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.

Public radio's only long format, weekly series devoted to space exploration and the scientists, engineers, astronauts and visionaries who lead it. Most episodes include an in-depth interview along with regular segments that incude:

Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye the Science Guy's weekly commentaries...Emily Lakdawalla's Snapshots From Space...What's Up! (...in the night sky, with other fun and intriguing space info and a weekly contest.)

Several episodes each year are recorded live before an enthusiastic audience, often with live music. We also cover special space events, like the landing of the Curiosity Mars Rover, and take listeners to the places where scientists learn about the cosmos, like Chile's Atacama Desert.

Episodes are available from the PRSS each Tuesday on channel A68.5, from 1600-1630 Eastern. We also make a 128kb MP3 available to stations at our website.

Every week, Planetary Radio visits with a scientist, engineer, astronaut, project manager, advocate, visionary or writer who can provide a unique perspective on the quest for knowledge about our solar system and beyond. We also showcase regular features that raise your space IQ while they put a smile on your face.

Past guests have included Buzz Aldrin, Sally Ride, X Prize Founder Peter Diamandis, Ray Bradbury, Bill Nye the Science Guy, Steve Squyres of the Mars Exploration Rover Project, Galileo's Daughter author Dava Sobel, interplanetary volcano expert Rosaly Lopes, the European Space Agency's Bernard Foing and scores of other leaders.

Each episode also includes an irreverent look at the current night sky with astronomer and Planetary Society Director of Projects Bruce Betts. These "What's Up!" segments also include a Random Space Fact, This Week in Space History, and our popular weekly space trivia contest.

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Public radio's only long format, weekly series devoted to space exploration and the scientists, engineers, astronauts and visionaries who lead it. Most episodes include an in-depth interview along with regular segments that incude: Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye the Science Guy's weekly commentaries...Emily Lakdawalla's Snapshots From Space...What's Up! (...in the night sky, with other fun and intriguing space info and a weekly contest.) Several episodes each year are recorded live before an enthusiastic audience, often with live music. We also cover special space events, like the landing of the Curiosity Mars Rover, and take listeners to the places where scientists learn about the cosmos, like Chile's Atacama Desert. Episodes are available from the PRSS each Tuesday on channel... Show full description


511 Pieces

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Caption: Venus Express Enters the Venusian Atmosphere, Credit: European Space Agency
Venus Express Project Scientist Håkan Svedhem tells us about the spacecraft’s harrowing descent into the Venusian atmosphere, what it is currently ...

Bought by WXAV 88.3FM Chicago


  • Added: Aug 04, 2014
  • Length: 28:51
  • Purchases: 1
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In his 55 years as NBC’s space correspondent, Jay Barbree has won the respect and friendship of many astronauts. Neil Armstrong stands above them a...

Bought by KVSC and WXAV 88.3FM Chicago


  • Added: Jul 29, 2014
  • Length: 28:51
  • Purchases: 2
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They have generated excitement, enthusiasm and support throughout the world. The ISEE-3 Reboot Project has succeeded in gaining control over the 36...

Bought by WXAV 88.3FM Chicago


  • Added: Jul 22, 2014
  • Length: 28:51
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Bill Nye at the LightSail countdown celebration., Credit: Loren Roberts
LightSail, the Planetary Society’s innovative solar sail cubesat, will ride into space on the huge SpaceX Falcon Heavy, now in development. Bill N...

Bought by WXAV 88.3FM Chicago


  • Added: Jul 15, 2014
  • Length: 28:51
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Radar image of lakeshore on Saturn's moon Titan., Credit: NASA/JPL
Though we now peer through its obscuring haze with radar, Saturn’s big moon remains mysterious. Cornell grad student Jason Hofgartner reports on t...

Bought by WXAV 88.3FM Chicago


  • Added: Jul 08, 2014
  • Length: 28:51
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Laurie Barge of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., is seen here with a version of one of her team's fuel cells. They use the fuel cells to study the chemical processes thought to have given rise to life on Earth, and possibly other planet, Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
There’s so much we don’t know about the origin of life here or anywhere else in the universe. But there must have been an energy source. Researche...

Bought by WXAV 88.3FM Chicago


  • Added: Jul 01, 2014
  • Length: 28:51
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Artist’s Conception of Kepler-186f, Credit: Credit: NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyl
Kepler-186f is the very first exoplanet that is both the size of our own world and in the habitable zone surrounding its star. SETI Institute scie...

