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
Liquid Water Under the Martian Polar Ice? Maybe Not
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
Caption: The European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft captured the infrared, green, and blue-light images used to make pictures of the Martian south pole., Credit: ESA / G. Neukum (Freie Universitaet, Berlin) / Bill Dunford / Edited by The Planetary Society
New research indicates that what appeared to be liquid water hiding under Mars’ polar ice may actually be a form of clay.

Bought by KBUT Crested Butte, Colo., C89.5 - KNHC Seattle, WFHB, KIYU-FM, KWMR and more


  • Added: Sep 01, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 13
Europa Clipper Sails Toward Launch
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
Caption: We are on the cusp of exploring what may be the best place in our solar system to look for life beyond Earth. That place is Jupiter’s moon Europa., Credit: NASA/ Jet Propulsion Laboratory-Caltech
Mission system manager Al Cangahuala says the robotic explorer of Jupiter’s ocean moon is making steady progress toward a 2024 launch.

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  • Added: Aug 25, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 12
Cassini, Voyager and beyond with Linda Spilker
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
Caption: The Cassini spacecraft flies through the plumes emanating from Saturn's moon Enceladus. This still image is from a computer-animated film that highligts the Cassini-Huygens mission accomplishments., Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Cassini mission project scientist returns with new science from ocean moon Enceladus and anniversaries to celebrate with the Voyager mission.

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  • Added: Aug 18, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 11
How Perseverance Drives Itself Around Mars
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
Caption: The Perseverance rover looks back over the tracks is has laid across Jezero Crater on Mars., Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The Perseverance rover’s chief robotics engineer takes us for a spin across Mars.

Bought by WFHB, KIYU-FM, WJCU, KWMR, WMUU-LP and more


  • Added: Aug 10, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 12
Alan Stern Says It’s Time for Suborbital Science
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
Caption: Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo in its payload configuration, carrying science experiments into a microgravity environment., Credit: Virgin Galactic
Planetary scientist and New Horizons principal investigator Alan Stern says great science will ride on Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo and Blue Orig...

Bought by KBUT Crested Butte, Colo., KIYU-FM, KMRE-LP Bellingham, Wash., KWMR, WJCU and more


  • Added: Aug 03, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 13
Remembering Apollo 15 with author Andy Chaikin
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
Caption: Jim Irwin with Apollo 15's Lunar Roving Vehicle. Developed in a breakneck 17 months, the LRV greatly extended the exploration range of final three Apollo missions., Credit: NASA/The Planetary Society
Space historian and author of A Man on the Moon Andy Chaikin returns as we celebrate Apollo 15’s 50th anniversary.

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  • Added: Jul 27, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 12
Amy Mainzer and a New Asteroid-Hunting Space Telescope
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
Caption: This artist's concept of NASA's Near-Earth Object Surveyor Mission shows the space telescope in front of a star field captured by the WISE telescope., Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/The Planetary Society
NASA has approved development of the NEO Surveyor space telescope. Project lead Amy Mainzer will share her hopes for this vital planetary defense t...

Bought by C89.5 - KNHC Seattle, WFHB, KIYU-FM, WJCU, KWMR and more


  • Added: Jul 20, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 13
We’re Going Back to Venus
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
Caption: Artist's concept of active volcanos on Venus, Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Peter Rubin
Leaders of the DAVINCI and VERITAS missions tell us what their spacecraft will reveal about the planet that is so much like Earth and yet so terrib...

Bought by C89.5 - KNHC Seattle, KIYU-FM, WFHB, KWMR, WJCU and more


  • Added: Jul 14, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 12
Visiting the James Webb Space Telescope
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
Caption: NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope sits with its five-layer sunshield fully deployed during testing at Northrop Grumman in Redondo Beach, California., Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn
Host Mat Kaplan visits the James Webb Space Telescope in California to see the observatory before it launches and speak with project leaders.

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  • Added: Jul 07, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 12
Finding Life by Looking for Complexity
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
Caption: Chemical Space, Credit: Naomi Johnson and Lee Cronin
University of Glasgow chemist Lee Cronin believes he and his collaborators have found a way to recognize life as we know it and as we don’t know it.

