Space Bees with lasers, with lasers, this week on planetary radio. Radio. Welcome to the travel show that takes you to the final frontier.

I'm Ad Kaplan of the planetary society.

Someday those laser bees might just I'm Ed Kaplan of the Planetary Society.

Someday those laser bees might just save our planet.

We'll talk with one of the researchers developing them.

So much more on this week's show, so we better get started by talking with Emily

Lochuwala about what's happening around the solar system this month.

Emily March has come in like a lion I think it's time for you to give us an update

on what's up.

Yeah and actually there's a lot of activity going on across the solar system.

I think the main mission milestone to happen this month is that the twin grail spacecraft,

Ebb and flow, are going to begin their science mission this month, beginning to map the gravity

field of the moon.

The messenger mission is completing its primary mission at Mercury, but it's already a one-year

extension, one Earth year that is, it's four Mercury years.

It'll start the mission extension and we'll also see a large data release from that mission.

So that'll be a lot of fun. The amateurs will get to play with much more Mercury data.

Toward the end of the month, it's going to be Mars's solstice,

which isn't just a calendar thing.

It's very important for opportunity.

When winter solstice passes, the sun will begin coming back to the south

and will begin to shine on the solar panels for longer and from a better angle each day.

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