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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.
More conversations from the 2026 NIAC Symposium, this time about the propulsion and life support breakthroughs that could carry us to the outer Solar System and keep us alive when we get there.
Researchers at the 2026 NIAC Symposium share their bold concepts for exploring the most inaccessible places in our Solar System, from the Moon's permanently shadowed craters to caves on Titan and inside lunar lava tubes.
Planetary Radio continues its coverage from the 2025 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Symposium in Philadelphia, highlighting technologies that could shape future missions, from detecting exoplanet magnetospheres to exploring Venus and Saturn’s moon Enceladus with innovative robots.
Planetary Radio explores visionary ideas from NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts Symposium. In this first of two episodes, discover how researchers are turning science fiction into reality, from glass habitats on the Moon to starshades that could reveal new Earths.
Dr. Bhavya Lal argues that the 2020s are a decisive decade for in-space nuclear power. Without nuclear, humans may never be more than visitors on Mars or the Moon.
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.
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.
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.
NASA's Dragonfly mission to Saturn's moon Titan has been authorized to proceed with work on final mission design and fabrication. This week on Planetary Radio, we get an update on the mission's progress and new timeline.
Join us at the 2022 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Symposium for a taste of projects that just might change the world.
Into the Anthropocosmos is MIT Space Exploration Initiative director Ariel Ekblaw’s collection of innovations that will improve life in space and on Earth.
Spacecraft need a navigation and communication infrastructure to carry out their missions. Learn how NASA does it and what’s in store for the future.
Here’s our sampling of the leading edge research presented by NIAC Fellows at NASA’s 2021 virtual gathering.
NASA engineer and scientist Troy Hudson shares the sad but ultimately inspiring story of a two-year attempt to dig deep beneath the surface of Mars.
We examine a few of the thousands of technologies and innovations developed by NASA that are making lives better around our planet.
NASA has given the green light to Principal Investigator Les Johnson and his team for construction of a solar sail that dwarfs all that have come before.
Join us as the little cubesat successfully unfurls its solar sail! You’ll hear from members of the LightSail 2 mission team on the morning of July 23, 2019, when the critical command was sent to the spacecraft.
A giant SpaceX Falcon Heavy lifted off in the early hours of June 25th. One week later, the LightSail 2 solar sail was released to begin its epic mission. You’ll join the thrilling launch, meet LightSail team members and leaders of other missions, and get a solar sail update in this very special episode.
The day is almost here. With the launch of a Falcon Heavy rocket, The Planetary Society will begin its mission to prove that a tiny, orbiting spacecraft can be propelled by the light of the Sun.
LightSail 2 is not the only solar sail in the universe. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and the Jet Propulsion Lab are preparing to send NEA Scout on a long, light-propelled journey to a near Earth asteroid.