Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science - One year of Planetary Radio

Episode Date: November 24, 2003

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This is Planetary Radio. Hello, and thanks for joining us on our first anniversary. I'm still Matt Kaplan. It has been an amazing year. Planetary Radio has hosted some of the world's most interesting people, in my opinion. We've learned a lot about our little corner of the galaxy. We've celebrated explorers and discoverers. We mourned the crew of Columbia.

And we've talked with visionaries who've pointed the way toward our destiny in space. Today, in a special edition of Planetary Radio, Bruce Betts turns the tables, forcing me to answer a lot of impertinent questions. Here's fair warning that you are likely to learn much more than you needed or wanted to know. What can I say, except I promise never to do it again? We really couldn't do this without remembering

some of the many great conversations we've had. One of the first was with David Anderson of SETI at Home. I asked him how this pioneering use of worldwide distributed computing came about. The inspiration for SETI at Home was to try to think of something that would have that same effect today, of bringing science into people's houses and breaking down that barrier between the public and the scientific laboratory. So that's really one of the things that we're excited about beyond just, you know, teraflops and doing SETI is getting the public actively involved in science.

Not long after that show, former NASA planetary scientist Adriana Ocampo talked about her current work for the European Space Agency and the path she has followed to success. Yes, yes, I think I've been extraordinarily fortunate to pursue my dreams. As a young child dreaming about the stars and space exploration in Argentina, it was my dream to work at NASA and be able to explore the stars. And I find myself very fortunate to be able to have fulfilled that dream. Chris McKay is another of the world's most distinguished planetary scientists.

I asked him what question in science would he most like to see answered. The question that really motivates me is the question of life. Is life on Earth alone? And by life, is the question of life. Is life on Earth alone? And by life, I mean all of life. We know now that all life on Earth forms the same life set, I call it. We're all descended from a single common ancestor. We all are related on this planet. I'd like to know if there's anything out there that's not related to us.

Who knew that our conversation with Arthur C. Clarke would have thousands of Lord of the Rings fans tuning in to Planetary Radio? It happened when the word got around on the internet that Sir Arthur had this story to tell about J.R.R. Tolkien. Let me tell you one of my clearest memories

of Tolkien. I was sitting next to him at lunch once, and he pointed to his editor at the end of the table, a very small man, and said, that's where I got the idea for The Hobbits. Wes Huntress served as Associate Director of NASA and was in charge of all space science for the agency. One of the things I think we have to appreciate is that the solar system is our backyard. There's not just one planet like you pointed out. There are many of them and each of them has their own uniqueness. One of the things

we discovered when we first started this enterprise back in the 60s and early 70s was that every single one of these bodies, including their moons, are very different. They're not the same. And so it's wonderful to have these missions going out. I always love talking to Bill Nye the Science Guy. You're virtually guaranteed a laugh, a new idea, and some inspiration. As in this bit of Bill's feelings about the Mars exploration rovers and the Martian sundials they carry, which he helped make a reality. Well, the rover itself will be fabulous.

which he helped make a reality. Well, the rover itself will be fabulous. And just think, Matt, if we found signs of life, fossil bacteria on Mars, that would change everything. Talk about the G7 summit or whatever. We're going to have to take a global meeting if we find fossil bacteria. But anyway, the sundial, by tradition, sundials have a motto. I only count the sunny hours. Time flies.

I count all the sunny hours and the last one kills. Stuff like that. But this one is two worlds, one sun. That's right. We're brothers. We're sisters, Martians and Earthlings. We all orbit the same star. Isn't that just to fill you with PB&J, passion, beauty, and joy? And not long ago at all, we heard from Claudia Alexander,

the last director of the Galileo mission at Jupiter. I asked her how she felt about intentionally crashing her spacecraft into the giant planet. I actually think it's very fitting and a flattery almost to the mission that the very discoveries that it was able to make have made it impossible for the mission to continue, that we must dispose of the spacecraft in order to protect something that we learned from it. I think that's a fitting epitaph, actually, to the powerful and compelling success of this mission. So many other great conversations and guests we just don't have time for. Of course, you can find them all at planetary.org in the Planetary Radio archives.

