Explore Worlds
Find Life
Defend Earth
Since 2002, Planetary Radio has visited with a scientist, engineer, project manager, advocate, or writer who provides a unique perspective on the quest for knowledge about our Solar System and beyond. The full show archive is available for free.
Search Planetary Radio
Joanne Higgins joins Planetary Radio to share the untold stories of Black engineers who helped make the Apollo program possible. We explore their legacy, the challenges they faced, and how their stories can inspire a more inclusive future in space.
We explore bold ideas from the Mars Innovation Workshop and uncover why NASA’s decision to dissolve key advisory offices is raising concerns across the space community.
A reported 50% cut to NASA’s science budget threatens to shut down missions, halt new discoveries, and devastate scientific space exploration. This week, we break down the fight ahead with The Planetary Society’s space policy team and explore how grassroots advocacy can help protect the future of space science.
Can classical liberalism provide fresh insights to guide humanity’s activities in space? Philosopher Rebecca Lowe explains how it can.
Scott Sandford, co-investigator on OSIRIS-REx and a research scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center, discusses the first published analyses of the Bennu sample, revealing insights into the early Solar System and the origins of life.
Amy Jurewicz, former project scientist for NASA’s Genesis mission, shares how the spacecraft survived a crash-landing and still reshaped our understanding of the solar wind and space weather.
Hayley Arceneaux discusses her memoir Wild Ride and her newly released kids' book Astronaut Hayley's Brave Adventure, sharing the story of how her experiences with childhood cancer led to her space adventure aboard SpaceX's Inspiration4 mission.
Asteroid 2024 YR4 has captured global attention, but is it really a threat? Kate Howells breaks it down. Then, Casey Dreier and Jack Kiraly analyze how the new Trump administration is shaping NASA’s future.
Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck outlines a $4B fixed-price plan for Mars Sample Return — and reveals new Venus mission details — before VP Richard French explains how a single, integrated team cuts costs and ensures success.
How did Pluto meet its largest moon, Charon? Adeene Denton, a research scientist at the University of Arizona, suggests a "kiss-and-capture" may solve this mystery.
We celebrate Ed Stone’s lasting legacy with the unveiling of the Dr. Edward Stone Exploration Trail at JPL.
We discuss how to examine the science behind our favorite TV shows and movies with the co-hosts of the Does It Fly? podcast, Hakeem Oluseyi and Tamara Krinsky.
Knicole Colón, the deputy project scientist for exoplanet science for JWST, joins Planetary Radio to discuss the detection of methane and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of K2-18 b.
Emily Calandrelli, also known as “the Space Gal,” shares her experience becoming the hundredth woman in space after blasting off on a Blue Origin suborbital rocket.
Marcia Smith, founder of Space Policy Online, joins the show to discuss the motivations and risks of pursuing change at NASA - and how much change can ultimately happen with Congress holding the purse strings.
Planetary Radio kicks off The Planetary Society's 45th anniversary year with CEO, Bill Nye.
The Planetary Society team reviews the best space moments of 2024, from the China National Space Administration's return of samples from the far side of the Moon to the triumphant launch of NASA's Europa Clipper mission.
Lauren Mc Keown, a postdoctoral fellow at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, discusses her experiences recreating Martian araneiform terrain, also called Mars spiders, in the lab.
We revisit a classic book on the limits of presidential power in setting the nation’s space agenda and explore how the increasingly powerful executive branch might be rewriting those expectations.
We take you to Planetary Society headquarters, where Neil deGrasse Tyson, host of StarTalk, interviews Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye.