Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy And Science

Want to see wild colors on Mars? Look up! Planetary scientist Mark Lemmon studies planetary atmospheres at the Space Science Institute. He marvels at the images taken by Mastcam on the Curiosity rover of shimmering iridescent clouds high above the Martian surface. The Planetary Society’s Kate Howells looks back at the 1998 blockbuster movies that got a lot more people thinking about the near-Earth object threat. A few clouds won’t keep Bruce Betts from sharing his latest What’s Up look at the night sky. Discover more at https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/mark-lemmon-mars-clouds-and-dust See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Planetary Society has awarded more than 60 Shoemaker near-Earth object grants to astronomers around the world, enabling them to discover, track, and characterize thousands of asteroids. We’ll hear from two of these dedicated observers. The Society’s Rae Paoletta takes us to Venus where three new spacecraft will help answer big questions. Senior space policy adviser Casey Dreier helps us think about UFO claims. Chief scientist Bruce Betts offers a new What’s Up space trivia contest. Discover more at https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/shoemaker-neo-awardees-venus missions See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How did the universe begin? Why do galaxies look the way the do? Can we see the vanishingly dim light of undiscovered worlds in the Kuiper Belt? These are some of the questions that drive Simons Observatory director Brian Keating. He also thinks deeply about the existential challenges faced by young scientists and how the Nobel Prize for Physics should be reformed. We’ll spend a fascinating hour with Brian after we visit his lab with fellow physicists James Benford and Paul Davies. Planetary Society chief scientist Bruce Betts joins us for an up-front What’s Up segment. Discover more at https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/brian-keating-simons-observatory-cosmology-nobel See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

President Joe Biden's new budget proposal for NASA is very good, supporting nearly every major Planetary Society priority. It would fund science at record levels, maintain Artemis' 2024 lunar landing date, and make major investments in technology and education. Casey and Mat break down the details and discuss what's next for NASA as Congress takes up this request. They also explore the decision to fund two missions to Venus. Discover more here: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/0604-2021-spe-venus-missions-biden-budget-request See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Scott Bolton leads the Juno mission that has been orbiting and revealing Jupiter for five years. NASA has granted an extension that will keep the spacecraft exploring till 2025.  Scott shares some of the most exciting recent science, and closes with the surprising tale of his first encounter with planetary scientist and Planetary Society founder Carl Sagan. Planetary Society Chief Scientist Bruce Betts continues our Jovial theme and prepares us for an annular solar eclipse. Discover more at https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/scott-bolton-juno-update See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine will soon issue the Astro2020 Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey. It will rank four major proposals for exciting, expensive new space-based telescopes. Astrophysicist Grant Tremblay joins us to explain why all four competing instruments have been grouped as The New Great Observatories, hoping to repeat the marvelous success of a quartet of previous telescopes: Hubble, Spitzer, Chandra and Compton. Then we’ll join Bruce Betts on board the International Space Station for a space trivia contest about one of its commanders. Discover more at https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/grant-tremblay-new-great-observatories See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The tiny Mars Helicopter Ingenuity has flown into our hearts. Project manager MiMi Aung and her team may have made it look easy, but Aung explains why it was anything but. Bruce Betts has tips for viewing the upcoming total lunar eclipse. Planetary Radio t-shirts are back as prizes in the space trivia contest! And we’ve got space headlines from The Downlink, our weekly newsletter. Discover more at https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/mimi-aung-ingenuity-update See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 2021 Planetary Defense Conference brought together the leading scientists, policymakers and other experts who are working to protect our planet from near-Earth objects (NEOs). The Planetary Society welcomed six of these heroes to a special virtual gathering in late April. You’ll hear their progress reports on this week’s show. One is our own Bruce Betts! He’ll stick around for a NEO-packed edition of What’s Up.  Discover more at https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2021-pdc-public-event See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In a surprise move, NASA chose SpaceX's Starship as the sole winner of its 3 billion-dollar human lunar lander development contract. Within days, Blue Origin and Dynetics filed official protests, forcing NASA to delay the award. Casey and Mat discuss how this selection, if it stands, is a smart move for a space agency that is serious about a true "Moon-to-Mars" program. Should we stop thinking about SpaceX as a scrappy startup and instead treat it as the world's leading aerospace company? Discover more here: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/0507-2021-spe-bill-nelson-spacex-lunar-lander See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It is always such fun to welcome back Andy Weir. The author of The Martian and Artemis has just published his most entertaining and inventive novel yet. Project Hail Mary gives an unlikely protagonist the job of saving humanity. Andy also shares his thoughts about the Mars helicopter Ingenuity, his hopes for NASA, and his low opinion of “the goldilocks zone” for life. Someone will win the book in Bruce Betts’ space trivia contest. We also introduce new Planetary Society editor Rae Paoletta. She has written about the mysteries of lightning on Jupiter. Discover more at https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/andy-weir-project-hail-mary See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There is no Nobel prize for astronomy, so the Kyoto Prize for Astronomy and Astrophysics may be the highest international recognition an astronomer can receive. Princeton University professor of astronomy Jim Gunn is the most recent recipient. Jim recently joined Mat Kaplan for a deep conversation about the wonder and beauty of deep space, about the Sloan Digital Sky Survey that Jim co-created and led, and much more. Is there an asteroid with Mat Kaplan’s name on it? That question is at the heart of the new space trivia contest from Bruce Betts.  