Celebrating 45 years of The Planetary Society at the Cosmic Shores Gala

Sarah Al-Ahmed: Welcome to the Planetary Society's Cosmic Shores Gala. This week on Planetary Radio. I'm Sarah El-Ahmed of the Planetary Society. With more of the human adventure across our solar system and beyond. We are celebrating 45 years of the Planetary Society's mission to advance space science and exploration. At our Cosmic Shores Gala aboard the historic RMS Queen Mary in Long Beach, California.

The event brought together Planetary society members, scientists, and space icons to honor our shared journey. From the dream of three visionary founders to the global movement, it has become dressed to the nines and surrounded by old and new friends. We reflected on our collective achievements and set our sights On the exploration ahead.

You'll hear from Planetary Society's CEO, Bill Nye, board President Bethany Ehlmann, Chief Operating Officer, Jennifer Vaughn, Congresswoman Judy Chu, and Founding executive director Louis Friedman. Our emcee for the evening was actor Robert Picardo, board member and beloved Emergency Medical Hologram on Star Trek Voyager. We'll take you into the heart of the celebration and later we'll check in with Bruce Betts for what's up.

If you love Planetary Radio and want to stay informed about the latest space discoveries, make sure you hit the subscribe button on your favorite podcasting platform. By subscribing you'll never miss an episode filled with new and awe-inspiring ways to know the cosmos and our place within it. To kick off the event, we played a short tribute to our journey. From the Planetary Society's founding in 1980 to the planetary future we're building together.

45 years ago, Carl Sagan, Bruce Murray and Louis Friedman understood that people of all walks of life were fascinated by the cosmos. However, political support for space exploration was low. This disconnect sparked the idea for a movement that would unite and represent people from around the world in support of space science and exploration. They founded the Planetary Society.

For 45 years, our members have made strides in the advancement of planetary exploration. The search for other life in the cosmos and the protection of earth from asteroid impacts. Together we have delivered tens of thousands of petitions to the United States Congress.

Bill Nye: And these are our petitions in support of planetary exploration.

Sarah Al-Ahmed: Worked behind the scenes to promote policies for a robust scientific space program. And have brought hundreds of members face-to-face with their representatives to advocate for planetary exploration. We have funded groundbreaking advancements in space technology. Helping citizens participate in pushing the boundaries of what's possible.

Louis D. Friedman: The society is the first space interest group to conduct a space mission. It is one that we hope will prove an historic first step to the stars.

Bill Nye: We have finally at the Planetary Society realized this dream of flying through space with propulsion provided by nothing but sunlight.

Bill Nye: Go LightSail!

Sarah Al-Ahmed: We have expanded the public's knowledge and participation in space exploration, giving people the chance to name spacecraft on other worlds. Helping scientists share their discoveries and engaging the next generation of explorers. Today we are the world's largest and most influential independent space interest organization. We are the Planetary Society. Thank you for joining us for this 45 year adventure through space and time.

Carl Sagan: To cherish the earth and bravely to venture forth to the planets and the stars.

Sarah Al-Ahmed: Now more than ever, we must keep this momentum going to help support the missions and teams who are working hard to bring us the next exciting discoveries that will no doubt help us know the cosmos and our place within it.

Robert Picardo: Good evening everyone, and welcome to the Cosmic Shores Gala Dinner. Celebrating 45 years of exploring the cosmos with the Planetary Society. Again, my name is Robert Picardo. It is my distinct privilege and honor to serve as tonight's master of ceremonies.

Now, as a man who spent quite a bit of time pretending to be an AI doctor in space, it is truly an honor to be here with so many people who are actually working to make space exploration a reality. And unlike my holographic character, you guys are all very real and very inspiring. A few weeks ago, over 100 Planetary society members traveled on their own nickel to Washington DC for our annual day of action. To speak with members of Congress about the value and importance of space exploration.

This evening, the favor is being returned in kind, as a member of Congress is joining us tonight. She is a tireless advocate for space exploration and the importance of science and STEM education in her Southern California district. Which just happens to include Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, and the Planetary Society Headquarters. Talk about a trifecta. She's also co-chair of the Congressional Planetary Science Caucus. Please join me in giving Congresswoman Judy Chu a very warm welcome to the stage.

Judy Chu: Well, hello everybody. I'm Congress member Judy Chu, and I came here to wish the Planetary Society congratulations for 45 great years. I want to especially thank your CEO, Bill Nye, chair of the board, Dan Geraci, president of the board, Bethany Ehlmann, as well as the rest of your board staff and volunteers for this incredible milestone.

For over the last four and a half decades, the Planetary Society has been the largest and most influential independent space advocacy organizations in the world. Reaching over two million space enthusiasts across the board. Now, one of my favorite parts of representing the Pasadena areas, is that I get to represent so many were remarkable people and organizations doing important work that advance our understanding of space. Including JPL, Caltech, and of course the Planetary Society.

