DART smacked an asteroid! So what’s next in planetary defense?
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.
2 Nov 202256min
Meet the new Planetary Radio host! (and enjoy a beer with a cosmologist)
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.
26 Okt 202248min
Eyes on the Sky: Spacewatch and the Catalina Sky Survey
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.
19 Okt 20221h 2min
Innovate! NASA’s leading-edge fellows share their amazing projects
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.
12 Okt 20221h 1min
Space Policy Edition: The Geopolitics of a Successful SETI Detection
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.
7 Okt 20221h 2min
Grounded: The director of the SOFIA flying observatory looks back
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.
5 Okt 202244min
Bull’s-eye! DART impacts Dimorphos, and we meet space image artist and processor Judy Schmidt
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.
28 Sep 20221h 8min
Countdown to DART: Will We Move an Asteroid?
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.
21 Sep 202252min
