Leonard David has been writing about space exploration for more than five decades.  Now he has turned his attention to China’s ambitious plans.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Leonard David has been writing about space exploration for more than five decades. Now he has turned his attention to China’s ambitious plans.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.

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.

Taikonauts on the Moon? A Conversation With Leonard David

Artemis II is the first crewed lunar mission since Apollo 17, and riding alongside the crew is one of the most ambitious biology experiments ever sent to space. It's called AVATAR, short for A Virtual Astronaut Tissue Analog Response: tiny organ chips grown from the astronauts' own cells, flying the same trajectory around the Moon, exposed to the same deep-space radiation and microgravity as the crew themselves. Lisa Carnell, director of NASA's Biological and Physical Sciences Division, explains what this experiment could mean for the future of human exploration.

Then, Alain Maury, asteroid hunter and Planetary Society Shoemaker Near-Earth Object grant recipient, tells the story of how his MAPS survey in Chile's Atacama Desert spotted a faint, fuzzy object that turned out to be something extraordinary. C/2026 A1 (MAPS) is a sungrazing comet now falling toward the Sun on a path that will bring it within 162,000 kilometers (100,000 miles) of the solar surface on April 4th. If it survives that encounter, it could become one of the most spectacular comets in decades.

And finally, Planetary Society Chief Scientist Bruce Betts joins us for What's Up, including how to spot the comet yourself, if it makes it through.

Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2026-avatar-and-sungrazer

Artemis II is the first crewed lunar mission since Apollo 17, and riding alongside the crew is one of the most ambitious biology experiments ever sent to space. It's called AVATAR, short for A Virtual Astronaut Tissue Analog Response: tiny organ chips grown from the astronauts' own cells, flying the same trajectory around the Moon, exposed to the same deep-space radiation and microgravity as the crew themselves. Lisa Carnell, director of NASA's Biological and Physical Sciences Division, explains what this experiment could mean for the future of human exploration.
Then, Alain Maury, asteroid hunter and Planetary Society Shoemaker Near-Earth Object grant recipient, tells the story of how his MAPS survey in Chile's Atacama Desert spotted a faint, fuzzy object that turned out to be something extraordinary. C/2026 A1 (MAPS) is a sungrazing comet now falling toward the Sun on a path that will bring it within 162,000 kilometers (100,000 miles) of the solar surface on April 4th. If it survives that encounter, it could become one of the most spectacular comets in decades.
And finally, Planetary Society Chief Scientist Bruce Betts joins us for What's Up, including how to spot the comet yourself, if it makes it through.
Discover more at:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2026-avatar-and-sungrazer">https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2026-avatar-and-sungrazer</a>

Lisa Carnell, Director of NASA's Biological and Physical Sciences Division, explains AVATAR, the experiment flying organ chips grown from astronaut cells on Artemis II. Then, asteroid hunter Alain Maury tells the story of discovering a sungrazing comet that could become one of the most spectacular in decades.

Artemis II’s AVATAR and a sungrazing comet

Artemis II is about more than getting four humans to the Moon and back. It's an opportunity to gather data on human health in deep space that we haven’t had in over 50 years.

This week, we’re joined by Steve Platts, chief scientist of NASA's Human Research Program, who walks us through the suite of human health experiments flying aboard Artemis II, from the ARCHER wearable sensors tracking crew health and team dynamics, to dry saliva swabs measuring stress hormones. Then Casey Dreier, chief of space policy at The Planetary Society, helps us make sense of NASA's Ignition Day, a major press event held on March 24 in which the agency unveiled sweeping changes to its lunar exploration plans and beyond.

And we close with Bruce Betts, chief scientist of The Planetary Society, in our weekly What's Up, where we explore one of the stranger phenomena in human spaceflight, the flashes of light astronauts sometimes see when cosmic rays pass through their eyes.

Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2026-astronaut-health-experiments-artemis-ii

Artemis II is about more than getting four humans to the Moon and back. It's an opportunity to gather data on human health in deep space that we haven&rsquo;t had in over 50 years.
This week, we&rsquo;re joined by Steve Platts, chief scientist of NASA's Human Research Program, who walks us through the suite of human health experiments flying aboard Artemis II, from the ARCHER wearable sensors tracking crew health and team dynamics, to dry saliva swabs measuring stress hormones. Then Casey Dreier, chief of space policy at The Planetary Society, helps us make sense of NASA's Ignition Day, a major press event held on March 24 in which the agency unveiled sweeping changes to its lunar exploration plans and beyond.
And we close with Bruce Betts, chief scientist of The Planetary Society, in our weekly What's Up, where we explore one of the stranger phenomena in human spaceflight, the flashes of light astronauts sometimes see when cosmic rays pass through their eyes.
Discover more at: <a href="https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2026-astronaut-health-experiments-artemis-ii">https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2026-astronaut-health-experiments-artemis-ii</a>

Steve Platts, chief scientist of NASA’s Human Research Program, walks us through the health experiments aboard Artemis II, followed by Planetary Society Chief of Space Policy Casey Dreier on NASA's Ignition Day announcements.

The astronaut health experiments of Artemis II

Join us for an awe-inspiring conversation with astrobiologist and astronomer Caleb Scharf as he eloquently makes the case for "dispersal," the nearly inevitable advance of life and humanity across our solar neighborhood.  From the book: "The idea of Dispersal is one where the sheer scale and scope of life’s future extension into the solar system profoundly changes things: not because of some new (and unlikely) cultural enlightenment from within but because of what the enormous expanse of space will do to dilute and change our species and all others.” Adam Frank says of the book, “If we can make it through the many crises of the next century, then the Solar System and the stars beyond await us. In The Giant Leap, Caleb Scharf demonstrates how becoming a true space-faring species is more than just humanity’s future.”

Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/book-club-caleb-scharf

Join us for an awe-inspiring conversation with astrobiologist and astronomer Caleb Scharf as he eloquently makes the case for "dispersal," the nearly inevitable advance of life and humanity across our solar neighborhood.&nbsp; From the book: "The idea of Dispersal is one where the sheer scale and scope of life&rsquo;s future extension into the solar system profoundly changes things: not because of some new (and unlikely) cultural enlightenment from within but because of what the enormous expanse of space will do to dilute and change our species and all others.&rdquo; Adam Frank says of the book, &ldquo;If we can make it through the many crises of the next century, then the Solar System and the stars beyond await us. In The Giant Leap, Caleb Scharf demonstrates how becoming a true space-faring species is more than just humanity&rsquo;s future.&rdquo;
Discover more at: <a href="https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/book-club-caleb-scharf">https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/book-club-caleb-scharf</a>

Astrobiologist Caleb Scharf eloquently explores the future of humanity and what we will become when we live beyond Earth.  

Taikonauts on the Moon? A Conversation With Leonard David

In 1 playlist(s)

Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science

Social links

Follow podcast

Recent clips