And I have to tell you that many other members of Congress share this enthusiasm and passion for space. Which is why I'm so proud to be the co-chair of the Bipartisan Planetary Science Caucus, along with my Republican colleague Don Bacon from Nebraska. Together, I look forward to continuing to partner with the Planetary Society as I fight in Congress for full and robust funding for all of NASA Sciences critical missions and programs.

But what makes the Planetary Society so special is that you empower people to play a role in our nation's space policy and funding priorities, by providing them with a powerful platform. The creation of your annual day of action in Washington D.C., has been so successful that in fact, just last week, you had your largest in-person event to date. With 110 people from 26 states descending on Capitol Hill to advocate for more support and funding for NASA, so that they can continue their mission to explore our solar system and beyond.

I had the pleasure of joining that group last week in D.C., at your planetary Radio live event to speak about the future of space politics and the importance of continuing to invest in space. I want to say that they are an incredibly enthusiastic bunch and great ambassadors for all of you. And I want to assure you that this advocacy, it makes a difference. And in fact, it was because of your advocacy that we ensured recent missions like the Europa Clipper and that that became a reality.

I also want to congratulate the Planetary Society on its Leadership in innovation. Your proof of concept spacecraft, LightSail 2, which flew in orbit from 2019 to 2023, demonstrated the ability of sunlight to provide propulsion for spacecraft. Which has such exciting implications for future space projects. Your work not only advances our understanding of other worlds and the possibility of finding life outside of earth. But you're also inspiring future generations to dream, invent, and explore.

So thank you Planetary Society, and congratulations on your 45 years of accomplishments. And I would like to commemorate this occasion with a certificate of Congressional recognition presented to the Planetary Society for 45 great years.

Robert Picardo: Thank you so much, Congresswoman Chu for your kind remarks, your work on behalf of planetary science, and for being with us on the occasion of our 45th anniversary. We truly appreciate your being here.

Now tonight we celebrate not only where we have been but where we are headed, because in space there's always another horizon to pursue. And speaking of those who have charted our course from the very beginning, it is my pleasure to introduce a true pioneer of the Planetary society. Please join me in acknowledging the society's founding executive director, Louis Friedman.

Louis D. Friedman: Thank you. It's hard to remember 45 years ago. It's hard to remember when I was only 20. I rise to toast the current society leadership and in particular Bill Nye and Jennifer Vaughan, for carrying on what we started 45 years ago. And Carl Sagan and Bruce Murray founded the organization to promote and advance the exploration of the planets and to search for extraterrestrial life. We came together then because a very critical situation that was going on in the federal government. They were considering, in fact had made a plan, to cancel planetary exploration completely, to actually eliminate it from the NASA program.

And what do you do when you have a situation that the federal government is doing something you don't like? You form an interest group. But not just a space interest group, a public interest group. And Carl Sagan and Bruce Murray invited me to join with them. And we founded the Planetary Society. And I went back and looked at our articles of incorporation. To carry out scientific and educational activities, communication and awareness and exploration. Because of the critical situation that was going on in planetary science at NASA.

We came together for that reason, and that was international cooperation. We began advocating international cooperation, not just for what international cooperation could do for planetary exploration. But for what planetary exploration could do for international cooperation. As you might guess, it was a global vision that we had at the time. And we involved ourselves. Russia at that time, the Soviet Union at that time had missions to Venus, to Mars, to Halley's Comet, all underway and in development. The United States had no plans for missions in the 1980s.

So we thought that involvement was very important to not just getting planetary exploration awareness in our country, but to advance it for all countries and to create a situation for that. Well, it's 1980 all over again. Not only is planetary science under threat, but all science is under threat in the federal government. And all education is under threat in the federal government. And all innovation is under threat in the federal government. And certainly all international cooperation is being eliminated from federal programs.

This is a situation which calls for our attention, and as the video said, we have a saying in the Planetary Society when we need to do advocacy, "Now more than ever." Our advocacy is needed now more than ever. We have many allies in this thing. There's many NGOs in science and education and international cooperation. We need to join and create a movement that can certainly advance exploration.

I conclude this toast with not only a toast to our current leadership, but homage to our founding leaders, to Carl Sagan and Bruce Murray. They formed this organization with a global vision and a planetary perspective. We need that global vision and planetary perspective now more than ever.

Speaker X: [Audience applauding] Hear, hear!

Robert Picardo: Ladies and gentlemen, my friend, CEO of the Planetary Society, Bill Nye.

Bill Nye: Greetings, greetings, greetings. Any questions on what we've covered so far? So, I am of a certain age and I remember very well when this picture was taken on the eve of Isaac Newton's birthday in 1968. And this picture, for those of you who haven't seen it or heard of it, what are you doing here? No. This picture changed the course of history. It was taken by Bill Anders. And this is the first time humankind saw the earth as a planet. And this changed the way everybody felt about being on earth being an Earthling.