Discover more at https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/james-gunn-sdss See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We begin with a thrilling recap of the successful first flight of NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter on Mars. Then we meet two researchers who have come up with a fascinating explanation for the first interstellar object discovered as it passed through our solar system. Rock out with Planetary Society chief scientist Bruce Betts as we discover the ‘80s band that made a hit out of the first Space Shuttle flight. Discover more at https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/steven-desch-alan-jackson-oumuamua See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Physicist and space pioneer Gerard K. O’Neil gathered a community of followers as he led planning for vast, magnificent human settlements in space. Guests Dylan Taylor, Will Henry and Ryan Stuit have produced an inspiring, feature-length tribute to O’Neill that stars space luminaries including Jeff Bezos, Frank White, Lori Garver, Rick Tumlinson, and many others. Then Bruce Betts and Mat Kaplan are joined by a special listener guest on What’s Up. Hear and discover more at https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/high-frontier-film-dylan-taylor See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pilot Bob Crippen and Commander John Young became the first astronauts to fly a Space Shuttle into orbit on April 12, 1981. Crippen tells host Mat Kaplan about that mission and shares many more stories from his adventurous life. Mat was standing on the dry lake bed in the California desert when STS-1 returned to Earth.  Planetary Society senior space policy advisor Casey Dreier brings additional perspective to this anniversary, and it’s a space poetry festival when Bruce Betts arrives with this week’s What’s Up segment. There’s more to discover at https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/bob-crippen-40th-shuttle-anniversary See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bill Nelson, former Senator from Florida, congressional astronaut, and father of the Space Launch System, will likely be NASA's next administrator. Casey Dreier and Mat Kaplan also discuss The Planetary Society's global Day of Action, which saw hundreds of Society members meet with elected officials in Washington D.C., along with the news that the National Space Council will continue, and the 40th anniversary of the first Space Shuttle launch, with new budget data. Discover more here:  https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/0402-2021-spe-day-of-action-bill-nelson-nomination See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) team has just announced more than 2,200 new exoplanet candidates. Natalia Guerrero of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology manages these discoveries and still finds time to write plays, collaborate on musical performances and host radio shows that dig into the deeper meaning of our expanding universe. The Venusian phosphine debate continues! Space journalist Nancy Atkinson provides an update. Bruce Betts returns to expand our knowledge of the night sky and present a new space trivia contest in What’s Up. There’s more to discover at https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/natalia-guerrero-tess-2200-exoplanet-candidates See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Deputy project scientists Katie Stack Morgan and Ken Williford are living on Mars time and living for Mars. We get an update from them on the work of the Mars 2020 rover. Perseverance is already accomplishing terrific science after just 5 weeks on the Red Planet. Katie and Ken also tell us what’s ahead, including launch of Mars helicopter Ingenuity. Then it’s checkmate as Bruce Betts makes his next move across the night sky in What’s Up. There’s more to discover at https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/katie-morgan-ken-williford-perseverance-first-month See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hayabusa2 project manager Yuichi Tsuda and his team learned a lot from Hayabusa1, Japan’s troubled-though-successful mission that returned a sample from asteroid Itokawa. Now they are celebrating the recovery of a much larger sample from a different world: asteroid Ryugu. Dr. Tsuda joins Mat Kaplan for a fascinating, exclusive conversation about the mission’s 5-billion-kilometer journey and the great science to come. There’s more to discover at https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/yuichi-tsuda-hayabusa2 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Troy Hudson and a brilliant international team created a device that would hammer its way below the surface of Mars. Mars had other ideas. The Jet Propulsion Lab engineer and scientist returns to tell us the heroic tale of the InSight lander’s Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package, also known as the mole.  Stay with us for a tour of the current night sky and a new space trivia contest from Bruce Betts. There’s more to discover at https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/troy-hudson-insight-mole See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The SpaceX of today reuses rockets and launches people into space. But 15 years ago, the future of the company was in doubt as its Falcon 1 rocket repeatedly failed to reach orbit. Eric Berger, Senior Space Editor at Ars Technica, joins the show to discuss his new book, Liftoff, which chronicles these early, formative years of the company in which it nearly collapsed. Discover more here:  https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/0305-2021-spe-eric-berger See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.