Neptune Visit Hits 25th Anniversary

New evidence points to the evolution of the ability for bacteria to grab nitrogen from the atmosphere some 3.2 billion years ago, about 1.2 billion years earlier than thought—with implications for finding extraterrestrial life. Lee Billings reports 

A dwarf galaxy near the Milky Way may consist of more dark matter than regular matter.* Clara Moskowitz reports 

NASA has to deal with the unexpected financial consequences of robotic missions that just keep going. Lee Billings reports 

<p>In case you missed it, we had a new visitor discovered in our solar system! Comet NEOWISE dazzled the night sky as it was visible in the Northern Hemisphere. Sadly, it is traveling away from Earth and won't be seen again for quite some time. But as NEOWISE flies away, 3 missio ... Show More

NASA is an exploration agency, and one of our missions is to know our home. In the 1960s, NASA astronauts orbiting the Moon captured a revelatory view of Earth. Today, NASA explores our home planet with a fleet of dozens of spacecraft. In this episode–the first in a miniseries al ... Show More

<p>We're going to space! Well, actually, we're going to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena to check in with the Voyager team.</p> <p>It's been forty-six years since Voyager 1 and 2 launched and we're still in contact! We'll talk with Linda Spilker and Suzanne Dodd, who ... Show More

<p dir="ltr">Sarah Al-Ahmed, the host of Planetary Radio, marks her 100th episode with a look back at the defining moments of the past 100 weeks of space exploration. We'll revisit previous Planetary Radio interviews, including the launch of ESA's Juice mission to the icy moons o ... Show More

Our survey of the solar system in anticipation of the next planetary science decadal survey continues with Mars, the big outer planets, and the smaller bodies that share the neighborhood. Three more great scientists share their looks ahead. Staying responsibly stuck at home is ea ... Show More

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is hard at work answering our biggest questions about the birth of our universe and faraway galaxies. But some astronomers are pointing its powerful eyes much closer to home. In this episode, Caltech astronomer Katherine de Kleer explains how Web ... Show More

Astronomy Cast Ep. 173: Herschel Space Observatory - REMASTER By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay From January 18, 2009. Last week we talked about Herschel the people – William Herschel, his sister Caroline, and his son John. This week we look at the Herschel Space Observatory, a mis ... Show More