And then the next summer, this famous picture was taken and it's of Buzz Aldrin. And if those of you who have a copy of this poster, I have a copy in my office signed by Buzz Aldrin. And the thing about this poster that for me is so striking is the caption. The caption, "Aldrin's visor reflects Armstrong." That is interesting. Yeah. Oh, and he's on the moon. He's on the moon for crying out Loud.

And so at this time, everybody keep in mind the moon landings were of course for the betterment of humankind and all that. But it was really a result of international conflict and it was a result. It was part of the Cold War. And for those of you of a certain age, you might remember, as Louis pointed out earlier, there was concern among scientists and policy makers in the United States that there could be big trouble if we didn't get along with the Soviet Union. And so there was this effort to have everything work out by having the very last Apollo module, the one that would connect the capsule to the lunar excursion module and everything hook up with a Soviet spacecraft, Soyuz spacecraft. And then the two guys, Alexei Leonov and Tom Stafford shook hands.

And you guys, this is 1975. That's the best picture they have. That's it. So those two guys shook hands in space and now there's no more conflict between the US and people in that part of the world. It all just worked out very, very smoothly. But along that line, as Louis pointed out a few minutes ago, there was deep concern that the United States especially was going to abandon science. That the real value of space exploration was more political than scientific. And what happened was through a remarkable mistake in the admissions office at Cornell University, I got in and I completed my engineering requirements.

And I took one class from this famous, famous guy, Carl Sagan. And I know you've all heard this, but it's a real thing. When he spoke, he was a poet. He was so well-spoken that you just hung on his every word. And this was in the spring of 1977 as Disco was giving way to the important work of Sid Vicious and the Sex Pistols. And so Carl Sagan talked about this extraordinary mission, which was going to be these two spacecraft to go out beyond the solar system. And indeed, the two Voyager spacecraft launched that summer after I had been in class.

Now, Carl Sagan wanted to assure the young people, this is the famous mission where they put a golden record. They. We put a golden record on the side of two spacecraft, and any alien would have no trouble. This is obviously an audio record. I just obviously create a turntable, and these symbols are clearly the resonance of a hydrogen atom. And anyone could see that these lines represent the distances to different pulsars. That's obvious. But he assured us that on the record was going to be a rock and roll song.

And he told everybody in class, and this is at this time of the year. Some people are so confident they don't show up at class late in the semester. So at this point, I think there were fewer than 50 of us sitting there. And he says, "Don't worry young people, we're going to put a rock and roll song. We're going to put Roll Over Beethoven by Chuck Berry." Now this next part may be a so-called constructed memory. I may be exaggerating a little bit, but I claim I stood up. I said, "Professor Sagan, you don't want Roll Over Beethoven." In comedy writing, we would say, that's a derivative bit, that's not... "What you want is Johnny B. Goode? So my friends Johnny B. Goode is on the record. I take full credit, it's all me.

Now, I may have been a small voice in a few dozen, but this picture was taken a couple years later where Carl Sagan acknowledged Chuck Berry gave him a medal. Very nice. Chuck Berry played Johnny B. Goode. And this picture also has in the background the Planetary Society logo, in the 1980s. And look closely everybody, why? There's Pluto, right there. Cool. Things change. I have not spoken with any Plutonians, but they don't seem to be that concerned about it.

So then what happened was I connected with Dr. Jim Bell. I connected with Steve Squires, who was nominally his boss, and with Louis Friedman and we, Louis Friedman, Bruce Murray and I, were out to dinner. And by the way, if you don't know the lore about Bruce Murray among other things. He was the guy who formulated the two deep questions so succinctly. Where did we come from? And are we alone in the universe? If you want to answer those questions, you got to explore space. And he also was famous for saying, "People would ask him, why are you guys building the spacecraft? What are you going to learn?" We don't know what we're going to learn, that's why we're building the spacecraft. Fortunately, that is not lost on anyone today. So along that line, we were talking a few minutes ago through remarkable series of events. My father had been a prisoner of war for four years, almost four years, and he got very interested in sundials. So Dr. Bell had this idea, or he was involved with the people, had the idea to send a metal stick all the way to Mars to do nothing but cast a shadow. And I was invited to a meeting. Dr. Bell had the flight attendant hand me a card. "Do you want to come to a meeting about Mars? Yes.

So I asked, are we going to send this metal stick to... Oh, we got to have it. We look at the shadow, that's where we get the true... And I said, "We got to make that into a sundial." And yes, Dr. Bell and others were looking at me, "Dude, it's this space. Bill I see you're wearing a watch. We have clocks." "No, it'll be cool." And so he went along with it. And we were out to dinner, Dr. Friedman, Dr. Murray and I, And Louis came up with the motto, "Two worlds one sun." So that motto is on Mars. And if you ever go to visit there, there's an inscription that says, "To those who visit..." It says, "To those who visit here, we wish a safe journey and the joy of discovery." And that is the essence of what we do people is the joy of discovery. We answer questions that have never been answered before. We solve problems that have never been solved before, and it brings out the best in us. Now with that said, at this time I had been asked to be on the board by Louis, because Carl Sagan's kids watched the Science Guy Show. And then we gave Stephen Hawking the Cosmos Award. It was a big deal.

