Shining a light on the upcoming Total Solar Eclipse this week on planetary radio.

Welcome, I'm at Kaplan of the the Planetary Society, with more of the human adventure across our solar

system and beyond.

Astronomers Without Borders is one of my favorite organizations.

A.W.B.'s president, Mike Simmons, visits with news of a new project that will share more than the

wonders of the night sky as we look forward to the Great American Eclipse.

Bill Nye shares a message for the President of the United States.

Well Bruce Betts will take us to Venus and Mars and another what's up visit.

With Emily Lockwala still on sabbatical will go first to

Casey Dreyer, the Planetary Society's Director of Space Policy.

Casey, good to have you on the regular edition of Planetary Radio again to tell us about this legislation that just

passed the House of Representatives it's it's kind of a milestone isn't it?

Well it's a milestone in the sense that we haven't had a space authorization act for

NASA in almost seven years. So in that sense, yes, Congress has finally passed what's called an

authorization bill. It sets policy direction for NASA and

it sets funding guidelines but it itself does not give money to NASA. That is

the fundamental often can kind of confused part about these bills.

It sets policy.

And in that sense that's a great bill and because it directs NASA to continue the efforts

to send humans to Mars. It tells NASA you need to create a

strategic framework for showing us in the world how you intend to get humans to

Mars in 2033. This is the stuff that we've been encouraging NASA to do for

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