Space Policy Edition: What's going on with commercial space stations?

NASA's plan for what comes after the International Space Station (ISS) has been anything but stable. Since 2019, the agency's commercial space station strategy has shifted from free-flying vendor-operated stations to a government-owned module attached to the ISS, and back again, all while the clock…

Rosalind Franklin and the search for life on Mars

After more than two decades, the European Space Agency's Rosalind Franklin rover finally has a path to the launchpad. This week, ExoMars Project Scientist Jorge Vago joins Planetary Radio to talk about what makes this mission like nothing we've sent to Mars before: a drill capable of reaching 2 met…

Tianwen-2: China closes in on Kamoʻoalewa

China’s Tianwen-2 spacecraft has successfully arrived at Kamoʻoalewa—a tiny, enigmatic "quasi-satellite" that dances along with Earth on its trek around the Sun. A fascinating scientific debate is heating up over this object's true identity: is it a standard, heavily space-weathered asteroid, or is…

Book Club Edition: “To Be Taught, If Fortunate” with Becky Chambers

This outstanding novella, “To Be Taught, If Fortunate” by award-winning science fiction author Becky Chambers, is a passionate argument for the human exploration of space and the wonders we will find there. Kirkus Reviews calls it, “An extraordinary picture of humanity among the stars.” Join host M…

Flying on Titan: The engineering of Dragonfly

Saturn's moon Titan is one of the most Earth-like worlds in our Solar System, with a dense nitrogen atmosphere, weather cycles, methane rivers, and vast organic dune fields. It also happens to be the perfect place to fly a drone. NASA's Dragonfly mission is doing exactly that, sending a car-sized, …

U.S. space science in flux: Grant rules, rockets, and reorganization

Between budget battles, proposed grant rule changes, and an exploding Blue Origin rocket, there's a lot to cover in U.S. space policy right now. Jack Kiraly, The Planetary Society's director of government relations, joins host Sarah Al-Ahmed to walk through a cascade of developments affecting NASA …

Space Policy Edition: A proposal to stifle American science

The White House's Office of Management and Budget has released a sweeping 400-page proposed rule change that would fundamentally alter how the U.S. federal government manages grants, affecting everything from NASA research to biomedical science and community programs. In this episode, Casey Dreier …

Spacewoman with Eileen Collins

Colonel Eileen Collins was the first woman to pilot and command a Space Shuttle, and the person NASA trusted to lead the program back into space after the loss of Columbia. But her story is about so much more than the milestones. In this episode, Sarah Al-Ahmed sits down with Eileen Collins to dis…

Los Angeles Astronomical Society celebrates 100 years of looking up

The Los Angeles Astronomical Society (LAAS) is one of the oldest and largest amateur astronomy clubs in the United States, and this year, it’s turning 100. To mark the occasion, the LAAS threw a centennial star party on the lawn of Griffith Observatory, featuring 100 telescopes, a dedication ceremo…

Twenty organic molecules found in an ancient Martian rock

NASA's Curiosity rover has been exploring Mars' Gale Crater for over a decade. A new analysis of samples collected there reveals something remarkable: more than 20 different organic molecules preserved in ancient rock, including the first detection of a nitrogen-bearing heterocycle on Mars, a type …