Program Archives

LOU FRIEDMAN REVIEWS THE AUGUSTINE HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT REPORT
November 2, 2009
Guests: Louis Friedman
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The Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee report was released October 22nd. Planetary Society Executive Director Lou Friedman provides his perspective in this week's show. Bill Nye says...  more »

JUDGING A PLANET'S HABITABILITY WITH ABEL MENDEZ
October 26, 2009
Guests: Abel Mendez
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Nearly 400 exoplanets discovered so far, and a truly terrestrial planet may be found soon. Abel Mendez has proposed a system for evaluating any planet's ability to support life, including our...  more »

FORMER JPL DIRECTOR BRUCE MURRAY ON THE PERSISTENCE AND IMPORTANCE OF WATER ICE
October 19, 2009
Guests: Bruce Betts, Bruce Murray
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In 1961, Post-Doctoral Fellow Bruce Murray proposed that water ice could persist for millions or even billions of years if cold enough. He went on to lead the Jet Propulsion Lab and co-found The...  more »

LUNAR SMACKDOWN! SPECIAL LCROSS IMPACT COVERAGE
October 12, 2009
Guests: Bruce Betts, Emily Lakdawalla, Mat Kaplan
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There was no plume of lunar regolith and no confirmation of water, but the Lunar CRarter ObServing Satellite or LCROSS mission smacked into the Moon as planned early Friday morning, October...  more »

WATER ON THE MOON!
October 5, 2009
Guests: Jessica Sunshine
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University of Maryland Senior Research Scientist Jessica Sunshine was part of the recent discovery of water on Earth's Moon. Bill Nye the Science and Planetary Guy says Viking 2 came ever...  more »

IS THIS HOW TO LAND PEOPLE ON MARS?
September 28, 2009
Guests: Beth Wusk, Neil Cheatwood, Steve Hughes
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The Inflatable Re-entry Vehicle Experiment or IRVE was a success! It might have put us on the path to landing much bigger spacecraft on the Red Planet. We talk with Project Manager Mary Beth Wusk,...  more »

ROBERT ZUBRIN SAYS "MARS NOW!"
September 21, 2009
Guests: Robert Zubrin
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The President of the Mars Society and author of "The Case For Mars" says we should have humans on the red planet by the end of the second Obama Administration. You'll hear what he...  more »

ROBERT ZUBRIN, 22ND CENTURY MARTIAN
September 14, 2009
Guests: Robert Zubrin
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Planetary Radio opens a spacetime rift enabling us to talk with Robert Zubrin. Not the Robert Zubrin of our own time who heads the Mars Society, but the one who lives in the 22nd century and has...  more »

MOUNT WILSON AFTER THE FIRE
September 7, 2009
Guests: Hal McAlister
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Hal McAlister directs the Mt. Wilson Institute. He could barely wait for the firefighters to escort him back up the mountain so that he could assess the damage to this shrine to astronomy. He talks...  more »

SATURN UPDATE FROM CASSINI DEPUTY PROJECT SCIENTIST LINDA SPILKER
August 31, 2009
Guests: Linda Spilker
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We check in with Linda Spilker two or three times a year to learn the latest from Saturn, its moons and its rings. Bill Nye has kudos for team that tested an inflatable heat shield. Emily...  more »