2024 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Symposium: Part 1 - Human hibernation and swarming Proxima Centauri

Join us on a journey to the 2024 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Symposium. We'll hear from the teams behind two NIAC projects that could help us study distant planets and potentially reach them ourselves. Marshall Eubanks from Space Initiatives, Inc. and his colleagues will introduce us t…

Chasing auroras with the Aurora Guy

We are near solar maximum, a time in the solar cycle when our Sun is most active. That means more sun spots, coronal mass ejections, and auroras on worlds across our solar system. This week, Vince Ledvina, also known as the Aurora Guy, joins Planetary Radio to discuss the science behind the norther…

Space Policy Edition: The Space Policy of a Second Trump Administration

Dr. Greg Autry, who served on Trump’s NASA transition team in 2016 and was nominated for the position of NASA CFO in 2020, joins the show to discuss the space policy issues facing a potential second Trump administration in 2025. We discuss the role of competition versus cooperation in space explora…

Europa in reflection: A compilation of two decades

With less than two months to go until the highly anticipated launch of NASA's Europa Clipper mission, we take a look back at over twenty years of Planetary Radio episodes about Jupiter's most intriguing moon. You'll hear from Elizabeth 'Zibi' Turtle, planetary scientist at Johns Hopkins Applied Phy…

Ramses and rockets: Commercial space adventures and the race to Apophis

Get up to speed on the latest in commercial space news. Mat Kaplan, the senior communications advisor for The Planetary Society, returns with an update on the fate of the Boeing Starliner astronauts, the imploding and exploding adventures of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket, and a brief look forward …

Crickets and gastrodiplomacy: The future of space food

As we look to build a more sustainable human presence in space, we will need to find new and innovative ways to feed our travelers. This week, we hear from Team Insecta, a group of Canadian students exploring crickets as a viable source of space food. Newton Campell Jr., a member of The Planetary S…

An Earthling’s guide to the "Moons Symphony"

Planetary Radio takes a melodic adventure to the Ravinia Festival in Illinois, USA, for the public premiere of the "Moons Symphony." Mat Kaplan, senior communications advisor at The Planetary Society, speaks with a panel of amazing guests, including members of the Europa Clipper, Dragonfly, and Cas…

Hide and seek with Planet 9

A ninth planet may be lurking in our Solar System out beyond Neptune. Caltech's Mike Brown and Konstantin Batygin join us to discuss their new paper, the latest evidence for Planet 9, and why they believe their hunt may soon be over. Then, Bruce Betts, chief scientist of The Planetary Society, join…

Space Policy Edition: Do we need a philosophy of space exploration?

Why do we explore space? This is not an easy question to answer. Yet policy expert G. Ryan Faith believes there is value to be had in communal engagement with this question. While easy answers may elude us, the act of defining our values and goals in space can help avoid common pitfalls and dead en…

Possible biomarkers: Perseverance rocks the Tenth International Conference on Mars

NASA's Perseverance rover has made a groundbreaking discovery on Mars: a sample that may hold evidence of ancient microbial life. This week, we visit the Tenth International Conference on Mars, where you'll hear from several Mars scientists, including Caltech's Ken Farley, Perseverance project scie…