Podcast

I recommend you check out the recent episode from the Cool Worlds Podcast about the water and atmosphere on Mars and how it has changed and may change again, with and without the intervention of humans. The episode, “Edwin Kite – Early Mars, Terraforming/Settling Mars,” is a discussion between podcast host David Kipping and Edwin Kite, Professor of Geophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago as well as Participating Scientist for the NASA Curiosity Rover.

The discussion gets into where Martian water may be today, what terra-forming efforts have been discusses in the past, the terra-forming possibilities in the future, and whether Mars should be seen as a second Earth. Oh yeah, it also discusses Elon Musk’s crazy idea to nuke the surface of Mars and even touches on the idea of a Planet 9.

It’s a fascinating discussion that is worth your time.

The Mars Society’s Red Planet Live Podcast will be joined by Dr. Robert Zubrin on March 4th for a discussion about the future of human Mars exploration, what it will take to get boots on the Red Planet, and how we can build our first off-world settlement.

Dr. Zubrin is the Founder and President of The Mars Society, as well as the author of numerous books on Mars and other space-related topics. One of his latest books is The New World on Mars: What We Can Create on the Red Planet, which was issued in February 2024. As short summary of the book from the publisher’s site is provided below. It should be a useful primer for the upcoming discussion.

SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic are building fleets of space vehicles to make interplanetary travel as affordable as Old-World passage to America. We will settle on Mars, and with our knowledge of the planet, analyzed in depth by Dr. Zubrin, we will utilize the resources and tackle the challenges that await us. What we will we build? Populous Martian city-states producing air, water, food, power, and more. Zubrin’s Martian economy will pay for necessary imports and generate income from varied enterprises, such as real estate sales—homes that are airtight and protect against cosmic space radiation, with fish-farm aquariums positioned overhead, letting in sunlight and blocking cosmic rays while providing fascinating views. Zubrin even predicts the Red Planet customs, social relations, and government—of the people, by the people, for the people, with inalienable individual rights—that will overcome traditional forms of oppression to draw Earth immigrants. After all, Mars needs talent.

You can find the list of past Red Planet podcast episodes on YouTube.