundamentally alter how the U.S. federal government manages grants, affecting…
Spacewoman with Eileen Collins
Colonel Eileen Collins was the first woman to pilot and command a Space Shuttle, and the person NASA trusted to lead the program back into space after the loss of Columbia. But her story is about so…
Los Angeles Astronomical Society celebrates 100 years of looking up
The Los Angeles Astronomical Society (LAAS) is one of the oldest and largest amateur astronomy clubs in the United States, and this year, it’s turning 100. To mark the occasion, the LAAS threw a…
Twenty organic molecules found in an ancient Martian rock
NASA's Curiosity rover has been exploring Mars' Gale Crater for over a decade. A new analysis of samples collected there reveals something remarkable: more than 20 different organic molecules…
Book Club Edition: Diane Ackerman and “The Planets: A Cosmic Pastoral”
Author, poet, and science communicator Diane Ackerman is our guest. Her wonderful collection of poems, with one devoted to each of the worlds in our Solar System, was first published in 1976. Carl…
Igniting Discovery: A showcase of NASA-funded research
The Planetary Society's 2026 Day of Action brought something new this year. For the very first time, the advocacy day was followed by a showcase of NASA funded science in an event called Igniting…
Day of Action 2026: Rejoining the fight to save NASA science
Every year, members of The Planetary Society travel to Washington, D.C., to make their voices heard on Capitol Hill. This year, just days after the Artemis II crew splashed down off the coast of San…
Space Policy Edition: Why humans matter — The philosophy of Artemis II
When Artemis II returned its crew safely to Earth, millions of people found themselves unexpectedly moved. The mission was a test flight, a proof-of-concept, and yet it felt like something far…
Yuri's Night 2026: Celebrating 65 years of human spaceflight
On April 12th, 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space. Sixty-five years later, we celebrated that milestone at Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, CA. We began on the lawn of Griffith…
Project Hail Mary hits the big screen
“Project Hail Mary” is finally in theaters, and the science is just as thrilling as the story. This week on Planetary Radio, Sarah Al-Ahmed and senior communications adviser Mat Kaplan share their…
Book Club Edition: Founder and CEO Peter Beck on The Launch of Rocket Lab
He built a rocket-powered bike when he was a kid. Now he leads the company that has made New Zealand number three among nations that launch big rockets, following the United States and China. Sir…
Triumph and turmoil: Artemis II and the renewed fight to save NASA science
The Artemis II crew has returned home safely after a historic 10-day journey around the Moon, the first crewed lunar mission in over 50 years. In this episode, we celebrate some of the mission's most…
Artemis II launches to the Moon
Four astronauts — Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen — are on their way around the Moon, on a journey that will take them farther from…
Space Policy Edition: Return to Launch — Cape Canaveral's unlikely history
What makes Cape Canaveral the center of U.S. spaceflight? The answer is a fascinating mix of geography, military strategy, Cold War politics, and a fair amount of historical accident. In this episode…
Artemis II’s AVATAR and a sungrazing comet
Artemis II is the first crewed lunar mission since Apollo 17, and riding alongside the crew is one of the most ambitious biology experiments ever sent to space. It's called AVATAR, short for A…
The astronaut health experiments of Artemis II
Artemis II is about more than getting four humans to the Moon and back. It's an opportunity to gather data on human health in deep space that we haven’t had in over 50 years. This week, we’re joined…
Book Club Edition: The Giant Leap: Why Space is the Next Frontier in the Evolution of Life
Join us for an awe-inspiring conversation with astrobiologist and astronomer Caleb Scharf as he eloquently makes the case for "dispersal," the nearly inevitable advance of life and humanity across…
The 18th European Space Conference: Dreaming of European boots on the Moon
Humanity is going back to the Moon, and Europe is already playing a critical role in making it happen. This week, Planetary Radio brings you voices straight from the 18th European Space Conference in…
Starman: Looking back on a life exploring the Solar System
Gentry Lee spent nearly five decades at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and in that time he helped shape some of the most ambitious missions in the history of space exploration. A new documentary,…
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Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science has published 1340 episodes since November 2002, covering topics in Science, Technology.
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science is currently highly active with new episodes weekly. Average episode length is 43m.
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