Planetary Radio

Series produced by Mat Kaplan

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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: In this laser frequency comb, colorized for illustrative purposes, the solid lines are the star spectrum and the dots are the artificial laser spectrum. The dark gaps in the star spectrum represent different chemical elements in the starlight. Long-term s, Credit: European Southern Observatory
It’s terribly hard to find exoplanets that look like our homeworld. The search requires development of astoundingly powerful and precise instrumen...

Bought by WXAV 88.3FM Chicago


  • Added: Oct 13, 2014
  • Length: 28:51
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Researchers have theorized that up to half of Earth's water is older than the sun. It likely formed in the cold molecular cloud that spawned our solar system., Credit: Bill Saxton, NSF/AUI/NRAO
Ilse Cleeves is lead author of a paper that concludes up to half of our solar system’s water is older than the solar system itself. The implication...

Bought by WXAV 88.3FM Chicago


  • Added: Oct 21, 2014
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 1
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MESSENGER is the Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging mission that has been orbiting the innermost planet for more than thr...

Bought by WXAV 88.3FM Chicago


  • Added: Oct 28, 2014
  • Length: 28:51
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: First powered flight of SpaceShipTwo, Credit: Virgin Galactic
It was a terrible, tragic week for commercial space development. Historian and space policy analyst John Logsdon helps up understand the greater m...

Bought by KMUD, WYAP, and WXAV 88.3FM Chicago


  • Added: Nov 03, 2014
  • Length: 28:51
  • Purchases: 3
Caption: Business end of Planetary Deep Drill, Credit: Mat Kaplan
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 ...

Bought by WYAP, WXAV 88.3FM Chicago, KFCF FM, and KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio


  • Added: Nov 11, 2014
  • Length: 28:51
  • Purchases: 4
Caption: Mighty Saturn and its rings, imaged by the Cassini spacecraft., Credit: JPL/NASA
Project scientist Linda Spilker returns with a regular update on Saturn, its moons and rings not long after learning that the mission is funded thr...

Bought by KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio, WXAV 88.3FM Chicago, and WYAP


  • Added: Nov 17, 2014
  • Length: 28:51
  • Purchases: 3
Caption: Mark McCaughrean of the European Space Agency, Credit: Mark McCaughrean
Not just landed. Orbited, too. European Space Agency Senior Science Advisor Mark McCaughrean helps us celebrate the Rosetta orbiter and the Philae...

Bought by WFHB, West Virginia Public Broadcasting, KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio, WXAV 88.3FM Chicago, and KVSC


  • Added: Nov 25, 2014
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 5
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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 ...

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


  • Added: Dec 02, 2014
  • Length: 28:51
  • Purchases: 3
Caption: Orion awaits launch atop its Delta IV Heavy rocket., Credit: Jason Davis/The Planetary Society
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...

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


  • Added: Dec 09, 2014
  • Length: 28:51
  • Purchases: 3
Caption: MIT Astrophysicist and Planetary Scientist Sara Seager, Credit: Sara Seager/MIT
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...

Bought by KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio, WXAV 88.3FM Chicago, and WYAP


  • Added: Dec 15, 2014
  • Length: 28:51
  • Purchases: 3
Caption: The MAVEN spacecraft circling Mars., Credit: NASA/GSFC
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. Principa...

Bought by KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio, WSLR, and WXAV 88.3FM Chicago


  • Added: Dec 22, 2014
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 3
Caption: Orion spacecraft is recovered by the USS Anchorage, Credit: NASA
Our annual review of the greatest events and accomplishments over the last year features analysis and commentary by Bill Nye the Science Guy, Emily...

Bought by KWMR, KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio, KMUD, WXAV 88.3FM Chicago, and KBRP Community Radio


  • Added: Dec 30, 2014
  • Length: 28:51
  • Purchases: 5
Caption: Artist's conception of the Dawn spacecraft approaching Ceres in the asteroid belt., Credit: NASA/JPL
The Planetary Society’s experts look forward to a great year of firsts in the solar system and beyond. Bill Nye the Science Guy provides a status ...

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


  • Added: Jan 05, 2015
  • Length: 28:51
  • Purchases: 5
Caption: Artist's conception of the completed European Extremely Large Telescope, Credit: ESO
Joe Liske, host of Hubblecast, is also the top scientist on the European Southern Observatory’s European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), now und...

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


  • Added: Jan 13, 2015
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 4
Caption: Artist's conception of exoplanet Kepler -186f., Credit: Wikipedia
Astronomer and planetary scientist Courtney Dressing is the lead author of research that may have found the formula for the mass and composition of...

Bought by KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio, WXAV 88.3FM Chicago, WYAP, and KFCF FM


  • Added: Jan 19, 2015
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 4
Caption: Artist's conception of the LightSail solar sail., Credit: The Planetary Society
The Planetary Society has just announced that LightSail A will be launched into low earth orbit in May. We’ll talk with Project Manager Doug Stets...

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


  • Added: Jan 26, 2015
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 6
Caption: A small fragment of Mars meteorite ALH 84001, Credit: Robina Shaheen and Mark Thiemens
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 roc...

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


  • Added: Feb 03, 2015
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 6
Caption: Cassini Saturn mission Project Scientist and host Mat Kaplan touch the plumes of Enceladus at JPL., Credit: Merc Boyan, The Planetary Society
Emily Lakdawalla coined the phrase, and it is exquisitely appropriate. We’ll visit the Jet Propulsion Lab on its Icy Worlds Day to learn more about...

Bought by KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio, KFCF FM, and KWMR


  • Added: Feb 10, 2015
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 3
Caption: Orbital image of what is believed to be the Beagle 2 lander on surface of Mars., Credit: HiRISE/NASA/JPL/Parker/Leicester
The Beagle 2 Mars lander disappeared after it separated from the Mars Express orbiter on Christmas Day, 2003. Eleven years later, it has been foun...

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


  • Added: Feb 16, 2015
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 5
Caption: Artist's conception of an astronaut collecting a sample from a retrieved asteroid., Credit: NASA
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 S...

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


  • Added: Feb 23, 2015
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 6