NASA's Europa Clipper mission launched on Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, embarking on a journey to explore Jupiter's icy moon, Europa. This week, Planetary Radio welcomes Bob Pappalardo, the mission's project scientist, who recounts the team's dramatic encounter with Hurricane Milton before their triumphant launch. Plus, get a sneak peek at The Planetary Society's upcoming collaboration with StarTalk as Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist and director of the Hayden Planetarium, visits The Planetary Society's headquarters. As always, Bruce Betts wraps up with What's Up, featuring a beautiful member-submitted poem and an intriguing random space fact.

Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2024-europa-clipper-blasts-off

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This week, Planetary Radio offers advice for students pursuing higher education in space-related fields. Elizabeth Koenck, a Zed Factor Fellow, shares how her internship at The Planetary Society has helped her pursue a future in space policy. Sara Miller, the organizer of AbGradCon and a Ph.D. candidate at Cornell, discusses how to best leverage conferences and build community. Then, Briley Lewis, a recent Ph.D. graduate at UCLA and a correspondent at STARtorialist, will teach you how to survive grad school. Stick around for What's Up with Bruce Betts, our chief scientist, as he shares more about The Planetary Society's new book series for kids.

Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2024-space-students-guide

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Jupiter's moon Europa is one of the most promising targets in the search for life. The Planetary Society and space advocates around the world fought to make Europa Clipper a reality. This week, we learn more about the tumultuous history of the mission with Casey Dreier, our chief of space policy. Mat Kaplan, senior communications adviser, gives an update on the successful launch of the European Space Agency's Hera mission and the delayed launch of Europa Clipper due to Hurricane Milton. Then, Bruce Betts, chief scientist at The Planetary Society, discusses two opportunities to view comets in the October sky in What's Up.

Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2024-clippers-champions

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Lori Garver, former NASA Deputy Administrator, joins the show to discuss the potential space policy priorities of a Harris Administration. We explore Harris’ interests in her role as head of the National Space Council, the major issues facing NASA, and Garver’s thoughts on the evolution of Elon Musk, whom she championed during her tenure at NASA in an effort to kickstart the commercial space industry.

Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/harris-admin-space-policy-preview

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We look forward to the Oct. 7 launch of the European Space Agency's Hera spacecraft with Michael Küppers, project scientist for the mission. Then Ambre Trujillo, our digital community manager at The Planetary Society, lets you know how to celebrate Europa Clipper by joining NASA's Runway to Jupiter style challenge. We'll close out with Bruce Betts, our chief scientist, and a discussion of the potential future meteor shower caused by the DART impact in What's Up.

Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2024-hera-launch

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We return to the 2024 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Symposium for part two of our coverage. Astronaut and NIAC external council member Mae Jemison honors Lou Friedman, the co-founder of The Planetary Society, for his contributions to the space community and the NIAC program. Then Kenneth Carpenter from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and his colleagues pitch their plan for an Artemis-enabled Stellar Imager. Steven Benner from the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution and his team tell us about their plan for an add-on to large-scale water mining operations on Mars to screen for introduced and alien life. We close out with Bruce Betts, chief scientist of The Planetary Society, in What's Up, as we celebrate LightSail 2 being announced as one of the winners of this year's Gizmodo Science Fair.

Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2024-niac-part-2

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Join us on a journey to the 2024 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Symposium. We'll hear from the teams behind two NIAC projects that could help us study distant planets and potentially reach them ourselves. Marshall Eubanks from Space Initiatives, Inc. and his colleagues will introduce us to their concept for a swarm of laser sailing pico spacecraft that could travel interstellar distances. Then Ryan Sprenger from Fauna Bio Inc. joins us to discuss how hibernation could help humans reach other worlds. Then, our chief scientist, Bruce Betts, joins us for What's Up and a new random space fact.

Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2024-niac-part-1

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We are near solar maximum, a time in the solar cycle when our Sun is most active. That means more sun spots, coronal mass ejections, and auroras on worlds across our solar system. This week, Vince Ledvina, also known as the Aurora Guy, joins Planetary Radio to discuss the science behind the northern and southern lights and what they can tell us about our Sun, our planet, and worlds across our galaxy. Then Bruce Betts joins in for What's Up, a chat about global magnetic fields on terrestrial worlds and a new random space fact.

Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2024-aurora-guy

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