Let's take a break. When we return, Bruce Betts interviews me. Join Pasadena's other big New Year's party. Wild About Mars comes to the Pasadena Convention Center on Saturday and Sunday, January 3 and 4. Join Buzz Aldrin, Ray Bradbury, and Bill Nye the Science Guy as the first Mars exploration rover arrives at the red planet. Order your discounted tickets by calling 1-877-PLANETS today. That's 1-877-PLANETS or online at planetary.org.

Hello, everyone. This is Bruce Betts once again from the Planetary Society. And for a whole year, you've been listening to Matt Kaplan as your host of Planetary Radio, interviewing celebrities, the key people who make planetary exploration happen, and a few nobodies. But we've never had the chance to interview Matt Kaplan. Who is this man? never had the chance to interview Matt Kaplan. Who is this man? Who is the man who works so hard to turn the tables and ask questions of others rather than of himself? I have forced Matt to at least let me do this interview and then he may edit it out, but we're going

to try. Welcome, Matt, to our show today. Thank you, I think. Weedle, I want you to tell us a little bit about yourself. Where did you grow up, Matt? This planet? Weedle, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself? Where did you grow up, Matt? This planet? First of all, I warned Bruce before he insisted on this that this is a very embarrassing thing.

I'm usually not shy about interviewing people. Perhaps people have noticed. But when the tables are turned, it's a very different situation. Me, I grew up in this area. I grew up not in the Pasadena area where the Planetary Society is headquartered. I was born in L.A., moved down toward the South Bay Area, and have lived in Long Beach now for over 20 years because that's where the day job is. And what is your day job, Matt? I work for Cal State Long Beach. I work for the university in University College and Extension Services.

You want the title? Oh, please. Oh, it's impressive as all get out. Senior Director of Technology and Development. Ooh. Wow. I'm going to have to give you more respect. Well, I've been waiting for that.

I didn't know. I needed a title. So I've been in this area my whole life. And how long have you played with the Planetary Society? Oh, God. Well, a little bit. I know. It seems like your entire life.

It's been just over four years other than being a member because I went to a volunteer meeting and wanted to do media stuff. And they had this thing coming up called Planet Fest in 1999. And I said, hey, you know, I could help with that. And they said, well, we were thinking of doing a webcast. I said, oh, I can do webcasts. And so I got pulled in as a volunteer and worked at Planet Fest and had the time of my life, one of the best times I've ever had. In fact, before that, as a test,

we did the Planetary Society's first ever webcast from this room where we're sitting at headquarters. And then not long after that, I saw that there was a job opening. To make a very long story short, I ended up being here roughly half-time for about six months. And then the university where I'd gone half-time, they pulled me back in. They said, well, you've got to deal with the long commute, Matt,

or come back to Cal State Long Beach full-time, and we'll give you a promotion. And that cool title? That was it. And the cool title, yeah. And so I went back. But I will tell you, just between you and me, could I imagine, I could not imagine combining a lifelong love of everything spacey with radio. I mean, these are the two greatest loves of my life outside of my family and you.

Good catch. Very good catch. But really, I mean, my God, it's such an incredible combination for me. It really is. It's living a part-time dream. I can't decide if that's inspiring or kind of sad all at the same time. I'm inspired. That's excellent. Then we are inspired with you, Matt. You certainly bring to us a unique and wonderful view on space exploration. We're glad to have you here

all the time. Now, you started playing in radio, what, in like elementary school, the crib? Oh, God. You know, you playing in radio what in like elementary school the crib oh god you know you're not far off in elementary school my parents bought me a remco anybody remember remco uh it was a little no am radio transmitter and it had a microphone and it had a morris code key i've never learned anything but SOS. But it had a microphone. And you could, you know, your friend could take a transistor radio. We still called them that then. Could take an AM transistor radio out, you know, within 50 feet of you, maybe out on the street in front of the house, and listen to you doing radio. And I was hooked.

