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Planetary Radio Episodes
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.
Commercial space astronaut Sian Proctor and astronomer John Read join Planetary Radio to discuss “Baby's Guide to the Night Sky,” their new book introducing the youngest children to constellations and the wonders of the Cosmos.
Green Bank, West Virginia, bans cell phones and Wi-Fi, so that its giant radio telescope can listen undisturbed. This week, Senior Communications Advisor Mat Kaplan talks with director Katie Dellamaggiore and physicist Ellie White about the documentary "Small Town Universe," and Public Education Specialist Kate Howells previews August's total solar eclipse.
Clayton Swope, deputy director of the Aerospace Security Project and senior fellow at CSIS, joins the show to break down NASA's rocky path toward a commercial replacement for the International Space Station.
The European Space Agency's Rosalind Franklin rover finally has a path to Mars. ExoMars Project Scientist Jorge Vago joins Planetary Radio to discuss the rover's 2-meter drill, its onboard astrobiology lab, and what it would mean to finally find evidence that Mars was once home to life.
China’s Tianwen-2 mission has arrived at the quasi-moon Kamoʻoalewa. We sit down with Planetary Society contributing editor and freelance space journalist Andrew Jones to explore what this ambitious sample-return mission could reveal about our Solar System's history.
NASA's Dragonfly mission is sending a car-sized, nuclear-powered rotorcraft to Saturn's moon Titan. Lead rotor engineer Felipe Ruiz and principal investigator Zibi Turtle from Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory join us to discuss the engineering of flight on Titan with just two years to launch.
Jack Kiraly, The Planetary Society's director of government relations, joins Sarah Al-Ahmed to discuss proposed grant rule changes that could upend U.S. science funding, a major NASA reorganization, and the fallout from the destruction of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket.
Colonel Eileen Collins, the first woman to pilot and command a Space Shuttle, joins us to discuss “Spacewoman,” the new documentary telling the story of her extraordinary life and career.
The Los Angeles Astronomical Society is one of the oldest and largest amateur astronomy clubs in the United States, and this year it’s turning one hundred. We were there at Griffith Observatory for the centennial celebration to find out what keeps a community of skywatchers going for a century.
Amy Williams, astrobiologist and associate professor at the University of Florida, discusses a landmark experiment that revealed more than 20 organic molecules preserved in ancient Martian rock. We explore what this chemical discovery tells us about Mars' ancient habitability.
At Yuri's Night 2026, held at Griffith Observatory the day after Artemis II splashed down, Sarah Al-Ahmed spoke with educators, engineers, astronauts, and space philosophers about 65 years of human spaceflight and what it means to see Earth from space.
The Artemis II crew has returned home safely after a historic journey around the Moon. We celebrate some of the most extraordinary moments from the mission. Meanwhile, back on Earth, the new Presidential Budget Request proposes a 47% cut to NASA's science budget, threatening 84 missions.
Lisa Carnell, Director of NASA's Biological and Physical Sciences Division, explains AVATAR, the experiment flying organ chips grown from astronaut cells on Artemis II. Then, asteroid hunter Alain Maury tells the story of discovering a sungrazing comet that could become one of the most spectacular in decades.
Steve Platts, chief scientist of NASA’s Human Research Program walks us through the health experiments aboard Artemis II, followed by Planetary Society Chief of Space Policy Casey Dreier on NASA's Ignition Day announcements.
As humanity heads back to the Moon, Europe is stepping up. We bring you voices from the European Space Conference and take you inside the Moonlight Initiative panel building the Moon’s future.
Gentry Lee, the subject of the new documentary “Starman,” reflects on nearly five decades at JPL, the missions that defined the Space Age, and the search for life beyond Earth.
NASA has restructured the Artemis program, shifting Artemis III from a planned lunar landing to a low-Earth-orbit systems test following the rollback of Artemis II. We hear remarks from NASA leadership and break down what the changes mean with Planetary Society space policy experts.
A new study explores whether a massive ancient impact briefly triggered cryovolcanism on Uranus’s moon Umbriel. Sarah Al-Ahmed speaks with Adeene Denton about how crater modeling reveals clues to the moon’s hidden interior.
A new chapter begins at The Planetary Society as Jennifer Vaughn becomes CEO and Bill Nye steps into his new role as chief ambassador.
Scientists are using Apollo Moon dust to trace where Earth’s water came from and how our planet became habitable. Planetary scientist Tony Gargano explains how lunar samples reveal the history of ancient impacts, with a short bonus reflection from George Takei on Star Trek and the Artemis era.