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: The National Radio Astronomy Observatory’s Very Large Array in New Mexico, Credit: National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Are we alone? The nearly sixty-year effort to answer that question has gotten a big boost from the Breakthrough Initiatives, funded by Yuri Milner ...

Bought by WTJU, KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio, KWMR, WXAV 88.3FM Chicago, KRZA and more


  • Added: Oct 24, 2017
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 8
Caption: Night image of Italy from space, Credit: NASA/GSFC
Astronomer Pamela Gay is probably best known as co-host of the Astronomy Cast podcast, but she is also Principal Investigator for the CosmoQuest vi...

Bought by WTJU, KWMR, KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio, WMUU-LP, KRZA and more


  • Added: Oct 17, 2017
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: Occator Crater on dwarf planet Ceres, with its now less mysterious bright spots or areas., Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA/PSI
Dawn Mission Director and Chief Engineer Marc Rayman helps us salute the ion-engine powered spacecraft that first orbited asteroid Vesta in the mai...

Bought by WTJU, KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio, KWMR, WXAV 88.3FM Chicago, WMUU-LP and more


  • Added: Oct 11, 2017
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: IAC 2017 CEO and former Space Industry Association of Australia Chair Brett Biddington, Credit: IAC/IAF
The Australian government announced that it would create a national space agency at the 68th annual International Astronautical Congress in Adelaid...

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  • Added: Oct 04, 2017
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: Artist concept of the Cassini spacecraft struggling to keep its antenna pointed at Earth in the moments before it burns up in Saturn's atmosphere., Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
More than 1,100 fans of the just-completed 20-year mission to Saturn joined us for a live tribute. The Planetary Society’s Mat Kaplan and KPCC Scie...

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  • Added: Sep 27, 2017
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: NASA's flashy Cassini Grand Finale poster!, Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Join us at JPL and Caltech on the bittersweet morning the Cassini spacecraft plunged into Saturn. We’ll hear from several of the mission’s leaders...

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  • Added: Sep 20, 2017
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: (L to R) David Brin, Geoffrey Landis, Gregory Benford, Larry Niven and Robert Zubrin at the 2017 Mars Society Convention, Credit: Mat Kaplan
Robert Zubrin of the Mars Society talks with Gregory Benford, David Brin, Geoffrey Landis and Larry Niven about terraforming Mars, the origin of li...

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  • Added: Sep 13, 2017
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: Artist concept of heliogyro solar sail for 1980s Halley's Comet mission., Credit: NASA/JPL
The co-founder and Executive Director Emeritus of the Planetary Society returns for a conversation about the allure of sailing through space. Digi...

Bought by KNVC Carson City Community Radio, KRZA, KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio, KWMR, WTJU and more


  • Added: Sep 05, 2017
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 9
Caption: Mat Kaplan and guests at Southern Illinois University Carbondale on the evening before the Great American Eclipse, Credit: Board of Trustees, Southern Illinois University
With hours to go before the Great American Eclipse, Mat Kaplan hosted a Planetary Radio Live session in front of 1,100 rowdy eclipse and space scie...

Bought by WXAV 88.3FM Chicago, KDNK, KWMR, KFCF FM, KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio and more


  • Added: Aug 30, 2017
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 11
Caption: Artist concept of Cassini passing between Saturn and its rings, Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
It’s the Grandest Finale. The spectacular Cassini mission’s exploration of Saturn will end on September 15th when the spacecraft plunges into the ...

Bought by KMRE-LP Bellingham, Wash., KWMR, KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio, WTJU, WMUU-LP and more


  • Added: Aug 23, 2017
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: Voyager image of Jupiter's moon Io taken as the volcano called Loki erupted., Credit: NASA/JPL/USGS
It is most space fans’ favorite planetary science mission, and with good reason. We visit with the man who has been in charge of Voyager mission sc...

Bought by WTJU, KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio, KRZA, KMRE-LP Bellingham, Wash., WMUU-LP and more


  • Added: Aug 15, 2017
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: Astrophysicists Jason Rhodes& Alina Kiessling
JPL astrophysicists Alina Kiessling and Jason Rhodes were brought together by their fascination over the mystery of dark energy. They talk with Pla...

Bought by KRZA, WYAP, KWMR, KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio, WTJU and more


  • Added: Aug 09, 2017
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 8
Caption: The Goode Solar Telescope at the NJIT Big Bear Solar Observatory, Credit: Mat Kaplan
The world’s most powerful solar telescope sits in Big Bear Lake, high above southern California. It has just been renamed for the man responsible f...

Bought by KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio, KWMR, WTJU, KRZA, WMUU-LP and more


  • Added: Aug 02, 2017
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: Mars outpost concept, Credit: NASA
Will humans live, work and thrive on Mars? What challenges must be met before we can become Martians? On July 20th, the anniversary of the Apollo ...

Bought by KDNK, KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio, KWMR, WMUU-LP, WTJU and more


  • Added: Jul 26, 2017
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 8
Caption: Cassini took this photo on June 4, 2017, close to periapsis on its seventh "Grand Finale" orbit, when it passed between the planet and the rings., Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI/Emily Lakdawalla
The Cassini Mission has less than two months to go before it ends with a spectacular plunge into the beautiful ringed world. Planetary Society Sen...

Bought by Radio Catskill, WXAV 88.3FM Chicago, WTJU, KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio, KWMR and more


  • Added: Jul 19, 2017
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 8
Caption: Matt Golombek and Mars rovers, Credit: NASA/JPL
When the Pathfinder lander reached Mars 20 years ago it began a Martian renaissance that has never paused. JPL scientist Matt Golombek was the mis...

Bought by KMRE-LP Bellingham, Wash., KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio, KWMR, WMUU-LP, KRZA and more


  • Added: Jul 12, 2017
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 8
Caption: •	New Very Large Telescope image of galaxy Messier 77 , Credit: •	European Southern Observatory
Veteran astronomer and cosmologist Sandra Faber has just been awarded the Gruber Prize for Cosmology, honoring more than forty years of pioneering ...

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  • Added: Jul 05, 2017
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 8
Caption: Artist concept of massive asteroid impact, Credit: NASA
Asteroid Day, June 30th, marks the anniversary of the great Tunguska impact that leveled a Siberian forest. It reminds us that a Near Earth Object ...

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  • Added: Jun 28, 2017
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 8
Caption: "American Eclipse" by David Baron, Credit: Liveright/W.W. Norton
The great inventor was just one of many men and women who made their way across the American West to view and document the total solar eclipse of 1...

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  • Added: Jun 21, 2017
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 9
Caption: February 21, 1997--Julie Webster, Cassini’s manager of spacecraft operations (kneeling, right), and the rest of the mission's assembly, test and launch operations (ATLO) team pose with the spacecraft outside the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Space Simulator, Credit: NASA / Jet Propulsion Laboratory - Caltech / Bob Brown
How do you keep a dazzlingly complex spacecraft in good health after 20 years in space? That’s the challenge for Julie Webster and her team of eng...

Bought by KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio, KWMR, WTJU, WMUU-LP, KRZA and more


  • Added: Jun 13, 2017
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 6