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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One Last Blast: Author of ‘The Martian’ Andy Weir with JPL Chief Engineer Rob Manning

Outgoing Planetary Radio host Mat Kaplan realizes a dream by getting Rob Manning and Andy Weir together for one of the most entertaining conversations in our show’s two decades.

Touchdown! The Sights and Sounds of Perseverance on Mars

Relive the most dramatic and awe-inspiring moments from NASA’s Perseverance rover landing on Mars.

A Great Day for Space Explorers: The Landing of InSight

Join 1,000 anxious yet thrilled space fans at Caltech for our live InSight landing party. You’ll meet Mat Kaplan’s onstage experts and check in with Bill Nye and Emily Lakdawalla at the Jet Propulsion Lab.

Rob Manning and Landing on Mars

Landing on Mars is hard, and the bigger you are, the harder it gets. Rob Manning returns to tell us about one of NASA’s best hopes for getting much bigger spacecraft down there—spacecraft that may one day carry humans.

Back to Planetary Radio Live With the Mars Rovers

Our celebration of the Mars rovers continues from Southern California Public Radio’s Crawford Family Forum, this week featuring planetary scientist and author Jim Bell, Curiosity Project Scientist John Grotzinger, JPL Mars Engineering Manager Rob Manning and Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye. Emily takes us to Curiosity’s latest find on the red planet, and Bruce Betts joins Mat to gaze at the night sky and give away ISS-Above, the little device that tells you when the International Space Station is overhead.

Landing on Mars: How Hard Can It Be?

JPL's Rob Manning explores just a few of the challenges of landing a spacecraft on another planet. We also get a Phoenix mission update from Emily Lakdawalla, who says not everything is going well.

Rob Manning Says Landing on Mars is Hard!

Landing people on Mars will be hard, but JPL's Rob Manning and other engineers are working on solutions.