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Thanks to our friends at ‪@planetarysociety‬ for partnering with us on this episode! To support their mission and the future of space advocacy, head over to https://www.planetary.org/startalk!

Could life hitchhike across planets? What color is the sky on Mars? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Bill Nye, the current CEO of the Planetary Society, team up to discuss the science and advocacy that goes into space exploration, unraveling the threads of discovery that define humanity’s quest to understand the cosmos.

Bill and Neil discuss the tantalizing possibility of life beneath Europa’s frozen surface, where a 4.5-billion-year-old ocean may hide secrets of alien biology. Why is this moon one of the most promising sites for life in the solar system? We explore comparative planetology and how studying Venus’s greenhouse effect helped us learn about Earth.

From the groundbreaking Voyager missions to the role of cameras in space exploration, we explore some of the pivotal moments that shaped our view of the universe. Why did Bruce Murray, a co-founder of The Planetary Society, insist spacecraft carry cameras? Learn about Carl Sagan’s goal to connect the public to space exploration and how space advocacy led to the launch of the solar LightSail.

And what about the search for life? From the SETI program’s hunt for intelligent signals to the possibility of Martian panspermia, the episode explores the big questions driving today’s research. Once life begins, can it ever truly stop? Bill and Neil explore how The Planetary Society continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in space, led by science, passion, and an unrelenting Joy of Discovery (JOD).

Timestamps:
00:00 – Introduction: Bill Nye
01:50 – The Origins of the Planetary Society
07:32 – People in Space
14:27 – Participating in the Process of Discovery
17:50 – The Search for Life in the Universe
22:52 – What is the Color of the Martian Sky?
32:05 – Advocating for Space Missions
39:57 – The LightSail
43:39 – Being a Science Guy
45:55 – Closing Thoughts

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