Bought by WESM 91.3 FM and WXAV 88.3FM Chicago


  • Added: Jun 23, 2014
  • Length: 28:51
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Gemini Spacewalker, Credit: NASA
The National Research Council released its long-awaited report June 4th. Distinguished space policy analyst John Logsdon returns to Planetary Radi...

Bought by WXAV 88.3FM Chicago and WESM 91.3 FM


  • Added: Jun 17, 2014
  • Length: 28:51
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Sky party in Northern Iraq, Credit: Mike Simmons
Astronomers Without Borders Founder and President Mike Simmons and his colleagues share the passion, beauty and joy of the night sky from Argentina...

Bought by KVSC, WESM 91.3 FM, and WXAV 88.3FM Chicago


  • Added: Jun 10, 2014
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 3
Caption: Cassini Mission Project Scientist Linda Spilker, Credit: Mat Kaplan
Cassini Project Scientist Linda Spilker joins us at the first Starlight Festival in Big Bear Lake, California. The science leader of the ongoing Sa...

Bought by WESM 91.3 FM


  • Added: Jun 03, 2014
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Gene Cernan and Laura Danly are recorded by Mat Kaplan at Spacefest VI, Credit: Barbara David
Spacefest is the annual celebration of all things space, including space art, memorabilia, and the many astronauts who attend. Planetary Radio visi...

Bought by WXAV 88.3FM Chicago and WESM 91.3 FM


  • Added: May 27, 2014
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: First humans on the Red Planet, Credit: NASA
Planetary Radio visits the 33rd ISDC to talk with three explorers who’ve set their sights on the Red Planet: MD and space medicine researcher Susan...

Bought by WESM 91.3 FM and WMNF


  • Added: May 20, 2014
  • Length: 28:51
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: NASASpinoff, Credit: NASA
NASA has just published "Spinoff 2013," the latest of its annual reports on innovations developed for space that are solving problems and improving...

Bought by WMNF, WXAV 88.3FM Chicago, KVSC, and WESM 91.3 FM


  • Added: May 13, 2014
  • Length: 28:51
  • Purchases: 4
Caption: Neil deGrasse Tyson
The host of COSMOS: A Spacetime Odyssey, returns to our show with a behind the scenes look at the spectacular television series. Neil also tells u...

Bought by WMNF, WXAV 88.3FM Chicago, and WESM 91.3 FM


  • Added: May 06, 2014
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 3
Caption: Planetary Radio Live at the 2014 USASEF, Credit: Loren Roberts
Join thousands of space and science geeks at the world’s biggest public science event in Washington DC. On the Einstein stage to talk about dirty ...

Bought by WMNF, WXAV 88.3FM Chicago, and WESM 91.3 FM


  • Added: Apr 29, 2014
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 3
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Finally found: an Earth-sized planet in the habitable zone. You’ll hear lead scientist Elisa Quintana make the announcement. Then OSIRIS REx miss...

Bought by WMNF, WESM 91.3 FM, WOUB, and WXAV 88.3FM Chicago


  • Added: Apr 17, 2014
  • Length: 28:51
  • Purchases: 4
Caption: Planetary Radio Host Mat Kaplan, Astronaut and Fragile Oasis Founder Ron Garan, Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides, and Yuri’s Night Executive Director Loretta Hidalgo Whitesides on stage at Yuri’s Night Los Angeles.  , Credit: Danielle Hanne
We’re back at the California Science Center, final home of Endeavour, the shuttle that made 25 flights into space. Join the party as we celebrate ...

Bought by WESM 91.3 FM, WXAV 88.3FM Chicago, and WOUB


  • Added: Apr 14, 2014
  • Length: 28:51
  • Purchases: 3
Caption: Cheryl Nickerson in her ASU lab, Credit: NASA
You may have heard that the sometimes deadly Salmonella bacterium becomes stronger in microgravity. That was just one of the promising results of e...

Bought by WXAV 88.3FM Chicago


  • Added: Apr 08, 2014
  • Length: 28:51
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: A two-stage rocket lifts off from the Poker Flat Research Range near Fairbanks, Alaska., Credit: NASA/Christopher Perry
It’s back to Alaska, this time to the Poker Flat Research Range, where former Director Neal Brown and his staff launched sounding rockets into the ...

Bought by WESM 91.3 FM, WXAV 88.3FM Chicago, and WOUB


  • Added: Mar 31, 2014
  • Length: 28:51
  • Purchases: 3
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A busy show, as Emily shares highlights from last week’s Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, and Alan Stern provides updates on the Rosetta com...

Bought by WXAV 88.3FM Chicago, WESM 91.3 FM, and WOUB


  • Added: Mar 24, 2014
  • Length: 28:51
  • Purchases: 3