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
The High Frontier: A New Documentary About Gerard K. O’Neill
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
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...

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


  • Added: Apr 14, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 10
The First Space Shuttle Pilot: Bob Crippen on the 40th Anniversary of STS-1
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
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: 11
NASA’s TESS Exoplanet Mission Finds Over 2,000 Possible New Worlds
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
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...

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


  • Added: Mar 31, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 12
The Perseverance Rover and a Great First Month on Mars
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
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.

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


  • Added: Mar 23, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 9
Return From Ryugu: The Hayabusa2 Leader on His Mission’s Success
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
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
InSight’s Mole: A Martian Science Odyssey
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
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.

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


  • Added: Mar 10, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 10
Spinoffs: How NASA Technologies Benefit Life on Earth
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
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.

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


  • Added: Mar 03, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 12
Touchdown! The Sights and Sounds of Perseverance on Mars
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
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
Planetfest ’21: To Mars and Back Again
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
Caption: Mars awaits.
Author of The Martian Andy Weir and the leader of the United Arab Emirates’ successful Hope Mars orbiter mission joined other Mars all-stars at Pla...

Bought by WFHB, KICI Iowa City, KWMR, KCNP, KIYU-FM and more


  • Added: Feb 17, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 9
The Big Book of Mars: Our Obsession with the Red Planet
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
Caption: Marc Hartzman's fascinating and entertaining book about Mars in popular culture and more., Credit: Quirk Books
Author Marc Hartzman’s new book celebrates the wonder of the Red Planet and how it entered popular culture.

Bought by WFHB, KBUT Crested Butte, Colo., WMUU-LP, KICI Iowa City, KWMR and more


  • Added: Feb 10, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 9
A Cosmic Odyssey: Decades of Discovery at the Palomar Observatory
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
Caption: The Hale Telescope dome at the Palomar Observatory, Credit: Palomar/Caltech
How astronomers at California’s Palomar Observatory revolutionized our understanding of the cosmos.

Bought by WFHB, KRZA, KWMR, KICI Iowa City, KBUT Crested Butte, Colo. and more


  • Added: Feb 03, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 10
‘Oumuamua: Avi Loeb says it may have been artificial
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
Caption: Harvard professor Avi Loeb takes issue with this cigar-like impression of interstellar object 'Oumuamua., Credit: ESO / M. Kornmesser
Is interstellar object ‘Oumuamua an alien artifact? Harvard professor Avi Loeb explores his hypothesis in a new book and in a fascinating conversat...

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  • Added: Jan 27, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 11
7 More Minutes of Terror: Perseverance Arrives at Mars
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
Caption: This illustration shows the events that occur in the final minutes of the nearly seven-month journey that NASA's Perseverance rover takes to Mars. Hundreds of critical events must execute perfectly and exactly on time for the rover to land on Mars safely , Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
JPL engineer Gregory Villar prepares us for the perilous descent and landing of the 2020 Mars rover on February 18th.

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  • Added: Jan 20, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 8
A Symphony for 7 Moons
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
Caption: Volcano Loki Patera erupts on Jupiter's moon Io. Io inspired the first movement of The Moons Symphony., Credit: NASA
Composer Amanda Lee Falkenberg is joined by Cassini project scientist Linda Spilker and retired astronaut Nicole Stott as she shares excerpts from ...

Bought by C89.5 - KNHC Seattle, KWMR, KBUT Crested Butte, Colo., WMUU-LP, KRZA and more


  • Added: Jan 13, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 8
Solar Cruiser: A Giant Sail Prepares for Space
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
Caption: Artist concept of the Solar Cruiser sail approaching the Sun, though it won't actually get nearly this close., Credit: NASA
NASA has given the green light to Principal Investigator Les Johnson and his team for construction of a solar sail that dwarfs all that have come b...

Bought by C89.5 - KNHC Seattle, WFHB, Harford Community Radio, KWMR, KBUT Crested Butte, Colo. and more


  • Added: Jan 05, 2021
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 10
Planetary Society All-Stars Review 2020 Space Milestones
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
Caption: NASA astronauts Bob Behnken (left) and Doug Hurley are all smiles after safely returning to Earth aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon on 2 August 2020. The mission, Demo-2, was the first crewed flight of NASA's Commercial Crew program., Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
In spite of everything, 2020 was a good year for space exploration according to five of The Planetary Society’s experts.

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  • Added: Dec 30, 2020
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 9
What Do You Need to Make Martian Oxygen? MOXIE!
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
Caption: Artist concept of the Perseverance rover examining an outcrop on Mars., Credit: NASA/JPL-CALTECH
Making oxygen from the Martian atmosphere will be essential if humans are ever to visit and work on the Red Planet, and the MOXIE experiment will s...

Bought by WGHC-LP 98.3 FM Chicago, WFHB, KWMR, KCNP, KBUT Crested Butte, Colo. and more


  • Added: Dec 16, 2020
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 12
Welcoming a New Leader, and China’s Audacious Moon Mission
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
Caption: China's Chang'e-5 lunar lander makes an impression on the Moon., Credit: PRC
Bill Nye helps us welcome the Planetary Society’s new president who also leads a new Moon mission, while China’s lunar sample return spacecraft is ...

Bought by WFHB, KWMR, KCNP, WMUU-LP, KRZA and more


  • Added: Dec 09, 2020
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 8
Observatory Director Francisco Córdova on the Devastating Loss of Arecibo
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
Caption: The great radio telescope at Arecibo in better days., Credit: NSF/UCF
Host Mat Kaplan talked with the Arecibo Observatory director just hours before the giant radio telescope came crashing down.

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  • Added: Dec 02, 2020
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 10
More Moon Water and an Update from Venus
From: Mat Kaplan
Series: Planetary Radio
Caption: This illustration highlights the Moon’s Clavius Crater with an illustration depicting water trapped in the lunar soil there, along with an image of NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) that found sunlit lunar water., Credit: NASA/Daniel Rutter
Astronomer Jane Greaves returns with an update on the phosphine gas floating above Venus, before Casey Honnibal takes us through her team’s discove...

Bought by WFHB, KVSC, KBUT Crested Butte, Colo., KWMR, WMUU-LP and more


  • Added: Nov 25, 2020
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 9

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