I did it some in high school over the intercom system. Did it at USC where I went for two years, the lost years I call them, and then transferred to UC Irvine and worked in college radio at UC Irvine and worked in commercial radio, and I've done a lot of public radio, and it's just a lifelong love. That's great, and it comes out in your work. Thank you. It really does. Problem is now I can't even say anything without it sounding sarcastic.

But I really do mean that from the bottom of my heart. Now, when I interview people, of which this is, let's see, the first time, I have a little something I like to do. This isn't like the actor's studio, is it? Exactly. I've got a quiz that's kind of like the one on the actor's studio, except it's all being formulated in my head as we speak. All right. So where are all the cute co-eds that are sitting out in the audience? Never mind.

I've got nothing for you. Okay. All right. I'm going to ask you a few questions. I want you to just answer quickly and as honestly as you can. How about one of the above? Matt Kaplan, what is your favorite color? Blue.

It's always been blue. Oh, that was, okay. Really? Am I wrong? I could do the Monty Python thing. Blue. No, green! All right.

Favorite pet name? Oh, gosh. You know, what jumped into my head, which was unexpected, was Brian. Because Brian... I'm serious. Brian was our Irish setter when I was growing up. So that was the first thing that jumped in my head. Favorite ice cream?

Oh, God. That's a tough one. For years, it was fudge ripple. Now, that's a tough one. For years it was fudge ripple. Now that would be tough. The chocolate peanut buttery stuff that they do at Cold Stone. Wow, with the plug and everything. Can we get an underwriting thing? I hope so.

We'll give them a call. Least favorite food? Grape leaves. Least favorite co-worker? All right, you don't have to answer. All right, there's the guy at the university. I can't stand, but I won't. No one here, of course.

Everyone here I'm deeply in love with. Yes, and we're looking at restraining orders. Favorite planet? Oh, well, you know, the one with the air you can breathe. It's a pretty good choice. Outside of Earth, if you exclude Earth. Well, you can include Earth. We occasionally pretend it's a planet.

Earth's got a hell of a lot going for it, you know. It's not the biggest, but it's pretty nice. Any place with Yosemite has got a lot going for it. Yosemite? Have you seen the pictures of the canyons on Mars? All right. Sorry. Let's not engage in that debate.

Earth, sure. If you want to pick Earth. No, no,yons on Mars? All right. Sorry. Let's not engage in that debate. Earth, sure. If you want to pick Earth. No, no, no. Because Mars would be great. Really, the one that I, the dream was, and I've kind of given this up, was to Jupiter up close. You know, up to get a really lethal dose of radiation that close. I've kind of given that up. I'm going to settle for low Earth orbit someday.

But Jupiter, I would say, just because it would be so cool just to hang and look out the window and watch the stuff swirl around. I want to move on to something else, which is I would too. If you could host any radio show you wanted about any subject and actually that there were just magically an audience for it. What would that be about? You know, I hope you're not sorry you asked this, because Planetary Radio might come in second, or at least tied. It would be a general science show with a live audience and music and radio drama type

stuff, and it would be called, well, I'm not going to give away the name because somebody will steal it, but I actually did this show once. We did a pilot for KPCC with a live audience and funny stuff and guests. In fact, the Planetary Society was featured on the show, talking about SETI at Home. And it was such fun. It was just so great to have an audience there and do little skits and things. And it was all about science, real science.

That would be great fun to do sometime. But you know what? I'd have to bring along What's Up. Oh, I'm touched. Okay, I've got a serious question for you now. Okay. If you could be any other gender than the one you are, what would you be? Well, I've read a lot of science fiction, you know,

where there are five, 14 genders and so on. I enjoy being a man. I'm pretty happy with this. You know, Matt, I'm impressed because you're one of the few people I know who could make the answer to this question complex. Yeah. The refrigerator will be cleaned out in 15 minutes, so get what you want out now.

