Planetary Radio
Planetary Radio
Each week, Planetary Radio visits with a scientist, engineer, project manager, astronaut, advocate or writer who provides a unique and exciting perspective on the exploration of our solar system and beyond. We also showcase regular features that raise your space IQ while they put a smile on your face. Host Mat Kaplan is joined by Planetary Society colleagues Bill Nye the Science Guy, Bruce Betts, and Emily Lakdawalla. We hit the road now and then to produce a Planetary Radio Live show in front of an audience. Drop us a line or enter the weekly space trivia contest at planetaryradio@planetary.org.
Please support your local public radio station that airs the show! Check the station's online schedule or review our online list of affiliates. Satellite radio listeners can hear us Sunday evenings on the Sirius XM Public Radio channel. Want to hear Planetary Radio on your local station? Ask them to contact us or review our radio affiliate information page.
iTunes and other podcast aggregators like Stitcher make it easy to listen and subscribe. Just search for "Planetary Radio." or click the links below.
| Subscribe: |  |
Standard RSS Feed |
Recent Shows
01/20/2015 | 28:50
Guests
- Courtney Dressing, Graduate Student, Harvard University
Astronomer and planetary scientist Courtney Dressing is the lead author of research that may have found the formula for the mass and composition of Earth-like planets. She reveals the ingredients and why she spent time at JPL while in high school.
Sara Seager and the Search for Earth’s Twin
12/16/2014 | 29:42
Guests
- Sara Seager, Astrophysicist and Planetary Scientist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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 2.0.
Yale’s Debra Fischer and the Ever More Precise Search for New Worlds
10/14/2014 | 28:50
Guests
- Debra Fischer, Astronomer, Yale University
- Tyler McCracken, Post-Doctoral Associate, Yale University
It’s terribly hard to find exoplanets that look like our homeworld. The search requires development of astoundingly powerful and precise instruments. That’s the job Debra Fischer and her team have taken on.
The Search for Extraterrestrial Polluters?
08/12/2014 | 28:50
Guests
- Henry Lin, Student, Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Harvard’s Henry Lin led work that determined the soon-to-be-launched James Webb Space Telescope may be able to detect an alien civilization by analyzing its atmosphere.
Elisa Quintana on the Discovery of Earth 2.0
06/24/2014 | 28:50
Guests
- Elisa Quintana, Kepler Mission Research Scientist, SETI Institute
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 scientist Elisa Quintana is lead author of the paper announcing its existence.
A Second Earth, and OSIRIS REx is Go for Asteroid Bennu
04/22/2014 | 28:50
Guests
- Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx Principal Investigator, University of Arizona
- Elisa Quintana, Kepler Mission Research Scientist, SETI Institute
Finally found: an Earth-sized planet in the habitable zone. You’ll hear lead scientist Elisa Quintana make the announcement. Then OSIRIS REx mission Principal Investigator Dante Lauretta will tell us how the spacecraft will return a sample of material from the birth of the solar system.
Exploring Black Holes and Supernovae With NuSTAR
03/11/2014 | 35:00
Guests
- Fiona Harrison, Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Caltech
Principal Investigator Fiona Harrison provides an X-ray tour of some of the universe's most fascinating objects, Casey Dreier has analysis of NASA's 2015 budget plans, and Bill Nye sees the inherent optimism of science in the verification of another 715 exoplanets.
Verified: More Than 700 New Worlds
03/04/2014 | 28:50
Guests
- Jason Rowe, Research Scientist, SETI Institute
SETI Institute researcher and member of the Kepler team Jason Rowe helps us dig into the latest big announcement about hundreds of planets in solar systems like our own.
The Gemini Planet Imager: Worlds Made Visible
01/13/2014 | 31:19
Guests
- Bruce Macintosh, Gemini Planet Imager Principal Investigator, Lawrence Livermore National Labs and Stanford University
- Franck Marchis, Senior Planetary Astronomer, Carl Sagan Center at the SETI Institute
Principal Investigator and physicist Bruce Macintosh joins astronomer Franck Marchis to celebrate first light from the most powerful instrument for imaging exoplanets.
Saving Science Education With Pamela Gay AND Creating the Blackest Black
06/10/2013 | 35:12
Guests
- David Carnahan, President and Co-Founder, NanoLab
- Pamela Gay, Astronomer, Astronomy Cast Co-host and CosmoQuest Principal, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
A Planetary Radio double header includes a visit with CosmoQuest’s Pamela Gay. She and colleagues are working to replace vital federal funds for science education and citizen science programs. We also go to the dark side with David Carnahan of NanoLab, developer of carbon nanotubes that may help us discover Earth-like planets.
Support Planetary Radio!
Help Planetary Radio grow and become even better. Plus get your own Planetary Radio t-shirt for helping.
Connect With Us
Facebook! Twitter! Google+ and more…
Continue the conversation with our online community!
