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  • “Exploration is in our nature.” - Carl Sagan

Planetary Radio • Sep 16, 2026

Star Trek at 60: What Vulcans and Klingons can teach us about being human (Part 2)

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On This Episode

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Robert Picardo

Board of Directors of The Planetary Society; Actor, Member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Tim Russ square

Tim Russ

Actor and Amateur Astronomer

Karim diane by gage skidmore

Karim Diané

Actor, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

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Bruce Betts

Chief Scientist / LightSail Program Manager for The Planetary Society

Sarah al ahmed headshot

Sarah Al-Ahmed

Planetary Radio Host and Producer for The Planetary Society

This is part two of our Star Trek 60th anniversary series. Robert Picardo, the Emergency Medical Hologram on Star Trek: Voyager and a member of The Planetary Society's board of directors, reads a vintage letter from Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry asking fans to join a brand new organization called The Planetary Society. Tim Russ, who played Tuvok on Star Trek: Voyager, Deep Space Nine, Lower Decks, and Picard, joins us to talk about what the Vulcans can teach us about the discipline we'll need to survive in deep space, and shares his own experience as an amateur astronomer who contributed data to NASA's Lucy mission. Karim Diané, Jay-Den Kraag on Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, talks about playing a Klingon who defies everyone's expectations of what it means to be strong. And Bruce Betts, chief scientist of The Planetary Society, is here with What's Up, discussing Star Trek technologies.

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A rare letter from Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry In 1980, the creator of Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry, wrote a letter and sent it out to a Star Trek fans mailing list. In the letter, Gene invited his fans to join us on our mission to explore the cosmos.

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What can we learn from Star Trek? Tim Russ played the logical Tuvok on Star Trek: Voyager. His inspired passion for astronomy and exploration continues to this day. Now he asks what we can learn from stories like Star Trek to become better explorers in the real world.

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Tim Russ at the Griffith Observatory - The Planetary Post In this update from The Planetary Post with Robert Picardo: star parties are magical events where one can observe the wonders of our night sky...and have a surprise Star Trek: Voyager reunion. Also, news about seven Earth-sized planets orbiting a red dwarf star, plus learn how you can help prevent an asteroid impact disaster.

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