Since 2002, Planetary Radio has visited with a scientist, engineer, project manager, advocate, or writer who provides a unique perspective on the quest for knowledge about our Solar System and beyond. The full show archive is available for free.

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Space Policy Edition: The power of the lunar sublime

Should policymakers spend more time looking - really looking - at the Moon? Chris Cokinos thinks so. He’s the author of a new book, Still As Bright, which explores the evolving role of the Moon in our culture, our history, and our dreams of spaceflight.

Europa Clipper’s message in a bottle

Bob Pappalardo, Europa Clipper's project scientist, visits The Planetary Society headquarters in Pasadena, CA, to share the story of the mission's vault plate, humanity's next collection of messages to another world.

Eclipse-O-Rama

This week on Planetary Radio we take a trip to The Planetary Society’s Eclipse-O-Rama festival in Fredericksburg, Texas, where hundreds gathered to witness the April 8 total solar eclipse.

Tabletops and telescopes: NASA’s RPG and the hunt for habitable worlds

We explore NASA's first tabletop role-playing game with senior multimedia specialist Christina Mitchell and a new way to find water worlds with Amaury Triaud from the University of Birmingham.

Radiolab helps name a quasi-moon of Venus

This week on Planetary Radio, Latif Nasser, co-host of Radiolab shares the story behind the naming of Zoozve, a quasi-moon of Venus.

Syzygy science: Discoveries made during total solar eclipses

Planetary Radio marks its last show before the Apr. 8 total solar eclipse with a look back at discoveries made during totality.

Eclipse Tips: A guide to safe observing and astrophotography

Ron Benner, the President of the American Optometric Association, and astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy give helpful tips for safely observing the upcoming total solar eclipse in North America.

The asteroid hunter

Dante Lauretta, the principal investigator for NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission, joins Planetary Radio to share stories from his new book, The Asteroid Hunter.

Tales of totality: The adventures of an eclipse chaser

Jim Bell, a professor from the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University and former president of The Planetary Society's Board of Directors, shares captivating tales from his global eclipse-chasing journeys.

Geothermal activity on the icy dwarf planets Eris and Makemake

A team co-led by the Southwest Research Institute has made a groundbreaking discovery, revealing evidence of hydrothermal or metamorphic activity on the icy dwarf planets Eris and Makemake in the Kuiper Belt. The lead author of this research, Chris Glein, joins Planetary Radio to explain.

Space Policy Edition: The ahistorical era of commercial lunar exploration

Science historian Dr. Matt Shindell joins the show to discuss the unique era of commercial lunar exploration, and how planetary exploration has evolved and can continue to evolve on and around the Moon.

The legacy of Red Rover Goes to Mars

Twenty years after a pioneering collaboration between The Planetary Society, NASA, and LEGO, Planetary Radio reflects on the Red Rover Goes to Mars program and the lives it impacted.

OSIRIS-REx becomes APEX

Scott Guzewich, deputy project scientist for NASA’s OSIRIS-APEX mission, joins Planetary Radio to discuss the next steps for the mission as we count down to asteroid Apophis’ flyby of Earth in 2029.

Exploring solar eclipses through time

Ed Krupp, the director of Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, shares insights from the fascinating field of archaeoastronomy.

The 20th landing anniversary of Spirit and Opportunity

Matt Golombek, project scientist for the Mars Exploration Rover Project, joins Planetary Radio to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the landing of the Spirit and Opportunity rovers on Mars.

What’s hidden inside planets?

Sabine Stanley, author of the new book "What's Hidden Inside Planets?", discusses some of the amazing things that lie under the surfaces of the worlds in our Solar System.

JWST finds a new lead in the search for life on a mysterious exoplanet

Knicole Colón, the deputy project scientist for exoplanet science for JWST, joins Planetary Radio to discuss the detection of methane and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of K2-18 b.

Space Policy Edition: India’s growing space ambitions

UK-based space writer Gurbir Singh, author of the book The Indian Space Programme: India’s Incredible Journey from the Third World towards the First, joins the show to help us understand India’s growing ambitions and capabilities in space.

Revisiting the discovery of phosphorus on Enceladus

Chris Glein, a lead scientist at the Southwest Research Institute, joins Planetary Radio to talk about the discovery of phosphorus in the oceans of Saturn’s moon Enceladus and the implications for the search for life.

Looking back on 2023

Members of The Planetary Society staff revisit some of 2023's most exhilarating moments and groundbreaking discoveries in space this week on Planetary Radio.

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