Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy And Science

While we wait for the result of the upcoming U.S. midterm elections, enjoy this special bonus episode of Space Policy Edition featuring The Planetary Society's Chief Advocate and CEO answering dozens of space policy questions submitted by our members. These twice-annual policy briefings are moderated by Mat Kaplan, and are an exclusive benefit for Planetary Society members. Want to submit questions next time? Join us at planetary.org/join Our regular Space Policy Edition episode will be published next Friday, November 11, after the U.S. midterm elections.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The success of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test was just one more step toward protecting our world from wayward asteroids and comets. NASA Planetary Defense Officer Lindley Johnson, and Kelly Fast, the agency’s near-Earth object observation program manager, return to our show for a discussion of where we go from here. Sarah Al-Ahmed will tell us about an article that locates the water on and under Mars, while Bruce Betts gets us ready to enjoy the upcoming total lunar eclipse. There’s more to discover at https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2022-johnson-and-fast-pdcoSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Join host Mat Kaplan as he proudly introduces the person who will take on the show he created 20 years ago. Then we’ll join astrophysicist Brian Keating at a joyful gathering of cosmologists who hope to reveal secrets of the Universe through the new Simons Observatory. You might win Brian’s new book about thinking like a Nobel Prize winner in the What’s Up space trivia contest. There’s more to discover at https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2022-introducing-new-hostSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The University of Arizona in Tucson hosts two of the most successful asteroid searches on our planet. Together, they have discovered, tracked, and characterized tens of thousands of objects, many of which could pose a threat to Earth. Listen to back-to-back, in-person conversations with the leaders of both efforts. Then we’ll jump to the ever-watchful Bruce Betts for this week’s installment of What’s Up. There’s more to discover at https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2022-spacewatch-and-catalina-sky-surveySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mat Kaplan once again hosted the live webcast from the annual NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts or NIAC symposium. He presents a speed dating sample of highlights. How about a Mars habitat grown from mushrooms? A lunar farside radio telescope built by robots? Or a kilometer-long space station launched by a single rocket? We’ll also join Planetary Society chief scientist Bruce Betts for another What’s Up scan of the night sky and more. There’s more to discover at https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2022-2022-niac-projectsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What would nation-states do in response to a signal from an alien intelligence? Would they compete for status and control of the message, or hope to gain some technological advantage from its contents? Or would the world shrug its shoulders and move on? Professor Jason Wright, Director of the Penn State Extraterrestrial Intelligence Center, joins the show to discuss a new paper proposing a more nuanced and positive view of world behavior given a potential SETI detection, and how the most likely message we receive may be more ambiguous than we imagine. Discover more here: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/geopolitical-seti-jason-wrightSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) made its last flight on Sept. 30, 2022. Astronomer Margaret Meixner was onboard as the huge telescope built into a 747 aircraft ended its observations of the universe. Margaret joined us earlier that day to celebrate the great successes of this unique instrument and its team. You may win a signed CD copy of “The Moons Symphony” in the new What’s Up space trivia contest! There’s more to discover at https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2022-sofia-margaret-meixnerSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

