Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy And Science

You haven’t seen the best pictures from the Apollo era and other great space achievements till you’ve seen them in 3D.  Queen guitarist and astrophysicist Brian May is also mad about stereoscopic imagery.  He worked with this week’s guest, Astronomy Magazine Editor-in-Chief David Eicher, to create this beautiful new book that contains 150 startling 3D images, along with clear 3D glasses. A copy of Moon Mission 3D will go to the winner of the new What’s Up space trivia contest.  Also, Planetary Society Digital Editor Jason Davis introduces SpaceIL’s lunar lander, heading for the moon in 2019. Learn more at:  http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/planetary-radio/show/2018/1114-2018-eicher-moon-mission-3d.html Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

They may be the most important questions in all of science: Where do we come from?  Are we alone? Researchers Ralph Pudritz and Maikel Rheinstadter are working on these puzzles with their new Planetary Simulator, possibly edging toward the natural creation of self-replicating molecules. Bruce Betts’ new book, Astronomy for Kids, is just one of the prizes offered in this week’s What’s Up space trivia contest. Learn more at: http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/planetary-radio/show/2018/1107-2018-pudritz-rheinstadter-origins.htmlLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Kepler mission has ended.  Listen to highlights of the October 30th media briefing that included the father of the fantastically successful planet finder, William Borucki.  Then catch the thoughts of Planetary Society editors and commentators Jason Davis and Emily Lakdawalla.  Director of Space Policy Casey Dreier explores what’s at stake in the US November 6th midterm election.  And we’ll give away another copy of Bruce Betts’ Astronomy for Kids in a spooky edition of What’s Up.  Learn more at: http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/planetary-radio/show/2018/1031-2018-kepler-celebration.html Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

LightSail 2 is not the only solar sail in the universe. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and the Jet Propulsion Lab are preparing to send NEA Scout on a long, light-propelled journey to a near Earth asteroid.  Principal Investigator Les Johnson shares his excitement about this interplanetary cubesat. Emily Lakdawalla reports in from southern France following the successful start of the BepiColombo mission to Mercury.  Don’t know a primorial from a primordial? No worries.  Bruce Betts will throw both into the soup as he ladles out a new space trivia contest. Learn more at: http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/planetary-radio/show/2018/1024-2018-les-johnson-nea-scout.html Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our most frequent guest returns with exciting, just-published research enabled by the 20-year mission’s enormous success. Linda Spilker has served as Cassini Project Scientist for 8 years, and was Deputy Project Scientist for the previous 13.  You’ll also get the chance to win Bruce Betts’ great new intro to  astronomy book in this week’s space trivia contest. Learn more at: http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/planetary-radio/show/2018/1017-2018-linda-spilker-cassini-science.htmlLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Happy Astronomy Day, October 13, 2018!  We salute humankind’s long history of stargazing by checking in on what will be our planet’s largest telescope. Patrick McCarthy is an astronomer and a leader of the Giant Magellan Telescope project. He returns with a report on the instrument’s status, followed by a fascinating tour of the GMT facility. The MASCOT spacecraft has successfully completed its brief mission at asteroid Ryugu. Emily Lakdawalla provides an overview. And the space trivia contest has returned to What’s Up. See pics of our GMT visit and learn much more at: http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/planetary-radio/show/2018/1010-2018-patrick-mccarthy-gmt.htmlLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Happy 60th, NASA. In celebration of the space agency’s birthday, we do the audio equivalent of pulling out NASA’s baby book and explore its origin story. Though legislation creating the space agency developed in the wake of Sputnik, it was built upon a rapidly changing relationship of the government to fundamental research and development in the decade before. We follow the threads of what makes NASA NASA, as well as how, in its early years, NASA looked quite different than the agency we know today.  We also discuss the current bill that partially funds the U.S. government and provides temporary funding for NASA and other agencies through December of 2018. More resources to explore this month’s topics are http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/planetary-radio/show/2018/space-policy-edition-30.htmlLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Dean of space policy, John Logsdon, returns with stories and a new book of original documents that shaped the US space program from the birth of NASA to SpaceX.  Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye reports in from this year’s International Astronautical Congress in German, while Senior Editor Emily Lakdawalla wraps up a working tour of New Zealand.  Then join Bruce and Mat for this week’s What’s Up.  Learn and hear more at: http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/planetary-radio/show/2018/1003-2018-john-logsdon-outer-space-exploration-book.html Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A mostly SpaceX episode as the ambitious company provides updated details regarding its huge new rocket and introduces its first astronauts. Mat Kaplan shares more from the company’s headquarters, while Planetary Society Digital Editor explains and explores the BFR.  Jason also celebrates the successful landing of two asteroid “rovers” from Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft.  And we’ll tell you What’s Up in the night sky as we offer another space trivia contest.  Learn and hear more at: http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/planetary-radio/show/2018/0926-2018-jason-davis-spacex.htmlLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Elsa Montagnon is Spacecraft Operations Manager for the European/Japanese mission leaving for our solar system’s innermost planet very soon. She joins us to talk about the long journey ahead. Elsa also has the cover article in the brand new edition of The Planetary Report, the Planetary Society’s once exclusive magazine that is now available to everyone online, according to its editor, Emily Lakdawalla.  Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye is happy for a very happy Elon Musk. The leader of SpaceX just introduced his paying customer for a trip around the moon in 2023. All this, and What’s Up! Learn and hear more at: http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/planetary-radio/show/2018/0919-2018-elsa-montagnon-bepicolombo.html Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The dust is settling on the Red Planet.  Is the remaining Mars Exploration Rover about to rise and shine after three months of slumber?  MER Project Manager John Callas returns with a realistic yet hopeful assessment.  He also tells us what Opportunity will be asked to do after we hear from her.  Planetary Society Senior Editor Emily Lakdawalla returns with a preview of China’s next two missions to the Moon, one of which will make the first-ever farside landing. How close is the nearest black hole?  We’ll get the answer as Bruce and Mat explore the night sky in this week’s What’s Up.  Learn and hear more at: http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/planetary-radio/show/2018/0912-2018-john-callas-opportunity.html Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We talk with planetary scientist and Lunar and Planetary Institute Director Louise Prockter, who co-led creation of a new report evaluating the performance of NASA's planetary science division. This comes five years after the release of the influential decadal survey. Given the massive budget cuts over the past few years, how did NASA do? Where do these reports come from and who puts them together? Why are they important? All will be answered in this month’s SPE!  We also look into the report-within-a-report on the status of the robotic Mars Exploration Program, and find some recommendations that appear to have been inspired by a 2017 Planetary Society report. More resources to explore this month’s topics are http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/planetary-radio/show/2018/space-policy-edition-29.htmlLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mat Kaplan’s Huntsville, Alabama trip wraps up with a tour of the historic and history-making Marshall Space Flight Center. Join him at the control center for research underway on the International Space Station, under a tent where a critical component of the Space Launch System rocket is getting finishing touches, in a conversation about the Fermi spacecraft’s search for the universe’s biggest explosions, and with the Center’s Associate Director for Technical efforts. Then wrap up with Bruce Betts and the anniversaries of one fictional and one factual explorer of deep space. Learn and hear more at: http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/planetary-radio/show/2018/0905-2018-marshall-center.htmlLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Host Mat Kaplan begins a two-episode visit to Huntsville and the Marshall Space Flight Center, recorded this week at the US Space and Rocket Center with astronaut Don Thomas, 94-year-old Apollo engineer Alex McCool, and Alabama Senator Doug Jones.  