We went to Cambridge in Britain, which somewhere it's up there on the map someplace, and we gave him the award. He was very gracious because he had known Carl Sagan and this was cool. And there you'll see board of directors. There's Louis, Neil deGrasse Tyson used to be on the board. Andrean was Carl's widow. Dan Geraci shown here. Jim Bell shown here. What's his name? And then B. Tackor, who lives in Britain now is on our board. And this is where they said, "Bill, we want you to take over from Louis and be CEO." "Really?" Yeah. So I studied up on it, I read the book, and that's in my office. You'll see there's the Golden record and the Pioneer plaque where we sent these pictures of people, which I'm sure any alien will have no trouble parsing. And then that was back in 2010. 2010. This is my 15th anniversary, dude. Whoa. I mean, no, it's amazing. I didn't mean it like that. I meant it more like what happened?

Well, Carl Sagan had been on the Tonight Show and I was not watching this night. I was in engineering school. I was very busy. But he did bring, I believe the same model to class later that year, that school year. And this was going to be a spacecraft that was going to catch up with Comet Holly. It was going to be nearly a kilometer on a side. Dr. Friedman was the orbital mechanician, I believe on that mission.

It was going to catch up with it, but it was all canceled really for the International Space Station. But the dream of solar sailing stayed alive and we got organized enough. And then you all, supporters of the Planetary Society funded two missions. We flew LightSail one later that year. And then we flew LightSail two in 2019. And if you haven't taken the time, please look at our website. We call it the Bruce Murray Space Image Library because Bruce Murray also famously, this is company lore, everybody. Was the guy in the meetings who said, "You know, we got to put cameras on these spacecraft." And a young guy in the 1960s, they thought this, come on no, that's not science. Can you imagine a space program without pictures? Who would care? Anyway, please take a look. The pictures are spectacular. Dr. Betts here, our chief scientists, helped make sure they happened. I mean, it was a lot of messing around because we are not connected to the Deep Space Network and everybody. We flew these two missions all in for about $7 million.

And we have talked to people at NASA and around the world, it's about a factor of 20. If a regular space agency were going to do it would be much closer to 150 million. But we pulled it off thanks to you. It is spectacular, and it's... Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So I bring this up because this is what we have done so far. Then right on the cusp of that is our funding of science and technology projects, which is leading to what we now call Our Step grant program. This is the A flight test of Planet Vac. Those guys are here. Nicely done. We use helium from above the fuel to, exception space. There's no sound Pick up pieces of lunar dust. And that was the beginning of our step grant program.

And then we finally engage young people through our planetary Academy. Thank you for that. That's been very, very popular. So we want to get young people interested in planetary exploration when they're kids, and that's working really well. And then thanks to you all, funding did not get canceled for the Europa Clipper mission. And it's on its way. And those discoveries will, dare I say it, change the world. So the best is yet ahead for the Planetary Society. Happy 45th anniversary. Let us, dare I say it, change the world.

Speaker X: [Audience applauding] Yeah.

Sarah Al-Ahmed: We'll be right back with the rest of our Cosmic Shores gala after the short break.

Bill Nye: Greetings, Bill Nye here. the US Congress approves NASA's annual budget and with your support, we promote missions to space by keeping every member of Congress and their staff informed about the benefits of a robust space program. We want Congress to know that space exploration ensures our nation's goals and workforce technology, international relations and space science. Unfortunately, important missions are being delayed some indefinitely. That's where you come in.

Join our mission as a space advocate by making a gift today. Right now, when you donate, your gift will be matched up to $75,000, thanks to a generous Planetary Society member. With your support, we can make sure every representative and senator in D.C understands why NASA is a critical part of U.S national policy. With the challenges NASA is facing, we need to make this investment today. So make your gift at planetary.org/takeaction. Thank you.

And now it is my honor. I am as I went on and on, I am the CEO, and I guess I have a role on the org chart and stuff. But the organization is run by an extraordinary woman. A woman who has just stepped up, figured out how things work, made connections, and Pasadena well. So learned to use spreadsheets. The organization is run so well. And the reason we have such an extraordinary team right now is because of Jennifer Vaughn.

Jennifer Vaughn: Oh my goodness, he's always so kind and just a real delight to work with. We're so lucky to have Bill, and we're so lucky to have you. So this is my first time I get to just stand here and take all of this in. Thank you so much for being here tonight. You and the members from around the world who can't be here tonight are who the Planetary Society is, and we're so grateful. So thank you for this.

