What can you learn when you fly too close to the sun? We'll find out this week on Planetary Radio.

I'm Sarah Alahmet of the Planetary Society with more of the human adventure across our solar system and beyond.

Some space mysteries just can't be solved without getting up close and personal with the sun.

James Drake from the University of Maryland joins us this week to talk about his team's research into the cause of the fast solar wind.

We'll sundive into the Parker Solar Probe's newest data as it soars closer to our star than any spacecraft in history.

Then Bruce Betz will join us for what's up in the night sky and a Parker Solar Probe themed question for our space trivia contest.

Before we start today's journey into the exciting new results about the solar wind,

we have an important announcement to share with all of our listeners, especially those of you who are joining us through our wonderful radio affiliate stations.

Starting August 2nd, we will be discontinuing the radio distribution of Planetary Radio.

To be clear, the podcast version will continue as always. This is just for the radio side of the show.

It was a difficult decision that we spent many months deeply researching, being the scientifically inclined people that we are.

Ultimately, our hypothesis was correct. The many hours it takes to maintain the radio side of the broadcast isn't worth the sacrifices we keep having to make to the popular and more commonly consumed podcast version that the majority of you are listening to right now.

So, despite how difficult this is, we're excited about this update.

These changes will allow us to do things we've never done before, like share videos of our interviews with guests, and build upon the success of our podcast.

The good news is, this may not even be a big change for some of you, but an improvement.

All radio stations airing Planetary Radio are welcome to air the podcast version, which features extended interviews with our guests.

It and our entire 20-year back catalog will continue to be available for free to stations everywhere.

So, if you're listening to this on the radio, you might want to write your station to ask them to start airing the podcast version.

And you can always download Planetary Radio from our website at planetary.org slash radio, or find it on any of your favorite podcasting apps.

I want to send a huge thank you to our radio affiliates and listeners for helping us share the human adventure across our solar system and beyond.

I know that I and the show's creator and previous host Matt Kaplan are so grateful for all of your years of support.

Alright, now for this week's Space News.

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