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: 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
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.

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  • Added: Jun 30, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 11
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
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
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
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
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
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
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: 12
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
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
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...

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  • Added: Apr 21, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 10
Caption: Artist's concept of a giant O'Neill cylinder space settlement., Credit: NASA, Art by Rick Guidice
Gerard K. O’Neill envisioned vast, magnificent human settlements in space. His followers, including Jeff Bezos, are working to turn his vision into...

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  • Added: Apr 14, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 10
Caption: THE BOLDEST TEST FLIGHT IN HISTORY John Young (left) and Bob Crippen pose for a crew portrait prior to STS-1, the first flight of space shuttle Columbia, in April 1981., Credit: NASA
Robert Crippen and John Young became the first humans to fly a space shuttle into orbit when Columbia launched on April 12, 1981.

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  • Added: Apr 07, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 10
Caption: Artist's impression of the TESS spacecraft on orbit., Credit: NASA
Exoplanet hunter and artist Natalia Guerrero of MIT reveals the discovery of many more possible new worlds by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Sa...

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  • Added: Mar 31, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 11
Caption: Taken on 5 March 2021, this color-calibrated image from a Navigation Camera aboard NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover shows tracks from the rover's first drive (darker marks in the foreground) and an area scoured by the Mars 2020 mission's descent stage , Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Perseverance rover deputy project scientists Katie Stack Morgan and Ken Williford share the latest developments from Mars’ newest robot resident.

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  • Added: Mar 23, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 9
Caption: Hayabusa2 sees its shadow during the second touchdown rehearsal on 15 October 2018. The spacecraft was 47 meters above Ryugu., Credit: JAXA, University of Tokyo, Kochi University, Rikkyo University, Nagoya University, Chiba Institute of Technology, Meiji University, University of Aizu, AIST
Hayabusa2 project manager Yuichi Tsuda shares the exciting success of Japan’s sample return mission ti asteroid Ryugu.

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  • Added: Mar 17, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 10
Caption: The heat-flow probe known as the mole sticks out of the Martian surface in this image captured by NASA's InSight spacecraft in February 2020. Engineers and scientists spent nearly two years using InSight's robotic arm to help the mole dig before formally , Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA engineer and scientist Troy Hudson shares the sad but ultimately inspiring story of a two-year attempt to dig deep beneath the surface of Mars.

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  • Added: Mar 10, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 9
Caption: Spinoff 21 has been published online by NASA., Credit: NASA
We examine a few of the thousands of technologies and innovations developed by NASA that are making lives better around our planet.

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  • Added: Mar 03, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 11
Caption: The Mars 2020 rover Perseverance imaged as it is lowered to the Red Planet's surface by the sky crane., Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Relive the most dramatic and awe-inspiring moments from NASA’s Perseverance rover landing on Mars.

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  • Added: Feb 24, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 12