So Bill just had an opportunity to look back at our time and how successful we've been over time. And now I want to take a little bit of effort into thinking about the future that we're building together. First though, I would like to have you do something. I'd like you to think about a moment. So a moment for you where you felt deeply engaged with space exploration. Maybe it was something like the first time you saw Saturn through a telescope. Maybe it was some astounding image you looked at just recently. Maybe it was the Apollo-11 landing. And maybe it was our own LightSail mission launching and celebrating its results. So just for a moment, holding your head, that moment or moments for you where you felt so deeply connected to something larger and appreciative of that. This shared passion that we have, the shared passion for the future of space exploration. That's our common bond and that's our strength.

So this is my moment. It goes all the way back to 1997 and Pathfinder landing on Mars. And I was a young staffer at the time. I was enjoying myself. We had a big party because there was so much build up about the gap between when Viking landed and when Pathfinder landed. All this time had elapsed and it was our chance to be back on the red planet. So we were hooked up. We were at the convention center, we were hooked up looking at mission control and watching with bated breath. Really kind of collectively holding our breath, waiting for those first signals. Super exciting to be in a room with thousands of people to have that moment. Where you see on the screen everyone cheering and crying and they're so excited. And then in your own room too, the same thing is happening. So I was thrilled.

I was thrilled. But it was what happened next that was so extraordinary for me. The first images started coming down, and you would have to wait as the data would fill in. And I was relatively young and looking at this for the first time with wide eyes thinking, this is exploration. No one has ever seen this before. And we're all doing this together. And that really makes us, we are the explorers. And I felt that so deeply then and it stuck with me over the years.

Exploration is what the Planetary society is built for. It's what we celebrate, it's what we fight for. It's those bold scientific missions that will show us the unseen, that will answer the deep questions for us, and that will reveal new mysteries for us to pursue. This is why we exist. And over these decades, it's been an extraordinary period of discovery. We've had a robust suite of missions out there, and it's not going to last necessarily. So it's a period of time where we have been able to enjoy the riches, but we need to prepare ourselves now to fight for our future. And that's what I want to talk about here is our collective passion for space and what we can actually do.

So we're sensing, right now, priorities are changing, budgets are changing. Even the conversation about space is changing, and this is the time that the Planetary Society can be its greatest. So I want to take back and think about 1980 and where we were in that moment. And what brought us together then is exactly where we are today. That same premise. People everywhere want and actually expect more scientific exploration of our cosmos and beyond. Of our solar system and beyond. We want this, we demand this.

And so today it's the opportunity to focus our efforts on our very clear goal, which is we want more. We want more exploration, we want more discovery. We want a deeper understanding of the Cosmos and our place within it. And how we go about that is exactly what makes this organization special. Because we go about it through you. We go through about it through us, and through this much larger community of supporters and enthusiasts that are making the future possible.

So what do we need to be successful? We need a few things. We need people. We need people just like you. We need as many people as we can gather. So we need more members, more supporters, more partners. We need to collaborate with the other organizations out there so we can rally the largest group of people into this movement for the future of space exploration.

We also need action. So coming together that's power, but doing things that really matters. And actions really vary in the way that they can come about. Today, right here you all, you're taking an action right now by showing up. So you showed up to this event, you're supporting this organization. That's an action for space. It's an action for space when you learn more and you share more about the discoveries that we're finding. It's an action for space, when you go to the day of action, when you sign a petition. When you crowdfund Science and technology like Lightsail or PlanetVac. These are actions that we're taking.

And actions when we give a gift membership of Planetary Academy to a new child, these are all things that we can do that when we collectively pool these actions together with a thousand others, with tens of thousands, with hundreds of thousands, we have power. We have power to shape the future. And that's what I want everyone to be thinking about in these upcoming years. Our own power to shape the future that we want.

So lastly, we need to lead. The Planetary Society has been doing amazing work in leadership for the last 45 years. We have to leverage that and we have to lead with independence, lead with credibility, lead with compassion and collaboration. It's our time to bring people together. And we have a special opportunity actually to bring people together and not have any other hidden motives. We're trying to problem solve. We're trying to chart a course for the future. And our only special interest is this interest of our own mission. So we have a special role and we're going to be bold, we're going to be Loud, we're going to be optimistic, we're going to be active and determined. And so this is the future that we're trying to build together.

So I want to, before we finish up, go back and think about that moment again in your mind. That moment that is a part of you, part of your own human experience. And then think about how together we are doing something that is so much larger that we can do just ourselves and we're ready to do this. So we have 45 years of training. We are ready, we are determined. We are just getting started. And I'd say that the best discoveries are not behind us. They're the ones that are still out there waiting for us. So let's together keep exploring. Thank you.

