WeMartians Podcast

135 - A Farewell to InSight (feat. Bruce Banerdt)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Thu, 9 Feb 2023 15:16:13 +0000

NASA's InSight mission landed in 2018 and completed its primary mission two years later. From there it pursued an extended mission, gathering as much scientific data as it could before ultimately ending late last year as dust on the solar panels starved it of energy. Dr. Bruce Banerdt, the Principal Investigator for the mission, joins Jake to talk about its legacy and successes, and where we go from here.

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Bruce at JPL

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Horsepower Design

NASA's Space Launch system finally got the job done, that trusty old steed. Do you like horses as much as I do? If so, try on the new t-shirt design at the WeMartians shop today! Sometimes, a horse works just fine (space programs may or may not be included).

Goodbye, for now

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Mon, 30 Jan 2023 14:28:09 +0000

After seven years of exploring the solar system, Jake is ready to move on to new projects. Hear his final thoughts on WeMartians.

Stay in Touch

134 - Blood, Sweat, and Rockets (feat. MG Lord)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Sun, 29 Jan 2023 19:44:00 +0000

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has a storied history of exploration, but if you go back far enough the stories get pretty wild. Its early days feature a gutsy team of rocket engineers blowing up engines in the hills around Pasadena while moonlighting as communists and occultists. This "Suicide Squad" is featured in a new podcast series by MG Lord, and MG joins Jake to talk about it.

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Horsepower Design

133 - The State of the Moon (feat. Brendan Byrne and Emilee Speck)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 10 Jan 2023 08:05:00 +0000

Last year saw a successful Artemis 1 flight, the launch of multiple lunar robotic missions, and the continued development of the CLPS program. What's ahead for 2023? Will it continue this string of exciting progress in lunar exploration? Friends of the show and space reporters Brendan Byrne and Emilee Speck join Jake to talk it through.

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Horsepower Design

132 - Artemis Ahead (feat. Eric Berger)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 08:05:00 +0000

The Artemis I Orion capsule splashed down in the Pacific this week, a triumphant finale to a mission that faced so many challenges getting to launch. With Artemis I behind us, what's ahead for the Artemis program and the road to a lunar landing? Ars Technica journalist Eric Berger joins Jake to talk about the future of the program and the challenges it will face.

We Orion, SLS, Starship and Artemis

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Horsepower Design

131 - Juno at Europa (feat. Scott Bolton)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Thu, 3 Nov 2022 13:45:23 +0000

Juno has been exploring the Jupiter system since 2016, and has taught us a lot about the clouds, the magnetosphere, and the origin of the largest planet in our solar system. Now in its extended mission, it's exploring the Jovian moons in a series of flybys, including a recent pass by Europa. The mission's PI Scott Bolton joins Jake to talk about this flyby, the science results we've gotten, and what's ahead for this intrepid explorer.

We talk Juno and Europa

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Scott's Twitter (@ScottBoltonJuno)

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Horsepower Design

NASA's Space Launch system is shelved again until November, which means the horse is headed back to the barn, so to speak. But hey, maybe you like horses! If so, try on the new t-shirt design at the WeMartians shop today! Sometimes, a horse works just fine (space programs not included).

130 - Voyager at 45 (feat. Linda Spilker)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 18 Oct 2022 07:05:00 +0000

Voyagers 1 and 2 have been exploring our solar system for over 45 years now. Despite the age of their instruments and computers and power source, they continue to deliver scientific data and contribute to present day discovery. Dr. Linda Spilker, who worked on Voyager since its launch, joins Jake to talk about its value today and its legacy tomorrow.

We talk Voyager 1 and 2

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Linda's Twitter (@LindaSpilker)

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Horsepower Design

129 - Sailing the Clouds of Venus (feat. Paul Byrne)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 4 Oct 2022 07:05:00 +0000

The clouds of Venus have long been a dream of humans to explore, and at last a mission concept called Phantom could be here to do it! But the road ahead for this idea is neither straight nor easy. Paul Byrne joins Jake to talk about how it will help us understand the solar system, and why it might not even get the chance to compete for a spot.

We talk Phantom and New Frontiers 5

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Paul's Twitter (@ThePlanetaryGuy)

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Horsepower Design

128 - Time Travelling

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Mon, 19 Sep 2022 07:05:00 +0000

NASA's SLS rocket has been in development for over a decade and at last was ready to take off from the Space Coast. But leaks and other technical problems thwarted it on its first attempts. Jake travelled to Florida to see it and reports on how it went, and how weaknesses in the program's architecture don't end at lift off.

We talk the Space Launch System

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Probe Uranus Design

Lean in to the jokes and stand behind the Decadal Survey's recommendation to probe Uranus by picking up the new design at the WeMartians shop today! You can get it in a t-shirt or on a coffee mug. Explore the mysteries of Uranus today.

