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.

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What’s hidden inside planets?

Sabine Stanley, author of the new book "What's Hidden Inside Planets?", discusses some of the amazing things that lie under the surfaces of the worlds in our Solar System.

Space Policy Edition: Was the Space Shuttle a policy failure?

Though the Space Shuttle program lasted 30 years and built the ISS, it fell short of NASA's goals for cost, reusability, and reliability. Can a program be both a worldly success and a policy failure? In this Space Policy Edition, we dissect a classic space policy paper and debate its relevance today.

NASA’s STEM program looks to the Moon

Steven Smith, an Education Specialist from NASA's Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (or STEM) Program, joins Planetary Radio to share some of the unique opportunities available for students in the lead-up to humanity's return to the Moon.

A City on Mars

Kelly and Zach Weinersmith join Planetary Radio this week to discuss their new book, A City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through?

2023 NASA Innovative Advance Concepts Symposium: Part 2

Join Planetary Radio host Sarah Al-Ahmed on a trip to the 2023 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Symposium in Houston, Texas. This episode is part two of two.

Space Policy Edition: Why lunar exploration must be of enduring national interest

Scott Pace, the prior executive secretary of the National Space Council, discusses why Artemis is of strategic value to U.S. national interests — and why the Moon is unique as a destination to drive global space exploration.

Humans to Mars by the 2030s? NASA Associate Administrators weigh in

Planetary Radio, Mat Kaplan, senior communications adviser at The Planetary Society, takes us to the 2023 Humans to Mars Summit in Washington, D.C. We'll share his conversation with three NASA Associate Administrators, Nicola Fox, James Free, and James Reuter about the international, commercial, and robotic collaboration it will take to put the first humans on the Red Planet.

Two Years of Hope: Celebrating the Emirates Mars Mission

Join us as we celebrate the accomplishments of a truly inspiring space mission - the United Arab Emirates' Hope probe, which has spent two amazing years orbiting Mars!

Space Policy Edition: The Tricky Ethics of Space Settlement

Dr. Erika Nesvold, astrophysicist and author of the new book Off-Earth: Ethical Questions and Quandaries for Living in Outer Space explores the ethical challenges facing our species as it dips its toe into living beyond our home planet.

Celebrating NASA’s Artemis I mission to the Moon

Jeremy Graeber, the assistant launch director at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, joins Planetary Radio to recount his experience on the night of Artemis I’s historic launch.

Planetary Society All-Stars Review the Year in Space

For his last episode as host, Mat Kaplan welcomes many of his Planetary Society colleagues for a review of a spectacular year of space exploration.

Artemis 1 Orion capsule comes home, and the best of Planetary Radio

Host Mat Kaplan greets the Orion capsule that has just returned from the Moon, and then presents some of the best of Planetary Radio’s 20 years.

It’s Not Just NASA: Space Agency Leaders at the Artemis 1 Launch Attempt

Leaders of several major, international space agencies talked with host Mat Kaplan during the first attempt to launch the Artemis 1 Moon mission.

Countdown to Artemis, The Return to the Moon

Join Mat Kaplan and Planetary Society colleagues in Florida for the first attempt to launch the Space Launch System rocket on a mission to the Moon.

Space Policy Edition: Mike Gold on Crafting the Artemis Accords

Former NASA Associate Administrator Mike Gold shepherded the Artemis Accords, a set of bilateral agreements for collaboration in human space exploration. Casey Dreier spoke with him in Florida as we awaited the launch of Artemis 1.

Space Policy Edition: Lori Garver on Bringing Change to NASA

Former NASA deputy administrator Lori Garver returns for a deep conversation with Casey Dreier about her fight to turn the agency toward commercial partnerships and away from the expensive Constellation program.

A Hero of the New Space Age: Lori Garver and Escaping Gravity

Lori Garver went up against powerful forces inside and outside NASA to create the hugely successful commercial cargo and crew programs.

Planetary Radio at the Humans to Mars Summit

Mat Kaplan helped host the Humans to Mars Summit in Washington D.C., where much of the community that is working to get us to Mars gathered.

Space Policy Edition: How Russia's Invasion of Ukraine Has Changed Space, with Mariel Borowitz

International space policy and sustainability expert Mariel Borowitz explores with Casey Dreier how the war in Ukraine reaches beyond Earth in ways that are chilling and surprising.

The End of Astronauts?

Britain’s Astronomer Royal Martin Rees and science writer Don Goldsmith question the value of putting astronauts in harm’s way at great expense in their new book.

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