NASA/JPL-Caltech photo mosaic from July 2013 showing the Valles Marineris hemisphere of Mars projected into point perspective, a view similar to that which one would see from a spacecraft.
NASA/JPL-Caltech photo mosaic from July 2013 showing the Valles Marineris hemisphere of Mars projected into point perspective, a view similar to that which one would see from a spacecraft.

Cosmic Queries: Colonizing Mars

Mosaic of the Valles Marineris hemisphere of Mars projected into point perspective, a view similar to that which one would see from a spacecraft. The distance is 2500 kilometers from the surface of the planet, with the scale being .6km/pixel. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
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About This Episode

This week, Neil Tyson and Chuck Nice answer questions from our fans about colonizing Mars, from the smelly, to the psychological, to the political. What would happen to garbage on Mars without microbes to break it down? Which is a bigger psychological challenge for colonists: isolation, or getting along with each other? Are there treaties governing interplanetary colonization and homesteading? You’ll learn all about terraforming, and how long it might take before pioneers would be able to grow crops outside of greenhouses. Find out whether it’s more efficient to send pre-fab habitats or a large 3-D printer for ISRU (In Situ Resource Utilization). Explore adaption, mutation, and speciation, as well as the possible impact of growing up in 40% Earth gravity. Discover what it would take to restore Mars’ magnetic field, and whether Mars is more or less geologically active than Earth. Finally, step up to the plate for a description of the impact of Martian gravity and atmosphere on the first baseball game between the NY Yankees and the Martian Reds.

Previously recorded.

NOTE: All-Access subscribers can listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: Cosmic Queries: Colonizing Mars

Co-Host
Chuck Nice, comedian

In This Episode

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