Because, see, if I was a woman, I'd be making announcements like that instead of just letting the crap pile up in the refrigerator. All right, Matt. I fear we've tortured you too long. I'd start asking you about favorite guests, favorite people you share the show with. No, I'm starting to enjoy this now. All right, well, let's keep going. No, time's up.

If you were an alien, what would you look like? All right, let me see. Well, this might be one of those gender-bending things because T'Pol on Enterprise looks pretty cool. That would be okay. Not Patrick. Well, no, he's not an alien, Patrick Stewart. What did I look like? He's British. That's close. So much for the huge British audience we used to have.

Sorry, all you guys in the Commonwealth. You know, I don't know. I just don't know. Humanoid is nice. I like Humanoid, you know. Blue skin would be cool, I guess. I'm really giving away the... I like tying it back into that blue favorite color theme. You know what I'd like to be? There was in the original Star Trek, there was William Shatner got to fight this white fur gorilla

that was only not a gorilla because it had like a unicorn horn. That would be cool. From the Actors Studio. The most bizarre question that they ask. And in that case, I've always found it a weird question and ridiculous to ask. But

with you here, I want to ask it. So what is your favorite cuss word? Oh, I can't say that. My favorite cuss word? I made it through high school without using any cuss words at all. I believe that. Now I use a selection, yeah. Really?

I'm trying to think what's one. You know, mostly I have, it's like the old routine that George Carlin used to do, where shoot is really blank with two O's. And people who know George Carlin know what to fill in the blank. But this being radio, we won't. I do that kind of stuff. I say shoot a lot. I say shoot.

And I do say worse than that now, but there's that bit of my high school stuff. Have I weanied out of this? Yeah, yeah. Although I must admit, I heard him once say horse pucky. And that was in front of almost the entire staff. Yeah, it took me a couple of days of repenting to get over that. Yeah. Matt is, by the way, I mean, around the planetary side, I should share a little perspective around here. And Matt's just got one of the worst attitudes of anyone around the planetary

society. He brings tension whenever he comes by. It's hard to stop him from yelling at people, swearing, cussing, being just, he's just an evil guy. And, in fact, the only reason that I understand why we do the show with you is because everyone's so scared of you. Well, it's that portfolio of photos of Lou Friedman that I keep in a safe place. All right. Well, I was about to stop, but I think I found a new line of questioning. Tell us more about the portfolio of photos of our executive director, Matt. Well, I would if they existed.

I see. I will say I have a great time coming up here, and that certainly helps my sunny outlook. On the assumption that you were being sarcastic. You're right. No, it's great. I rarely have less than a wonderful time up here. We actually enjoy calling you sunny outlook. Sunny.

Sunny outlook. All right. Favorite issue of the Planetary Report? Oh, you know, that's very tough. The Voyager one was very, very good. Looking back at Voyager with all these people who did part of the mission. You're just such a cool person, Matt. In fact, you don't even hesitate.

You just take these things and run with them and give your best serious answer. That was a cool issue. It's a terrible fear of dead air, as any good radio person has. Dead air is just death. That's what it is. It really is. So anyway. Sorry, I forgot. I'm hosting this. Dead air. Okay, well, with the concept of dead air, is there anything else

you'd like to share with the audience that you just can't do when you're busy interviewing other people? Well, yeah, kind of. And that is to thank people because we've had people who found this show early on. Did I mention what an evil guy he is? We found, people found this show early on. An amazing number of them

have stuck with it, you know, and we don't even have anything on these people. Apparently, there are a few of you out there who enjoy it, who are getting something out of it, and we just, you know, I want you to know

that we're going to keep it up. At least I'm told we're going to keep it up. The support from the Society has been wonderful and very welcome, and we do have wonderful plans for the coming year that will hopefully make it easier for some of you to hear this show without going into detail, and also give you more stuff in the show that you'll find interesting. So the first year, it's only a beginning, and I would just say thank you to all the listeners. That's very nice. Now say something funny.

