Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science

Episodes

• Tianwen-2: China closes in on Kamoʻoalewa 24.06.2026 59m

  China’s Tianwen-2 mission has arrived at the quasi-moon Kamoʻoalewa. We sit down with Planetary Society contributing editor and freelance space journalist Andrew Jones to explore what this ambitious sample-return mission could reveal about our Solar System's history.
• Book Club Edition: “To Be Taught, If Fortunate” with Becky Chambers 19.06.2026 1h 6m

  Hugo and Locus-winning author Becky Chambers talks with Mat Kaplan about “To Be Taught, If Fortunate,” her outstanding novella. It’s a passionate plea for space science and exploration told across the interstellar journey of four equally passionate human voyagers.
• Flying on Titan: The engineering of Dragonfly 17.06.2026 59m

  NASA's Dragonfly mission is sending a car-sized, nuclear-powered rotorcraft to Saturn's moon Titan. Lead rotor engineer Felipe Ruiz and principal investigator Zibi Turtle from Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory join us to discuss the engineering of flight on Titan with just two years to launch.
• U.S. space science in flux: Grant rules, rockets, and reorganization 10.06.2026 56m

  Jack Kiraly, The Planetary Society's director of government relations, joins Sarah Al-Ahmed to discuss proposed grant rule changes that could upend U.S. science funding, a major NASA reorganization, and the fallout from the destruction of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket.
• Space Policy Edition: A proposal to stifle American science 05.06.2026 52m

  Casey Dreier is joined by Liz Ginexi, a former Program Officer at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, to break down a 400-page proposed rule change from the U.S. Office of Management and Budget that could fundamentally reshape how the federal government manages scientific grants.
• Spacewoman with Eileen Collins 03.06.2026 55m

  Colonel Eileen Collins, the first woman to pilot and command a Space Shuttle, joins us to discuss “Spacewoman,” the new documentary telling the story of her extraordinary life and career.
• Los Angeles Astronomical Society celebrates 100 years of looking up 27.05.2026 1h 2m

  The Los Angeles Astronomical Society is one of the oldest and largest amateur astronomy clubs in the United States, and this year it’s turning one hundred. We were there at Griffith Observatory for the centennial celebration to find out what keeps a community of skywatchers going for a century.
• Twenty organic molecules found in an ancient Martian rock 20.05.2026 55m

  Amy Williams, astrobiologist and associate professor at the University of Florida, discusses a landmark experiment that revealed more than 20 organic molecules preserved in ancient Martian rock. We explore what this chemical discovery tells us about Mars' ancient habitability.
• Book Club Edition: Diane Ackerman and “The Planets: A Cosmic Pastoral” 15.05.2026 51m

  Celebrated author and poet Diane Ackerman joins us for a lively conversation about the new edition of her wonderful collection. Carl Sagan described it as spectacularly good poetry.
• Igniting Discovery: A showcase of NASA-funded research 13.05.2026 57m

  For the first time, the Planetary Society's annual Day of Action was followed by Igniting Discovery, a showcase of the NASA-funded science we're fighting to protect, held in the US Senate building.
• Day of Action 2026: Rejoining the fight to save NASA science 06.05.2026 59m

  The fight to save NASA science is back. Planetary Radio host Sarah Al-Ahmed takes you to Washington, D.C., for the 2026 Day of Action, where Planetary Society members, scientists, and advocates hit Capitol Hill to oppose a proposed 46% cut to NASA's science budget.
• Space Policy Edition: Why humans matter — The philosophy of Artemis II 01.05.2026 1h 18m

  Casey Dreier, chief of space policy at The Planetary Society, sits down with Rebecca Lowe, philosophy senior fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, to explore why human presence in space is so different from robotic missions, and why that difference matters.
• Yuri's Night 2026: Celebrating 65 years of human spaceflight 29.04.2026 59m

  At Yuri's Night 2026, held at Griffith Observatory the day after Artemis II splashed down, Sarah Al-Ahmed spoke with educators, engineers, astronauts, and space philosophers about 65 years of human spaceflight and what it means to see Earth from space.
• Project Hail Mary hits the big screen 22.04.2026 1h 1m

  “Project Hail Mary” has arrived on the big screen, and we're diving into the real science behind Andy Weir's latest blockbuster with senior communications adviser Mat Kaplan, award-winning Nature correspondent Alexandra Witze, Virginia Tech astrophysicist Nahum Arav, and Planetary Society chief scientist Bruce Betts.
• Book Club Edition: Founder and CEO Peter Beck on The Launch of Rocket Lab 17.04.2026 57m

  Sir Peter Beck adds to the story told about his hugely successful and innovative company in “The Launch of Rocket Lab,” a beautifully illustrated, monumental book.
• Triumph and turmoil: Artemis II and the renewed fight to save NASA science 15.04.2026 59m

  The Artemis II crew has returned home safely after a historic journey around the Moon. We celebrate some of the most extraordinary moments from the mission. Meanwhile, back on Earth, the new Presidential Budget Request proposes a 47% cut to NASA's science budget, threatening 84 missions.
• Artemis II launches to the Moon 08.04.2026 57m

  Four astronauts are on their way around the Moon for the first time in over 50 years. This week on Planetary Radio we bring you the sounds of launch day and the voices of the people who made it happen.
• Space Policy Edition: Return to Launch — Cape Canaveral's unlikely history 03.04.2026 1h 13m

  Casey Dreier, chief of space policy at The Planetary Society, sits down with Stephen C. Smith, author of Return to Launch and Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex communicator, to explore how a remote Florida peninsula became the heart of U.S. spaceflight.
• Artemis II’s AVATAR and a sungrazing comet 01.04.2026 1h

  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.
• The astronaut health experiments of Artemis II 25.03.2026 1h 3m

  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.