Planetary Radio: Space Policy Edition

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.