Planetary Radio: Space Policy Edition

No one person knows how to build a spaceship. What happens to NASA's collective knowledge when thousands of employees lose their jobs?

The space sector is data-rich but insight-poor. Jack Kuhr of Payload talks about how he turns raw numbers into real narratives.

Can classical liberalism provide fresh insights to guide humanity's activities in space? Philosopher Rebecca Lowe explains how it can.

Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck outlines a $4B fixed-price plan for Mars Sample Return — and reveals new Venus mission details — before VP Richard French explains how a single, integrated team cuts costs and ensures success.

Marcia Smith, founder of Space Policy Online, joins the show to discuss the motivations and risks of pursuing change at NASA - and how much change can ultimately happen with Congress holding the purse strings.

We revisit a classic book on the limits of presidential power in setting the nation's space agenda and explore how the increasingly powerful executive branch might be rewriting those expectations.

Norm Augustine, the distinguished aerospace industry veteran behind numerous influential studies, joins the show to discuss NASA at a Crossroads, the new report that raises alarm bells for NASA's workforce, infrastructure, and technology capabilities.

Space expert Lori Garver joins the show to explore Kamala Harris' space policy priorities, the major issues facing NASA in the next four years, and Garver's thoughts on the evolution of Elon Musk and NASA's increasing reliance on the commercial space industry.

Dr. Greg Autry, who served on Trump's NASA transition team in 2016 and was nominated for the position of NASA CFO in 2020, joins the show to discuss the space policy issues facing a potential second Trump administration in 2025.

Policy expert G. Ryan Faith argues for importance of communal engagement with our values and goals in space exploration. While easy answers may elude us, a careful and considered approach to this effort can help avoid common pitfalls and dead ends and ensure that future generations continue to explore space.

Every major NASA center built after the agency's inception is located in the American South. Why? Dr. Brian Odom, NASA's chief historian, joins the show to discuss the cultural, political, and historical implications of NASA's expansion into the South.

Holy texts and salvation ideology. Saints and martyrs. True believers and apostates. This isn't a religion — this is human spaceflight, argues Roger Launius, the former Chief Historian of NASA.

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.

Former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin discusses his claim that there is a tension between the so-called Real reasons that motivate spaceflight and the prosaic, Acceptable reasons used to justify space exploration within the public sphere.

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.

Space policy expert Laura Delgado López joins the show to break down the new paper, “Clearing the Fog: The Grey Zones of Space Governance” by Jessica West and Jordan Miller.

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.

Though the Space Shuttle program lasted 30 years and built the ISS, it fell short of NASA's goals for cost, reusability, and reliability. Can a program be both a worldly success and a policy failure? In this Space Policy Edition, we dissect a classic space policy paper and debate its relevance today.

NASA's Mars Sample Return mission is both a top priority and seriously troubled. Independent review board chair Orlando Figueroa joins us to talk about the challenges and what must be done.

Scott Pace, the prior executive secretary of the National Space Council, discusses why Artemis is of strategic value to U.S. national interests — and why the Moon is unique as a destination to drive global space exploration.

We check in on the congressional budget process for NASA, Mars Sample Return's spiraling cost growth, and the impending end of the regulatory holiday for human commercial space launch companies.

Would meeting an extraterrestrial civilization be good or bad for humanity? Astronomer Dr. Jacob Haqq Misra argues that knowing the outcome in advance is fundamentally impossible.

Eric Roesch, an environmental policy expert, joins Planetary Radio to discuss SpaceX's Starship, environmental regulations' role in commercial space travel, and responsible space exploration.

Jean Toal Eisen, former senior staff on the Senate Appropriations Committee, joins the show to reveal the decision-making process, priorities, and motivations of those who control the U.S. space program's funding.

Dr. Erika Nesvold, astrophysicist and author of the new book Off-Earth: Ethical Questions and Quandaries for Living in Outer Space explores the ethical challenges facing our species as it dips its toe into living beyond our home planet.

Dr. Matt Daniels of the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy joins the show to discuss the White House's new cislunar space strategy, its ambitions, and implications for the future of lunar exploration and development.

Jet Propulsion Laboratory Director Laurie Leshin wants to give every brain in the country the opportunity to work in space exploration.

What is NASA's return on investment? NASA chief economist Alex MacDonald and University of Illinois Chicago professor Joshua Drucker provide revealing answers from a new economic impact report.

Bethany Johns of the American Astronomical Society talks with Planetary Society Chief Advocate Casey Dreier about how changes in Washington after the midterm elections may affect support for science.

A special Space Policy Edition featuring a recent policy and advocacy webcast that gave Planetary Society members the opportunity to query Chief Advocate Casey Dreier and Society CEO Bill Nye.

How will nations react if (when?) humanity detects the presence of an alien intelligence or civilization? That's the topic Planetary Society Chief Advocate Casey Dreier takes up with his guest, astrophysicist Jason Wright.

Former NASA Associate Administrator Mike Gold shepherded the Artemis Accords, a set of bilateral agreements for collaboration in human space exploration. Casey Dreier spoke with him in Florida as we awaited the launch of Artemis 1.

Former NASA deputy administrator Lori Garver returns for a deep conversation with Casey Dreier about her fight to turn the agency toward commercial partnerships and away from the expensive Constellation program.

Space exploration historian Michael Neufeld traces the fascinating history of one of NASA's most successful programs of planetary exploration.

Professor Bethany Ehlmann served on the steering committee for the new planetary science and astrobiology decadal survey that will steer future exploration of the solar system.

International space policy and sustainability expert Mariel Borowitz explores with Casey Dreier how the war in Ukraine reaches beyond Earth in ways that are chilling and surprising.

A healthy $26 billion has been proposed for NASA next year, but there are at least a couple of troubling factors we'll discuss as Congress begins its review.

Casey talks with experts about the 50th anniversary of the Pioneer 10 launch toward Jupiter and beyond, and why most outer planets missions since then have been so costly.

Science historian Robert Smith describes how NASA's new flagship space observatory came to be.

Planetary Society chief of D.C. operations Brendan Curry returns for a look ahead at what to expect in 2022.

Veteran astronomer Heidi Hammel discusses how the new astrophysics decadal survey lays the groundwork for decades of exciting science.

The head of NASA's planetary defense program discusses how the DART mission represents a new era for defending our planet from dangerous asteroids.

Brendan Curry, The Planetary Society's chief of Washington operations, helps us untangle the fast-changing and complex machinations underway in the US capitol. What does it mean for NASA?

Space outreach expert and social scientist Linda Billings talks with host Casey Dreier about the language space advocates use to share their message.

NASA's Bhavya Lal returns to explain the challenges and big advantages of nuclear propulsion in space.

The Pentagon has released its assessment of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena. Casey Dreier and science journalist Sarah Scoles talk about what's behind the renewed interest in UFOs and Sarah's book, They Are Already Here.

The White House's proposed 2022 NASA budget is almost entirely great news, as is the announcement that two complementary orbiters will explore Venus.

NASA chose SpaceX's Starship as the sole winner of its human lunar lander development contract in a move that may also take us closer to Mars.

It looks like former senator Bill Nelson will be NASA’s next administrator. Casey Dreier and Mat Kaplan talk about his nomination and other developments in Washington D.C., including The Planetary Society’s very successful Day of Action.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX nearly failed 15 years ago as it struggled to launch its first rocket. Eric Berger has written about this challenging early era and how it helped create today’s successful, innovative company.

Matt Hourihan of the American Association for the Advancement of Science joins Casey Dreier for a deep dive into the U.S. government’s funding of science research and development.