Citizen scientists will soon have another opportunity to become part of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, and an innovative project will use a subtle effect of sunlight to learn about near-Earth objects. These are the projects funded in the first round of The Planetary Society’s Science and Technology Empowered by the Public (STEP) grant program. We’ll meet the awardees after Society chief scientist Bruce Betts provides an overview. Bruce returns for this week’s What’s Up and the space trivia contest. Discover more at https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2022-first-step-grant-awardees

Citizen scientists will soon have another opportunity to become part of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, and an innovative project will use a subtle effect of sunlight to learn about near-Earth objects. These are the projects funded in the first round of The Planetary Society&rsquo;s Science and Technology Empowered by the Public (STEP) grant program. We&rsquo;ll meet the awardees after Society chief scientist Bruce Betts provides an overview. Bruce returns for this week&rsquo;s What&rsquo;s Up and the space trivia contest. Discover more at <a href="https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2022-first-step-grant-awardees">https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2022-first-step-grant-awardees</a>

Planetary Radio brings you the human adventure across our Solar System and beyond. We visit each week with the scientists, engineers, leaders, advocates, and astronauts who are taking us across the final frontier. Regular features raise your space IQ while they put a smile on your face. Join host Sarah Al-Ahmed and Planetary Society colleagues including Bill Nye the Science Guy and Bruce Betts as they dive deep into space science and exploration. The monthly Space Policy Edition takes you inside the DC beltway where the future of the US space program hangs in the balance. Visit planetary.org/radio for an episode guide and much more.

Planetary Radio brings you the human adventure across our Solar System and beyond. We visit each week with the scientists, engineers, leaders, advocates, and astronauts who are taking us across the final frontier. Regular features raise your space IQ while they put a smile on your face. Join host Sarah Al-Ahmed and Planetary Society colleagues including Bill Nye the Science Guy and Bruce Betts as they dive deep into space science and exploration. The monthly Space Policy Edition takes you inside the DC beltway where the future of the US space program hangs in the balance. Visit planetary.org/radio for an episode guide and much more.

Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science

Planetary Radio brings you the human adventure across our solar system and beyond. We visit each week with the scientists, engineers, leaders, advocates, and astronauts taking us across the final frontier. Regular features raise your space IQ while they put a smile on your face. Join host Sarah Al-Ahmed and Planetary Society colleagues including Bill Nye, the Science Guy, and Bruce Betts, chief scientist for The Planetary Society, as they dive deep into the latest space news. The monthly Space Policy Edition takes you inside the DC beltway with Casey Dreier and Jack Kiraly to discuss the politics of space exploration in the US and advocacy actions you can take to support the missions that matter. Visit planetary.org/radio for the space trivia contest, an episode guide, and much more.

Planetary Radio brings you the human adventure across our solar system and beyond. We visit each week with the scientists, engineers, leaders, advocates, and astronauts taking us across the final frontier. Regular features raise your space IQ while they put a smile on your face. Join host Sarah Al-Ahmed and Planetary Society colleagues including Bill Nye, the Science Guy, and Bruce Betts, chief scientist for The Planetary Society, as they dive deep into the latest space news. The monthly Space Policy Edition takes you inside the DC beltway with Casey Dreier and Jack Kiraly to discuss the politics of space exploration in the US and advocacy actions you can take to support the missions that matter. Visit planetary.org/radio for the space trivia contest, an episode guide, and much more.

The Planetary Society’s new Science and Technology Empowered by the Public (STEP) grant program will let citizens join the search for ET and enable astronomers to discover the nature of hundreds of near-Earth asteroids.

Meet the first STEP Grant awardees

Can you buy science the way you buy a rocket launch? NASA is exploring the idea of “science as a service,” asking industry how commercial companies could provide scientific data and capabilities for Earth science, space weather, and astrophysics. But the concept isn’t new. It’s the latest chapter in a four-decade effort to commercialize space science that stretches back to the brief, troubled privatization of Landsat in the 1980s. Casey Dreier is joined by Jack Kiraly, chief of advocacy for The Planetary Society, and Britney Schmidt, planetary scientist, astrobiologist, and Planetary Society board member, to unpack what commercial science services can and can’t deliver. 

Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/science-as-a-service

Can you buy science the way you buy a rocket launch? NASA is exploring the idea of &ldquo;science as a service,&rdquo; asking industry how commercial companies could provide scientific data and capabilities for Earth science, space weather, and astrophysics. But the concept isn&rsquo;t new. It&rsquo;s the latest chapter in a four-decade effort to commercialize space science that stretches back to the brief, troubled privatization of Landsat in the 1980s. Casey Dreier is joined by Jack Kiraly, chief of advocacy for The Planetary Society, and Britney Schmidt, planetary scientist, astrobiologist, and Planetary Society board member, to unpack what commercial science services can and can&rsquo;t deliver.&nbsp;
Discover more at: <a href="https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/science-as-a-service">https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/science-as-a-service</a>

Jack Kiraly, chief of advocacy for The Planetary Society, and planetary scientist Britney Schmidt join Casey Dreier to examine NASA’s push toward “science as a service,” and why science is so much more than buying data.