Used under fair use:

127 - Checking in on CLPS (feat. Anthony Colangelo)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 9 Aug 2022 07:05:00 +0000

The Commercial Lunar Payload Services Program (CLPS) began in 2018 with the promise of bootstrapping a new, inexpensive lunar delivery economy; it was to be a pathway for lunar science to the Moon's surface. Since then, a handful of companies have been racing to get the first launches off, but it hasn't all been smooth sailing. Main Engine Cut Off's Anthony Colangelo joins Jake to talk about their progress, and what we should keep an eye on as the first launches approach.

We talk Commercial Lunar Payload Services

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Artemis 1 Launch Events

Artemis 1 is coming! If you're in the Cape Canaveral area around launch, we should meet up! Add your name to this mailing list for updates.

Probe Uranus Design

126 - Ten Years of Being Curious (feat. Abigail Fraeman)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Wed, 27 Jul 2022 07:05:00 +0000

Curiosity landed on Mars ten years ago and has been exploring Gale Crater ever since. After achieving its primary mission, it's embarked on a series of extended missions to continue to unravel mysteries in the rocks. Deputy Project Scientist for the mission Abigail Fraeman joins Jake to talk about her favourite moments and to discuss what comes next for the impressive rover.

We talk Curiosity and Mars

Curiosity Mission Updates

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Marsti.me

Learn about time on Mars! See live mission clocks, learn about sols and Mars years and solar longitude, and discover your Martian birthday! Visit Marsti.me, a new site from Jake.

Probe Uranus Design

125 - Spiralling Down to Mercury (feat. Lina Hadid)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 12 Jul 2022 07:05:00 +0000

BepiColombo, a joint mission between ESA and JAXA, is on a long meandering journey to Mercury. Last month, it made its 2nd of six flybys of the innermost planet, spiralling its trajectory down to a place where it can enter orbit. Lina Hadid, a space plasma physicist from the Laboratoire de Physique des Plasma in Paris, joins Jake to talk about the flyby campaigns, what science we can do on them, and how we're warming up for the big show.

We talk Mercury and BepiColombo

Science Opportunities of BepiColombo's Cruise Phase

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Marsti.me

Learn about time on Mars! See live mission clocks, learn about sols and Mars years and solar longitude, and discover your Martian birthday! Visit Marsti.me, a new site from Jake.

Probe Uranus Design

124 - The Future of the Mars Program (feat. Scott Hubbard)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 28 Jun 2022 07:05:00 +0000

For two decades, the modern Mars program has been sending spacecraft almost every launch window to Mars, and we have Scott Hubbard to thank for much of that. As the first director of the Mars Program, he instituted much of the paradigm we have today. But with Mars Sample Return on the horizon, Scott joins Jake to talk about how things are changing and what it means for the future.

We talk Mars Sample Return and the Mars Program

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Marsti.me

Learn about time on Mars! See live mission clocks, learn about sols and Mars years and solar longitude, and discover your Martian birthday! Visit Marsti.me, a new site from Jake.

Probe Uranus Design

123 - A Moon-Sized Opportunity (feat. Brett Denevi)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Wed, 15 Jun 2022 07:05:00 +0000

NASA is headed to the Moon in more ways than one. A coalition of human spaceflight, planetary science, and commercialization advocates stand to make an exciting decade of Lunar exploration. But such a collaboration does not come easy, and there's lot of work to get done before we execute it. Planetary Scientist Brett Denevi joins Jake to talk about the opportunities, the challenges, and the incredible science that awaits.

We talk NASA and the Moon

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Marsti.me

Learn about time on Mars! See live mission clocks, learn about sols and Mars years and solar longitude, and discover your Martian birthday! Visit Marsti.me, a new site from Jake.

Probe Uranus Design

122 - Uranus Awaits (feat. Amy Simon)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 24 May 2022 07:05:00 +0000

Last month, the new Planetary Science Decadal Survey was released and recommended as its top flagship mission a Uranus Orbiter and Probe. It's been 36 years since we last visited the Ice Giant, and now the science community is ready to take a closer look. Dr. Amy Simon from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center joins Jake to talk about the mission, how it works, and why it's so important to understand the Ice Giants.

We talk Uranus, Orbiters and Probes

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Marsti.me

Learn about time on Mars! See live mission clocks, learn about sols and Mars years and solar longitude, and discover your Martian birthday! Visit Marsti.me, a new site from Jake.

Probe Uranus Design

Pioneer 10 was the first spacecraft to cross the asteroid belt and explore Jupiter up close!

121 - The Decadal Survey Part 2 (feat. Casey Dreier)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 3 May 2022 07:20:00 +0000

Every ten years, the National Academies convenes an extraordinary survey of the planetary science community to produce a recommendation for NASA on what to prioritize in planetary exploration for the next decade. It's a remarkable endeavour to scientifically and democratically determine a consensus on questions, priorities and methods used to explore the planets. Casey Dreier, Chief Advocate of the Planetary Society, joins Jake in an epic two part podcast series to discuss everything the report contains and how it will affect planetary science to come.

