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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A hundred weeks in space exploration

Sarah Al-Ahmed, the host of Planetary Radio, marks her one-hundredth episode with a look back at the defining moments of the past 100 weeks of space exploration.

Seven worlds, one mission: The United Arab Emirates aims for the asteroid belt

Mohsen Al Awadhi and Hoor Al Hazmi, the director and science team lead for the Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt, join Planetary Radio for an update on the mission’s progress.

What does the US election mean for NASA?

Casey Dreier, the chief of space policy at The Planetary Society, analyzes what the incoming Trump administration could mean for NASA’s funding, human spaceflight, and its Science Mission Directorate.

EELS: AI-enabled snake robots and the search for life on Enceladus

Morgan Cable and Hiro Ono from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory join Planetary Radio to discuss the Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor (EELS) robot concept.

Spaceport Nova Scotia

This week, we learn more about Spaceport Nova Scotia, Canada’s first commercial launch site, with Steve Matier and Sasha Jacob, the CEO and Chairman of Maritime Launch Services.

Splat or subsurface ocean? The mysterious positioning of Pluto’s heart

This week we discuss recent research on the origins of Pluto’s heart and what it can tell us about whether or not the dwarf planet has a subsurface ocean with Adeene Denton from the University of Arizona.

Europa Clipper blasts off: How the mission team weathered Hurricane Milton

Bob Pappalardo, Europa Clipper project scientist, recounts the mission team's dramatic encounter with Hurricane Milton before their triumphant launch.

Internships, conferences, and grad school: A space student's guide

This week, Planetary Radio offers advice for students pursuing higher education in space-related fields. From internship insights to conference strategies and grad school survival tips, we've got you covered.

Clipper’s champions: Space advocates and the fight for a mission to Europa

The Planetary Society and space advocates around the world fought to make Europa Clipper a reality. This week, we learn more about the tumultuous history of the mission with Casey Dreier, The Planetary Society’s chief of space policy.

Space Policy Edition: The space policies of a Harris Administration

Space expert Lori Garver joins the show to explore Kamala Harris’ space policy priorities, the major issues facing NASA in the next four years, and Garver’s thoughts on the evolution of Elon Musk and NASA’s increasing reliance on the commercial space industry.

Return to Dimorphos: Looking forward to the Hera launch

We look forward to the Oct. 7 launch of the European Space Agency's Hera spacecraft with Michael Küppers, project scientist for the mission.

2024 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Symposium: Part 1 - Human hibernation and swarming Proxima Centauri

Join us for part one of our journey to the 2024 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Symposium. We'll hear from the teams behind two of this year's NIAC projects that could help us study distant planets and potentially reach them ourselves.

Chasing auroras with the Aurora Guy

Vince Ledvina, also known as the Aurora Guy, joins Planetary Radio to discuss the science behind the northern and southern lights and what they can tell us about our Sun, our planet, and worlds across our galaxy.

Europa in reflection: A compilation of two decades

With less than two months to go until the highly anticipated launch of NASA's Europa Clipper mission, we take a look back at over twenty years of Planetary Radio episodes about Jupiter's most intriguing moon.

Possible biomarkers: Perseverance rocks the Tenth International Conference on Mars

NASA's Perseverance rover has made a groundbreaking discovery on Mars: a sample that may hold evidence of ancient microbial life. We visit the Tenth International Conference on Mars to get the details.

Victory for VERITAS

Darby Dyar, the deputy principal investigator for NASA’s VERITAS mission to Venus, returns triumphantly to Planetary Radio to share the story of how space advocates helped save this mission.

The penguin, the egg, and the asteroid collision in Beta Pictoris

We celebrate the second anniversary of the James Webb Space Telescope's (JWST) science operations with Christine Chen, associate astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute.

Meet Roo-ver and The Planetary Society’s new board member

Newton Campbell Jr., the director of the Australian Remote Operations for Space and Earth (AROSE) Consortium, discusses his career journey, AI in space, and Australia's first lunar rover, the Roo-ver.

Space Policy Edition: NASA and the American South

Every major NASA center built after the agency’s inception is located in the American South. Why? Dr. Brian Odom, NASA’s chief historian, joins the show to discuss the cultural, political, and historical implications of NASA’s expansion into the South.

Fifty-five hundred worlds and counting: The astonishing diversity of exoplanets

We dive into the stunning variety of exoplanets beyond our Solar System with Jessie Christiansen, the project scientist for the NASA Exoplanet Archive.

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