Space Policy Edition: What does “science as a service” really mean?

In this second of two episodes from the 2026 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Symposium at Wichita State University, Sarah Al-Ahmed talks with researchers developing the propulsion and life support technologies that could open up new frontiers in deep space exploration.

First, Artur Davoyan, associate professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, discusses Coilable Stacked Solar Sails, a new sail architecture that could enable fast missions to the outer planets and interstellar space. Then, James Bickford of Charles Stark Draper Laboratory introduces TFINER, the Thin Film Isotope Nuclear Engine Rocket, a project that generates thrust from the natural decay of radioactive thin films, enabling rendezvous with interstellar objects and missions to the solar gravitational focus. Finally, Alvaro Romero-Calvo, assistant professor at Georgia Tech, and Theo St. Francis, graduate researcher in Georgia Tech's Low-Gravity Science and Technology Lab, discuss their concept, Breathing Beyond Earth, a pump-free oxygen production system for long-duration space missions to Mars. Plus, Bruce Betts, chief scientist of the Planetary Society, joins Sarah for What's Up, with a look ahead to the launch of JAXA's Martian Moons Exploration mission, MMX.

Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2026-niac-symposium-part-2

In this second of two episodes from the 2026 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Symposium at Wichita State University, Sarah Al-Ahmed talks with researchers developing the propulsion and life support technologies that could open up new frontiers in deep space exploration.
First, Artur Davoyan, associate professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, discusses Coilable Stacked Solar Sails, a new sail architecture that could enable fast missions to the outer planets and interstellar space. Then, James Bickford of Charles Stark Draper Laboratory introduces TFINER, the Thin Film Isotope Nuclear Engine Rocket, a project that generates thrust from the natural decay of radioactive thin films, enabling rendezvous with interstellar objects and missions to the solar gravitational focus. Finally, Alvaro Romero-Calvo, assistant professor at Georgia Tech, and Theo St. Francis, graduate researcher in Georgia Tech's Low-Gravity Science and Technology Lab, discuss their concept, Breathing Beyond Earth, a pump-free oxygen production system for long-duration space missions to Mars. Plus, Bruce Betts, chief scientist of the Planetary Society, joins Sarah for What's Up, with a look ahead to the launch of JAXA's Martian Moons Exploration mission, MMX.
Discover more at: <a href="https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2026-niac-symposium-part-1">https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2026-niac-symposium-part-2</a>

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.

2026 NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts Symposium: Part 2 — Solar sails and breathing beyond Earth

Some of the most exciting science in our Solar System is hidden in places we've never been able to reach. In this episode, Sarah Al-Ahmed shares three conversations from the 2026 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC)Symposium at Wichita State University, all about the bold, early-stage concepts being developed to explore them.

First, Peter Cabauy, CEO and co-founder of City Labs Incorporated, and Mason Peck, former NASA Chief Technologist and collaborator on the project, discuss their Phase II concept, Autonomous Tritium Micropowered Sensors, tiny nuclear-powered probes designed to survive and operate in the permanently shadowed craters of the Moon and beyond. Then, Daniel Drew, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, introduces SPARK, a Phase I concept for silent, solid-state flying robots that could explore caves on Saturn's moon Titan. Finally, Gilly Elor, physics lead at Stone Aerospace, and Bill Stone, founder of Stone Aerospace, walk us through LUX, the Lunar Underground Explorer, a Phase I concept for a laser-powered, fiber-tethered drone that could be the first mission to enter a cave on another world. Plus, Bruce Betts, chief scientist of The Planetary Society, joins Sarah for What's Up, where they preview Saturn at opposition and the start of World Space Week on October 4th.

Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2026-niac-symposium-part-1 

Some of the most exciting science in our Solar System is hidden in places we've never been able to reach. In this episode, Sarah Al-Ahmed shares three conversations from the 2026 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC)Symposium at Wichita State University, all about the bold, early-stage concepts being developed to explore them.
First, Peter Cabauy, CEO and co-founder of City Labs Incorporated, and Mason Peck, former NASA Chief Technologist and collaborator on the project, discuss their Phase II concept, Autonomous Tritium Micropowered Sensors, tiny nuclear-powered probes designed to survive and operate in the permanently shadowed craters of the Moon and beyond. Then, Daniel Drew, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, introduces SPARK, a Phase I concept for silent, solid-state flying robots that could explore caves on Saturn's moon Titan. Finally, Gilly Elor, physics lead at Stone Aerospace, and Bill Stone, founder of Stone Aerospace, walk us through LUX, the Lunar Underground Explorer, a Phase I concept for a laser-powered, fiber-tethered drone that could be the first mission to enter a cave on another world. Plus, Bruce Betts, chief scientist of The Planetary Society, joins Sarah for What's Up, where they preview Saturn at opposition and the start of World Space Week on October 4th.
Discover more at: <a href="https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2026-niac-symposium-part-1">https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2026-niac-symposium-part-1</a>&nbsp;

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.

Meet the first STEP Grant awardees

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