All right. It's that dead air you told me to be scared of. I don't know. I don't know anything. I don't tell jokes very well, I'm afraid. Bruce Murray and Lou Friedman walk into a bar. You'd think the second one would have seen it. All right.

I'm done. Are we done? We're done. Oh, thank God. Can I say we're done? Yeah, please. Okay, we're done. We're running out of time.

That's about it. Thank you, Matt Kaplan, for being our guest this week on Planetary Radio. Well, thank you, everyone. And remember to look up in the sky and think about Bruce Betts when you do that. Wow, you have a way with radio. Thank you. Nice job. Thank you very much, Matt. Hi, I'm Emily Lakdawalla with questions and answers.

A listener asked, What would our climate be like if the Earth did not rotate? Our climate would be very different. If the Earth did not rotate at all, we would have six-month days and six-month nights. If Earth rotated once per revolution, that is, once a year, as the moon does around the Earth, then we would have eternal day in one hemisphere and eternal night in the other. The night side of the Earth would be one big glacier, and

huge winds might circulate between the day side and the night side as they do on Venus. What the weather would be like under those conditions is hard to imagine, but it would be far from pleasant. Got a question about the universe? Send it to us at planetaryradio at planetary.org. And now here's Matt with more Planetary Radio. Bruce Betts, it's your first anniversary, too, for the What's Up segment. Happy anniversary. Thank you.

Happy anniversary to you. Now, I was going to get you a gift, but I wasn't sure it was appropriate. First anniversary is electronics, right? Yeah. All anniversaries are electronics. Expensive electronics, preferably. Actually, I think it's something like cardboard or something like that. It's recycled cardboard.

That's exactly it. I do want to say it has been a great pleasure over the last year having you as a part of the show. It's great fun. I look forward to doing this every week. Well, thank you, and so do I. Now, I did listen back to our first show a little bit. did listen back to our first show a little bit. And you stated at the end of WhatsApp something to the effect of what we hope will be a regular feature.

Or hopefully something like this. There's definitely doubt in your mind. I was wondering if you wanted to look back at that. I was wondering why. Why were you so concerned that this might not be a regular feature? I probably thought that you were a busy guy and you wouldn't have the time for this kind of silliness be a regular feature. I probably thought that you were a busy guy and you wouldn't have the time for this kind of silliness on a regular basis. Lower myself? Yeah, exactly.

Then you got to know me better. Yeah. I was going to say the jury's still out, Bruce, but I think it's a three-year probation. But no, I think you're stuck here for life. Well, then after the first anniversary and what I hope will be a regular feature on Planetary Radio. Yes.

Let me tell you what's up in the night sky. Let's move them up to professional status, folks. Here goes. All right. We have tons of planets. The sky's nasty with them. Mars, southeast after sunset. Still can see it up there, reddish, bright.

Right after sunset, if you're looking in the west-southwest, you can pick up two planets if you really have a low view to the horizon. Venus, and then below that to the lower right will be Mercury this week. And you can look for both of them next to the young crescent moon on Monday and Tuesday night, the 24th and 25th. Then if you're up in the middle of the night, you can see Saturn rising about four hours after sunset and well high up before dawn.

Jupiter also high before dawn southeast. I had a great shot of Saturn through the telescope on Saturday. Friday, Friday night. Just looked great, real nice. Excellent. Still have rings? Yes, still there. Just checking.

Okay. This week in space history, the, I would say, most important thing that ever happened in space history happened on November 25, 2002. Planetary radio debuted on that day. I was thinking, okay, let's see. Not Apollo 11, not Mercury, okay, Sputnik. not Mercury okay Sputnik

Planetary Radio announcing the a new menace on more normal type things November 28, 1964 Mariner 4 was launched Mariner 4 ended up being the first successful flyby of Mars

on to random space facts. Matt Kaplan is actually a hologram. Leading us to the trivia segment. Let me tell you what a shock that came to my children. And it's made you the subject of so much scientific study in so many ways. To say nothing to my wife. But seriously, folks. But seriously, folks.