They did it! The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft scored a direct hit on Dimorphos. We’ve got the thrilling last moments before impact, followed by an exclusive, triumphant conversation with DART Coordination Lead Nancy Chabot. Then we’ll go from spectacular success to spectacular beauty as we meet extraordinary space image processor and artist Judy Schmidt. Bruce Betts salutes the DART mission with this week’s space trivia contest. There’s more to discover at https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2022-chabot-dart-impact-report-and-judy-schmidtSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We are less than a week from the DART spacecraft’s impact on asteroid moonlet Dimorphos as this episode is published. Mission Coordination Lead Nancy Chabot gives us a status update and a preview of what to expect during the September 26 encounter. Watching the smackdown from a few kilometers away will be LICIACube. Simone Pirrotta, program manager for the Italian Space Agency’s little cubesat, tells us about his high hopes. We’ll also visit NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab to hear the exciting announcement of organics discovered and collected by the Perseverance rover on Mars. All this and a new What’s Up space trivia contest. There’s more to discover at https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2022-dart-impact-preview-nancy-chabotSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More than 100,000 came to the Kennedy Space Center hoping to see Artemis 1 head for the Moon on August 29. Among them were leaders of the European Space Agency (ESA), the German Aerospace Center (DLR), and the Italian Space Agency (ASI). They sat down with Mat Kaplan for conversations about the international collaboration behind the Artemis program, along with some of the other brilliant successes they have achieved. We also celebrate the 60th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s speech that set the United States on course for the Moon. There’s a JWST T-shirt waiting for the winner of the new What’s Up space trivia contest. And there’s more to discover at https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2022-esa-dlr-asi-leadersSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Come with us to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for our special coverage of the first attempt to launch the giant Space Launch System rocket toward the Moon. You’ll hear astronaut Thomas Pesquet, “Everyday Astronaut” Tim Dodd, NASA Associate Administrator Thomas Zurbuchen, and much more. Then take your best shot at winning the Artemis 1 prize package in this week’s space trivia contest. There’s more to discover at https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2022-artemis-1-launch-special-coverageSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As we wait for the launch of Artemis 1, we explore the Artemis Accords: a shared set of principles for exploring space, signed now by more than twenty nations. The accords outline a set of peaceful behaviors and shared values, including the open sharing of scientific data, safe disposal of orbital debris, commitments to mutual aid, and practices for using space resources and preservation. Mike Gold, former Associate Administrator of Space Policy and Partnerships at NASA, helped draft these accords and joins the show to share why they're important, how they came together, and the immense practical benefit of having global norms in space. Casey and Mat also discuss the context and meaning of the Artemis 1 mission following their visit to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Discover more here: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/artemis-accords-mike-goldSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Join us at the Jet Propulsion Lab for the celebration of the two Voyager spacecrafts’ 45-year journey across the solar system and beyond. Stick around for a stimulating conversation with Ann Druyan, creative director for the Golden Record carried by the probes. The Voyager theme continues in this week’s What’s Up space trivia contest. There’s more to discover at https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2022-voyager-45th-anniversary-ann-druyanSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We now know the rough outline of how NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) expect to get the samples collected by Perseverance off Mars and into labs on Earth. Mars Sample Return Program Manager Richard Cook of JPL will take us through the intricate and audacious steps required. The plan now includes two Mars helicopters! Trickster Bruce Betts, chief scientist of The Planetary Society, provides the surprising answer for his latest space trivia question. Apollo 11 was not the first liftoff from another world! There’s more to discover at https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2022-richard-cook-mars-sample-returnSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Astronomer Jane Greaves and her worldwide team have had quite a ride. It has been two years since the Cardiff University professor announced evidence of phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus. Many scientists were and still are skeptical, but Jane is back with more data, including some that she shares with us first. She and Mat talk about what this could mean. Phosphine-belching Venusian penguins are very unlikely, but we want your artists’ concepts of them! That’s in addition to yet another space trivia contest from Bruce Betts. There’s more to discover at https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2022-jane-greaves-more-venus-phosphineSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Scientists have used data collected by an exquisitely sensitive instrument on the European Space Agency’s Rosetta probe to find a stunning collection of complex organic molecules at the comet known as Chury. The findings are an important step toward understanding the origin of our solar system and life on Earth. Bruce Betts will continue the cometary commentary with this week’s Random Space Fact.  There’s more to discover at https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2022-hanni-altwegg-wampfler-churySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As NASA’s deputy administrator, Lori Garver fought to cancel the Constellation program and shift NASA to use commercial partnerships in spaceflight. She failed at the first but succeeded at the second. She joins the show to discuss the lessons she learned from her time at NASA, key strategies for bringing change to a reticent bureaucracy, and the ways in which NASA should serve the nation and the public. Discover more here: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/lori-garver-bringing-change-to-nasaSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

NASA Jet Propulsion Lab scientists Armin Kleinboehl and Marek Slipski lead a new project that is recruiting thousands of citizen explorers. They explain to host Mat Kaplan how this massive effort may help us finally understand how the once plentiful Martian surface water disappeared. Then we look back to the dawn of science as Bruce Betts closes out our latest What’s Up space trivia contest. And there’s a meteor shower around the corner! There’s more to discover at https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2022-cloudspotting-on-marsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

She is only the tenth director of JPL, and the first woman to hold the position. It’s a homecoming for Laurie Leshin who got her PhD at Caltech, the operator of JPL on behalf of NASA. Laurie talks about her priorities for the lab, and how excited she is about the missions already underway and those to come. Planetary Society chief advocate Casey Dreier analyzes Russia’s announcement that it will withdraw from the International Space Station. Casey also shares his love of “Contact.” The classic science fiction film based on Carl Sagan’s novel has just celebrated its 25th anniversary. Bruce Betts will join us for another tour of the night sky and more in What’s Up. There’s more to discover at https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2022-jpl-director-laurie-leshinSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Host Mat Kaplan leads with a special announcement. Then we spend a fascinating hour with the former director of NASA’s Planetary Science division and retired chief scientist Jim Green, who reports on a recent workshop that explored the potential of radio telescopes on the Moon’s farside. He also shares anecdotes from his long history of space science and NASA service. There’s more to discover at https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2022-james-green-lunar-science See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.