Robert Picardo: Thank you Jen Vaughan. To bring our evening to a close, it is perhaps my greatest privilege tonight to introduce a distinguished scientist whose work has significantly advanced the understanding of all of us of planetary science, Dr. Bethany Ehlmann. Bethany is a professor of planetary science at the California Institute of Technology and director of the Keck Institute for Space Studies. Her research focuses on the mineralogy and chemistry of planetary surfaces. Employing remote sensing techniques to unravel the histories of planets like Mars.

She serves as the principal investigator for NASA's Lunar Trailblazer Mission. Aiming to map water on the moon and has been a key contributor to numerous Mars missions, including the Perseverance Rover. Now, in addition to her scientific endeavors, Dr. Ehlmann has been an active leader in the scientific community serving on the National Academy of Science Panels to develop national priorities for space science.

She joined the Planetary Society's board of directors in 2018, and was appointed president in 2020. Bringing her expertise and passion for our mission of empowering the world's citizens to advance space science and space exploration. Now, please join me in welcoming my friend and our president, Dr. Bethany Ehlmann.

Bethany Ehlmann: All right, thank you to everyone. Thank you to everyone for coming here. A huge thanks to Bill, to Jen, members of the board, both Bobs, and our staff for organizing this event. Let's put it together for the staff for organizing this great reunion.

So I was asked to close off tonight by talking about the future. So let's talk about the future. Let's talk about what we're excited about in the next five years. I am excited about more Lunar landings in the future that hopefully include humans. I am excited by the discovery of new exoplanets with the James Webb Space Telescope by Europa Clipper arriving, by Apotheths, the asteroid approaching. And by the Vera Rubin Telescope coming online and perhaps finding more asteroids like Apotheths. Dragonfly launching to go fly on Titan, and Mars Sample Return and the reinvigoration of exploration at Mars by robots and humans.

So I tell people frequently that I think this is the most exciting time that we have ever had, that there ever has been actually to be a planetary scientist. Why do I say that? Well, part of it is that we are doing so much. But part of it is also that while we are doing planetary exploration, the very nature of how we do science and the landscape of being in space is changing around us. We have new companies and new private foundations that are enabling access to space like never before. It's not just governments going anymore. It is other groups of people around the world.

We have new countries participating in space exploration. It's more worldwide than ever. China has completed the first Sample Return from the far side of the moon. The United Arab Emirates has a spacecraft right now around Mars performing fundamental science. And it's because those countries, those people, those foundations have invested in the future. They see exploration as a way of bringing out the best in humanity, the best in the citizens of their country. The best in the people driving the exploration forward.

I do think though, and I think all of us feel this, that we're at a bit of a fork in the road. What is the future at this moment? Do we commit to sending humans to the moon and Mars, continuing our robotic exploration of the solar system? Are the norms that we establish in space, those democratic egalitarian norms? Are they authoritarian norms? Is space seen as a playground for the rich? Or is space seen what I think all of us in the room believe it to be? Which is the next frontier for humanity, expanding our knowledge about the cosmos, right?

I think it's that expanding, continuing to expand our knowledge throughout the Cosmos. But we don't know. We're at one of those forks in the road until we choose the path. But that is the nature of choice. We can, and we do choose the path with how we conduct our careers, what we do with our working lives. With how and how frequently we speak to our family, our friends, our political representatives. Sharing the passion, beauty and joy of space exploration. And how we teach our children. What we give them to read, to learn, and inspire them about the Cosmos.

So I am so excited about how we as the Planetary Society have shaped and continue to shape the future. Some of it is through quick wins, Jack Karali and the team in D.C for any given fiscal year, working the politics. The art of the possible to get that right thing in the appropriations for this year to make it that much better. But then we also have really what's the long haul, the long campaigns. Bob was talking about 1998, and Clipper is getting there in 2030. That is a long haul campaign, right? We have to commit for decades to carry out that vision of exploration.

And so, I want to acknowledge Louis again. Louis, Karl, Bruce, our founders who were really in it for the long haul. I go back often and I think about what anthropologist Margaret Mead said, which is one of my favorite quotes. "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world." Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. And so, that is why I love being on the board of the Planetary Society, is that we are a group with values and ambition to explore space, to defend earth, search for life.

I want us to find planets like Earth, to have a permanent presence of rovers and humans on the moon and Mars. To search for life in all of the planets of the solar system. And to build the habitable world's observatory to search beyond. It requires passion, it requires commitment. And so I want to say thank you to you in the room who have that passion and who have that commitment. So let's give some applause here. Thank you to our members for 45 years. Our charter members. Huge thanks.

Who joined in the last week or the last month to be a part of the event? Huge thanks to you too. Thank you for joining because this is where it's at. Together we will carry forward that passion, beauty and joy of space exploration. And over the next five years of this next campaign, create the future in space that we want to share together. So as we go out, let's bring us into the 50th year. Let's do the work these five years so that when we get together in five years at the 50th, to really celebrate what we've accomplished. So thank you very much. Thank you for coming tonight and I'll bring it back to Bob to close.