Bruce Betts sets us on a search for the nearest black hole in this week’s What’s Up space trivia contest. Learn and hear more at: http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/planetary-radio/show/2018/0829-2018-huntsville-doug-jones.htmlLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pluto passed in front of a star on the evening of August 14. Mat Kaplan joined pro and amateur astronomers on a mountain to observe this rare event. It may reveal more about the dwarf planet’s tenuous atmosphere and other properties. Everyone hopes that Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity will phone home when the waning worldwide Martian dust storm allows the robot to charge its batteries. Digital Editor Jason Davis tells us about the online mistake that had some fans believing it had already happened. And it will be “raining fire in the sky” when Bruce Betts drops another What’s Up segment. Learn more here: http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/planetary-radio/show/2018/0822-2018-franck-marchis-pluto-occultation.htmlLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We have so much to learn about Venus, says JPL scientist Sue Smrekar.  What we learn will help us understand our own world and Mars.  Sue joins us this week to make a great case for a new Venus orbiter. The Parker Solar Probe has begun its exciting journey to “touch the Sun.” Our MaryLiz Bender talks with mission leaders before and after the launch. Bruce Betts and Mat Kaplan have two great space trivia contests to wrap up right after they take us on another What’s Up tour of the solar system and back through the history of space exploration.  Learn more at:   http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/planetary-radio/show/2018/0815-2018-sue-smrekar-venus-parker-solar-probe-launch.htmlLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It has been 20 years since we learned the expansion of the universe is accelerating due to the mysterious force called dark energy. Saul Perlmutter shared the Nobel Prize in Physics because of his contributions. Now he shares his thoughts with us.  Also at this year’s COSPAR Assembly in Pasadena was the Director General of China’s National Space Science Center, Wang Chi.  Have you played with Eyes on the Solar System?  JPL’s Kevin Hussey conceived of the NASA Eyes app that will take you across the solar system and beyond.  And you’ll hear Planetary Society co-founder Carl Sagan’s message to the Martians in our future.  That’s right after this week’s What’s Up.  Learn more at:   http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/planetary-radio/show/2018/0808-2018-saul-permutter-wang-chi-nssc.htmlLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Senate just held a hearing on NASA's efforts to send humans to...Mars? A week later, the same committee advanced legislation to extend the life of the International Space Station to 2030, six years beyond the current end-date and two years beyond the current hardware safety ratings. Does that extension undermine efforts to get to Mars? What about the Moon? Casey and Jason also introduce The Planetary Society's new principles for human spaceflight, which provide a framework by which the organization will evaluate plans for human exploration.  More resources to explore this month’s topics are http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/planetary-radio/show/2018/space-policy-edition-28.htmlLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our world was rocked by last week’s announcement of good radar evidence for a liquid water “lake” under the Red Planet’s south pole.   Senior Editor Emily Lakdawalla introduces us to the story that is then taken up by two of host Mat Kaplan’s favorite Martians.  The Goddard Space Flight Center’s James Garvin headed NASA’s Mars exploration program, while NASA Ames astrobiologist Chris McKay co-founded the Mars Underground more than 35 years ago. Look up!  Mars is still close by, and the Perseid meteor shower is around the corner. Bruce Betts gives us the What’s Up lowdown. Learn more at:   http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/planetary-radio/show/2018/0801-2018-garvin-mckay-mars-lake.htmlLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Japan’s Hayabusa2 is just 6 kilometers from asteroid Ryugu as it prepares to snatch samples of the space rock for return to Earth.  ISAS/JAXA Director General and former Hayabusa Mission Project Manager Hitoshi Kuninaka joins us for a conversation about the spacecraft and what’s ahead.  Then we hear from Hansjörg Dittus of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) about the German/French lander called MASCOT that was carried to Ryugu by Hayabusa2. Emily Lakdawalla is the new editor of the Planetary Society’s distinguished magazine, The Planetary Report.  Bruce Betts explains how to get the most out of a lunar eclipse and the closest Mars has come to Earth for many years.  We also give you an extra week to enter the space trivia contest! Learn more at:   http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/planetary-radio/show/2018/0725-2018-kuninaka-dittus-hayabusa2.htmlLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informat