All right. On to trivia. Is anybody still out there? Come on. Stick around. Stick around. It gets worse. Trivia.

Last week's trivia question, when we were still being semi-serious, was if there are asteroids discovered between the sun and the orbit of Mercury, what will they be called? I know what they'll be called because we've talked about them on this show. I have no idea. And what's more, we had a lot of listeners call in, write in and say that they are called vulcanoids, or they will be called vulcanoids, right?

Because we don't really know yet whether they exist. It's so true. But there are volcanoid search programs, and the Planetary Society is now funding one with a suborbital flight of a special spiffy camera to happen in early January of next year to search for these buggers, which are really hard to find because they're near the sun. And our winner this week happens to be somebody who actually apparently put some money into that mission. Thank you. These were all made possible by you guys out there, members or not.

And that was Ryan Caron of, I'm trying to find his town, Amherst, New Hampshire. What a beautiful state. Ryan Caron, and he says it is Volcanoids, and he's glad that his donation helped to put that flight together. I swear to God that that had nothing to do with him being chosen this week, but it's a nice thing just the same. No comment. We also had Scott Borgsmiller, who now everybody got the answer right, and Scott is a past winner. And he gave the derivation as well.

They're named after Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and metallurgy, not Vulcan, the home planet of Mr. Spock. And here's why Scott got mentioned. Happy first birthday to Planetary Radio. Many happy returns, and keep up the great work. One of several nice little birthday wishes, anniversary wishes we got this week. All right, new trivia contest question. What was the name of the woman who was hit by a 10-pound meteorite on November 30, 1954 in Alabama?

Sounds tough, but it's got to be Google-able. Oh, there you go giving them hints again. Oh, come on, Andrew. These are smart people. They know where to go. We don't have to tell you where to go. Do we? You do know, don't you?

Okay. All right. So there. Go to planetary.org. Follow the links to Planetary Radio and enter our contest. Matt, I've got a surprise cake for you. Really? Yes.

Here it is. Why don't you help me blow out the candle, okay? Oh, the candle. Ready? One, two, three. All right. Well, we'll try again when we're done. Yay! All right.

What else is going on around here? Oh, there's all sorts of special things. We're leading towards Wild About Mars weekend on January 3rd and 4th, celebrating the landing of the Spirit Lander rover on Mars on January 3rd and also the fly-through of a comet by the Stardust mission on January 2nd. We'll have all sorts of events. There's information on our website. If you want to learn more about it, we'll be in Pasadena.

And our own Bruce Betts. You're kind of the boss man when it comes to Wild About Mars, so it's going to be great. So be there. Be there! We need a spot like that. We just ran the first spot in this radio show talking about Wild About Mars, and we should have done that approach.

For people who aren't from Southern California, there's a guy who's made a big living doing these really hard-driving radio commercials in Southern California for about 20 years. Are you going to do it? Wild About Mars, two nights only. Come witness it all with other people who will be just as rowdy as you are. Don't miss it.

Pasadena Convention Center, January 3rd and 4th, 2004. Go to planetary.org to find out. And then, of course, he always finishes with, Be there! Be there. Please. Pretty please. Bruce, we're done.

We're done. All right, everyone. Look up in the night sky. Seriously,. Bruce, we're done. We're done. All right, everyone. Look up in the night sky. Seriously, look up in the night sky and think about what planetary radio has meant to you. Let us know, will you? Thank you. Good night. And if it's meant anything at all, would you drop us a line and do tell us?

We love to get that stuff. Fragile egos, you know. That was Bruce Betts, the director of projects for the Planetary Society, and also the guy who's putting together Wild About Mars. He'll be back next week, as will we, beginning the second year of Planetary Radio. Hope you'll join us.