Robert Picardo: Thank you Dr. Ehlmann for those inspiring remarks. Thank you so much. Drive safely and we'll see you in five years.

Sarah Al-Ahmed: I wish I could share every fun moment at the gala. Especially the brilliant banter between Bob Picardo and Bill Nye. Their comedy bit was excellent. But there is one moment that I do want to mention. This year's C.Wallace Hooser Award for Visionary Philanthropy was presented to Taner Halicioglu. His generosity has had a profound impact on the Planetary Society's mission and on people like me.

Taner's support has helped fund many of our programs to continue to inspire and educate people around the world about space science and exploration. In fact, his contributions made it possible for me to take my very first role at the Planetary Society. I am so deeply grateful, not just for his commitment to space science, but for his belief in the people who carry that mission forward. Thank you Taner.

And thank you to everyone who helps make this work possible. As Jen Vaughn reminded us during her speech, each of us has at least one moment where space became personal to us. It might be a mission, an image, or a question that sparked something deeper for us. But moments like that depend on more than wonder. They depend on continued support, not just for organizations like us, but for space exploration more broadly. In the United States that support is now under threat.

The latest news on funding for NASA in the United States is that the presidential budget request may include a 47% cut to NASA's science programs. This reduction would jeopardize dozens of missions, water research, and end careers before they even begin. In a recent guest essay for the New York Times, our chief of space policy, Casey Dreier lays out what's at stake. From the search for life on other worlds to the ideals that space science represents. Curiosity, determination, and the courage to look outward. You can find a link to that article on this episode's webpage at planetary.org/radio. Along with a quick way for people in the United States to contact your representatives through the Planetary Society's Action Center.

Now, to close out our show, I asked our chief scientist Dr. Bruce Betts to share one of his personal moments when space truly inspired him. It's time for What's Up. Hey Bruce.

Bruce Betts: Hello, Sarah Splash.

Sarah Al-Ahmed: Splash.

Bruce Betts: That was me diving off Queen Mary.

Sarah Al-Ahmed: It was cool to have a party on a boat though. I'd never had an occasion be all the Queen Mary before. Is there a class-size designation between boat and ship?

Bruce Betts: I know people argue it. But any ship that's over 300 meters or 1000 feet, I mean that's way beyond the dividing line.

Sarah Al-Ahmed: But is it one of those all ships are boats, but not all boats are ships kind of dealio?

Bruce Betts: Sure.

Sarah Al-Ahmed: Either way though, it was a good party.

Bruce Betts: Yeah. Okay. And the boat was the ship. Now you got me doing it. The ship was rocking back and forth and the waves.

Sarah Al-Ahmed: I felt like it was. I was wondering whether or not I should wear heels onto a ship of that size, but you couldn't even feel the thing rock. It was so large.

Bruce Betts: No, it's in the harbor and got fixed, and so it's pretty mellow. But if you need to, you take to the sea.

Sarah Al-Ahmed: Oh, it felt appropriate for a lot of reasons, but I had to do a deep dive early on in my social media time at the Planetary Society on the boat in our original logo. The ship in our original logo.

Bruce Betts: The Dutch Caravel?

Sarah Al-Ahmed: Dutch Caravel. So it felt fitting to celebrate on a boat together. We're just going to have to find a larger one for our 50th anniversary someday.

Bruce Betts: Can I do a random Ship Fact act? Race ship fact. Don't worry, there'll be a space one later. Queen Mary holds the record for the most people on board a floating vessel ever.

Sarah Al-Ahmed: Really?

Bruce Betts: It's roughly 16,500 when it was serving as a troop transport in World War II.

Sarah Al-Ahmed: Wow. That's a lot of people.

Bruce Betts: That would be crowded even on that big ship.

Sarah Al-Ahmed: Seriously though. Well, we didn't have that many people at our gala, but it was well attended. We did sell out and it was a good time. And during the dinner we had a lot of great speeches, many of which we shared in this episode. But I really loved what Jen, our COO said about imagining basically why we do this. Why we care so much. Like imagine a moment in space history that really inspired you. And I've been thinking about it ever since she gave that speech. Trying to think about what my moment was. And there's so many of them, so I'm just going to throw it at you Bruce.

Bruce Betts: Yeah, it's impossible to, in the amount of time you're going to give me to reference any, even a subset of the moments. That's why we do this, because we love those things. But part of what she said was referring to a moment that kind of got you into space and joining the passion of Space Club without knowing you're going to do it. For me, those go back to childhood and I think I've mentioned them over the years.