Bought by KBUT Crested Butte, Colo., WFHB, KIYU-FM, WJCU, KWMR and more


  • Added: Jun 30, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 12
The Pearly Clouds of Mars
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
Caption: NASA's Curiosity Mars rover spotted these iridescent, or "mother of pearl," clouds on March 5, 2021, the 3,048th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. , Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Atmospheric scientist Mark Lemmon discusses the beautiful clouds on Mars imaged by NASA's Curiosity rover.

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  • Added: Jun 23, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 13
Amateur Astronomers Saving the World
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
Caption: Artist concept of a large asteroid crashing toward Earth., Credit: Getty Images
Planetary Society grants have enabled amateur astronomers to discover and track asteroids that cross Earth’s path. We’ll meet two of them.

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  • Added: Jun 16, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 11
Experimental Cosmologist Brian Keating
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
Caption: The Simons Array will be located in Chile’s High Atacama Desert, at an elevation of about 17,000 feet. The site currently hosts the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (bowl-shaped structure at upper right) and the Simons Array (the three telescopes at bottom lef, Credit: University of Pennsylvania
A fascinating, wide-ranging conversation with Brian Keating, director of the Simons Observatory that will search for our cosmic origins from a moun...

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  • Added: Jun 09, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 13
Mighty Jupiter and the Juno Mission
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
Caption: NASA’s Juno spacecraft captured this stunning compilation image of Jupiter’s stormy northern hemisphere as it performed a close pass of the gas giant planet. Some bright-white clouds can be seen at high altitudes on the right side of Jupiter’s disk. Image, Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS
The Juno mission will continue its exploration of Jupiter till 2025, thanks to a four-year extension granted by NASA. Principal investigator Scott ...

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  • Added: Jun 02, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 11
The New Great Space Observatories
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
Caption: The New Great Observatories coalition has brought together the logos for the four projects proposed in the 2020 Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey., Credit: The New Great Observatories Coalition
Astrophysicist Grant Tremblay describes how four proposed space telescopes could reveal our solar system and the universe as never before.

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  • Added: May 26, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 13
Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Project Manager MiMi Aung
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
Caption: On April 30, 2021, NASA’s Perseverance rover made history as the first spacecraft to record sounds from another spacecraft on another planet. During Ingenuity’s fourth flight, a microphone included with the SuperCam instrument aboard Perseverance captured, Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS/LANL/CNES/CNRS/ISAE-SUPAERO
The leader of the Mars Helicopter test mission celebrates her team’s success and explores the daunting challenges they overcame.

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  • Added: May 18, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 12
Defenders of Earth on Planetary Radio
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
Caption: Earth has a close call with a giant near-earth asteroid in this artist's concept., Credit: Getty Images
Six planetary defense leaders report on progress toward protecting Earth from near-Earth objects.

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  • Added: May 12, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 14
Author Andy Weir and Project Hail Mary
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
Caption: Andy Weir's new science fiction novel sends an unlikely protagonist on a mission to save humanity from an interstellar threat., Credit: Ballantine
The author of The Martian introduces us to his terrific new novel and shares his thoughts about the current state of space exploration.

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  • Added: May 05, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 12
A Conversation with Kyoto Prize Recipient James Gunn
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
Caption: The Sloan Foundation 2.5 meter telescope at Apache Point Observatory, Credit: The Sloan Foundation
Jim Gunn co-created and led the Sloan Digital Sky Survey that has revealed the universe as never before.

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  • Added: Apr 28, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 11
Is ‘Oumuamua a Piece of a Pluto-Like Planet? And Ingenuity’s First Flight on Mars
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
Caption: Artist's impression of interstellar object 'Oumuamua, Credit: William Hartmann
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter makes a successful first flight on the Red Planet, while two researchers offer new insights on the first interstel...

Bought by C89.5 - KNHC Seattle, KIYU-FM, WFHB, KWMR, KRZA and more


  • Added: Apr 21, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 10

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