Space Policy Edition: What a NASA Authorization bill actually does

What does a NASA authorization bill actually do, and why does it matter? In this episode of Space Policy Edition, we dig into one of the most misunderstood but powerful tools Congress uses to shape the future of U.S. space exploration. Host Casey Dreier, chief of space policy at The Planetary Soci…

Europa’s quiet seafloor

What if Europa’s seafloor isn’t alive with activity after all? This week on Planetary Radio, host and producer Sarah Al-Ahmed explores new research that reframes how scientists think about one of the Solar System’s most intriguing ocean worlds. Sarah is joined by Paul Byrne, associate professor o…

Artemis II and III: The science that brings us back to the Moon

Humans are preparing to return to the Moon. On this episode of Planetary Radio, host Sarah Al-Ahmed is joined by Kelsey Young and Noah Petro, two of the scientists helping turn humanity’s return to the Moon into reality. Kelsey Young is a research space scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Cente…

NASA science saved: Inside the 2026 budget victory

After months of uncertainty, NASA science has been spared from the largest proposed budget cuts in the agency’s history. In this episode of Planetary Radio, host Sarah Al-Ahmed unpacks how Congress moved to restore near-full funding for NASA science and what that victory really means for missions, …

Book Club Edition: The Little Book of Aliens by Adam Frank

Famed astrophysicist and science communicator Adam Frank shares his sense of wonder and humor in a live conversation about his excellent new book, “The Little Book of Aliens.” Join Adam and host Mat Kaplan as they explore the origin of life, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, and whether…

IMAP and the shape of the heliosphere

Our Solar System is wrapped in a vast, invisible bubble created by the Sun, a protective region that shields Earth and the planets from much of the radiation that fills our galaxy. But until recently, scientists have only had rough sketches of what this boundary looks like and how it behaves. In t…

Voyager and the heliopause: Exploring where the Sun gives way to the stars

What does it really mean to enter interstellar space, and what have we learned since humanity first crossed the invisible boundary between our Sun and the stars? In this episode of Planetary Radio, we explore the science of the heliosphere and the realm beyond with Linda Spilker, project scientist…

Space Policy Edition: Change for the Sake of Disruption at NASA

Marcia Smith, the founder and editor of Space Policy Online, joins the show and revisits a conversation we had one year ago, recorded just weeks before the second Trump administration took office. That episode, “The Challenges of Change at NASA,” explored the institutional and political roadblocks …

Looking back: Space exploration in 2025

As 2025 comes to a close, Planetary Radio looks back on a year that reshaped space exploration, through stunning discoveries, major milestones, unexpected challenges, and the people who carried science forward through it all. In this episode, Sarah Al-Ahmed, host and producer of Planetary Radio, i…

Looking back: Space policy and advocacy in 2025

2025 was one of the most consequential years for space policy in modern U.S. history. In this special year-in-review episode, Planetary Radio takes a deep dive into what happened behind the scenes in U.S. space policy and advocacy as NASA faced unprecedented proposed cuts to its science programs. …