After more than two decades, the European Space Agency's Rosalind Franklin rover finally has a path to the launchpad. This week, ExoMars Project Scientist Jorge Vago joins Planetary Radio to talk about what makes this mission like nothing we've sent to Mars before: a drill capable of reaching 2 meters beneath the surface, where organic molecules may have been shielded from radiation for billions of years. We dig into how the rover will scout its drilling sites, how its onboard laboratory will analyze samples for signs of life, and why the chirality of any organic molecules it finds could be one of the most telling clues of all.

Then stick around for What's Up with Bruce Betts, our chief scientist, where we talk about the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, the spacecraft already at Mars that will serve as Rosalind Franklin's lifeline back to Earth.

Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2026-rosalind-franklin

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China’s Tianwen-2 spacecraft has successfully arrived at Kamoʻoalewa—a tiny, enigmatic "quasi-satellite" that dances along with Earth on its trek around the Sun. A fascinating scientific debate is heating up over this object's true identity: is it a standard, heavily space-weathered asteroid, or is it a long-lost chunk of our own Moon, violently blasted into space by an ancient impact? Tianwen-2 is on a mission to solve this cosmic identity crisis, and it is happening right now.

This week, we sit down with Andrew Jones, a contributing editor for The Planetary Society and a freelance space journalist covering China's rapidly accelerating lunar and planetary exploration programs. He takes us inside the mission to reveal how Tianwen-2 will attempt to hover and snatch samples from this mysterious world, what those pieces could teach us about our Solar System's history, and where China’s planetary ambitions are targeting next.

Then, Chief Scientist Bruce Betts joins us for What’s Up to look ahead at asteroid missions and moments on the horizon through the end of this decade, from a Hayabusa2 flyby of asteroid Torifune next month to the 2029 close approach of asteroid Apophis.

Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2026-tianwen-2

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This outstanding novella, “To Be Taught, If Fortunate” by award-winning science fiction author Becky Chambers, is a passionate argument for the human exploration of space and the wonders we will find there. Kirkus Reviews calls it, “An extraordinary picture of humanity among the stars.” Join host Mat Kaplan for a conversation with Becky in which her personal enthusiasm for space science matches that of her four wandering explorers. The very alien lifeforms they discover amplify their own, very human failings and triumphs. Questions submitted by The Planetary Society’s members were a valuable contribution to this live event presented in our member community.

Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/book-club-becky-chambers

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