I was lucky enough as a child to witness, although a few miles away, tens of miles away, the Apollo-17, last Saturn five launch night launch. So that was pretty amazing. And then I just still have very clear memories of looking up in the moon and realizing there were people on it. And that was super cool. And then when I saw the images coming back, particularly from Voyager, Jupiter, Voyager one and two. And at those moons that just were like, wow, those are so cool and weird. I love that. So even there, I just spewed out a bunch of moments. So they all stuck with me quite well.

Sarah Al-Ahmed: Yeah, it's a really hard question to answer. I do remember though, I was very young at the time, so my memories are unclear. But I remember encountering the first deep field image from Hubble, and someone explaining it to me. And having my min-

Bruce Betts: Oh yeah, that's-

Sarah Al-Ahmed: ... so completely blown.

Bruce Betts: Yeah, no, that's amazing and fries your brain.

Sarah Al-Ahmed: It really does. I don't think my brain has recovered since. I mean grappling with the scale and immensity of the universe, it was beautiful. And I did, I got really emotional and I was like a tiny child. I still have a necklace I wear around with that image of the deep field. At least the un-messy parts of it. It's beautiful when you think about it. And ever since then I've been stuck. I'm just caught up in space moments one after another, and it's been a lot of fun.

But I did not understand how many of those moments were so deeply connected to the history of the organization. And I don't know, I'm just so grateful to be here at this moment in time with all you all.

Bruce Betts: And as am I. And Happy 45th, the Planetary Society.

Sarah Al-Ahmed: Happy 45th.

Bruce Betts: It's amazing and incredible and so very productive. And we have all our memberships, some of whom we're represented on the Queen Mary, and all the people who listen here and read our web stuff and support our projects and do our advocacy petitions. That it's really about them getting involved in their moments that have inspired them to come join the gang at the Planetary Society.

Sarah Al-Ahmed: Right. One of us, one of us. I'm kidding. But really though it was just really meaningful to be able to mark that moment with everyone. And I'm hoping someday down the line I can say I've been with the society as long as you have.

Bruce Betts: Wow. It feels like it was just have been a long time?

Sarah Al-Ahmed: It's all relative.

Bruce Betts: Oh, okay. I'm sure that's fine. You know what I've done for a long time?

Sarah Al-Ahmed: What?

Bruce Betts: I've done, random space fact.

Sarah Al-Ahmed: Is it boat related?

Bruce Betts: No, it's spaceship related. It's random, which is what I will temporarily call the Gemini program that launched two humans at a time with the Americans. Was originally called Mercury Mark II. And then people thought maybe that should have a more creative term. And because of the two people and the Gemini having twin stars. The mythology tied to twins, etc., to a guy named Gemini. But however, I have been pronouncing it that way all along. I think most people do. But NASA actually issued, and I'm still not sure why, a press release that it was to be pronounced Gemini.

Sarah Al-Ahmed: Gemini.

Bruce Betts: Yeah. So sorry, it's kind of an incomplete story, but there you go.

Sarah Al-Ahmed: Interesting.

Bruce Betts: Gemini.

Sarah Al-Ahmed: Have we all been pronouncing Gemini wrong this whole time? Was it actually Gemini? Or was it just someone on their staff that just really preferred that pronunciation?

Bruce Betts: Well, these are good questions. Maybe someone out there can fill in where I didn't. But the pronunciations in general, when you're dealing with things that go back to other languages. Ancient languages typically as happens in astronomy, they can be confused or even have different pronunciations that can be argued are correct. I don't know in this case, but in other cases that's certainly true.

Sarah Al-Ahmed: Well-

Bruce Betts: Gemini.

Sarah Al-Ahmed: ... Gemini, Gemini, either way, here's to our next 45 years and a really sweet party in another five years to mark our 50th.

Bruce Betts: And here's to your next 45 years with the Planetary Society.

Sarah Al-Ahmed: Woo-hoo.

Bruce Betts: All right, everybody go out there, look up in the night sky and think about what you were doing or not doing, depending on your age 45 years ago. Thank you and good night.

Sarah Al-Ahmed: We've reached the end of this week's episode of Planetary Radio, but we'll be back next week with more space science and exploration. If you love the show, you can get Planetary Radio T-shirts at planetary.org/shop, along with lots of other cool spacey merchandise.

Help others discover the passion, beauty and joy of space science and exploration by leaving your review and a rating on platforms like Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Your feedback not only brightens our day, but helps other curious minds find their place in space through Planetary Radio. You can also send us your space, thoughts, questions, and poetry at our email at [email protected]. Or if you're a Planetary Society member, leave a comment in the Planetary Radio space in our member community app.

Planetary Radio is produced by the Planetary Society in Pasadena, California. And is made possible by our dedicated members all around the world. You can join us as we look forward to our next 45 years of advancing space science and exploration together at Planetary.org/join. Mark Hilverda and Rae Paoletta are our associate producers. Andrew Lucas is our audio editor. Josh Doyle composed our theme, which is arranged and performed by Pieter Schlosser. And until next week, ad astra.