We talk Findings and Recommendations of the Planetary Science Decadal Survey

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Marsti.me

Learn about time on Mars! See live mission clocks, learn about sols and Mars years and solar longitude, and discover your Martian birthday! Visit Marsti.me, a new site from Jake.

Probe Uranus Design

120 - The Decadal Survey Part 1 (feat. Casey Dreier)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 3 May 2022 07:05:00 +0000

We talk Findings and Recommendations of the Planetary Science Decadal Survey

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Marsti.me

Learn about time on Mars! See live mission clocks, learn about sols and Mars years and solar longitude, and discover your Martian birthday! Visit Marsti.me, a new site from Jake.

Probe Uranus Design

119 - Cryovolcanism on Pluto (feat. Kelsi Singer)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 19 Apr 2022 07:05:00 +0000

New Horizons flew past Pluto in 2015 but work continues on discovering its secrets. One area of study is the activity of so called cryovolcanoes, icy mounds spewing liquidy water and reshaping Pluto's surface. Dr. Kelsi Singer, deputy project scientist for New Horizons, joins Jake to talk about her recent paper on the subject.

We talk Pluto, cryovolcanoes and subsurface oceans

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Marsti.me

Learn about time on Mars! See live mission clocks, learn about sols and Mars years and solar longitude, and discover your Martian birthday! Visit Marsti.me, a new site from Jake.

Great Red Spot Planetary Park Design

Celebrate Pioneer 10's 50th launch anniversary with the Great Red Spot Planetary Park design at the WeMartians shop today! You can get it in a t-shirt or on a coffee mug.

Pioneer 10 was the first spacecraft to cross the asteroid belt and explore Jupiter up close!

118 - Planetary Exploration at Rocket Lab (feat. Peter Beck)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 5 Apr 2022 07:05:00 +0000

Rocket Lab is about more than just rockets. With their Photon bus, they can provide an end to end platform service to enable low-cost planetary exploration to multiple destinations. With flights coming up to the Moon, Venus and Mars, they've become an important player in the planetary exploration space. CEO Peter Beck joins Jake to talk about their approach and why it's important.

We talk Rockets, Planets, and More

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Marsti.me

Learn about time on Mars! See live mission clocks, learn about sols and Mars years and solar longitude, and discover your Martian birthday! Visit Marsti.me, a new site from Jake.

Great Red Spot Planetary Park Design

Celebrate Pioneer 10's 50th launch anniversary with the Great Red Spot Planetary Park design at the WeMartians shop today! You can get it in a t-shirt or on a coffee mug.

Pioneer 10 was the first spacecraft to cross the asteroid belt and explore Jupiter up close!

117 - Back to Venus (LPSC 2022)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 22 Mar 2022 07:05:00 +0000

Since the last time the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference was held in person, the Venus community went from 0 to 3 missions on the books. Their energy at the conference was electric, and Jake catches up with people working on all three of the missions to find out how they're preparing for this sudden resurgence in study, and how VERITAS, EnVision, and DAVINCI will help us uncover the fascinating mysteries of the 2nd planet.

We talk Venus, VERITAS, EnVision and DAVINCI.

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Marsti.me

Learn about time on Mars! See live mission clocks, learn about sols and Mars years and solar longitude, and discover your Martian birthday! Visit Marsti.me, a new site from Jake.

Great Red Spot Planetary Park Design

Celebrate Pioneer 10's 50th launch anniversary with the Great Red Spot Planetary Park design at the WeMartians shop today! You can get it in a t-shirt or on a coffee mug.

Pioneer 10 was the first spacecraft to cross the asteroid belt and explore Jupiter up close!

116 - China and the Planets (feat. Andrew Jones)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 8 Mar 2022 08:05:00 +0000

China has recently released a white paper outlining the next five years in spaceflight and it includes some interesting plans for the exploration of the planets. From lunar ambitions to Martian ones, Jupiter and beyond, China has big sights set. Andrew Jones returns to the show to talk about these plans and what China hopes to accomplish.

We talk Zhurong, Chang'e, and the Chinese National Space Administration

First sample attempt fails (August)

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Andrew's Twitter
Andrew's Author page on SpaceNews
[Andrew's Author page on Planetary.org[(https://www.planetary.org/profiles/andrew-jones)

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Marsti.me

Learn about time on Mars! See live mission clocks, learn about sols and Mars years and solar longitude, and discover your Martian birthday! Visit Marsti.me, a new site from Jake.

Great Red Spot Planetary Park Design

Celebrate Pioneer 10's 50th launch anniversary with the Great Red Spot Planetary Park design at the WeMartians shop today! You can get it in a t-shirt or on a coffee mug.

Pioneer 10 was the first spacecraft to cross the asteroid belt and explore Jupiter up close!

115 - Pieces of Mars (feat. Avi Okon)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 08:05:00 +0000

The Perseverance rover has been exploring Mars for over a year now, and in that time it has collected six different rock cores. But these cores did not come easy, and Mars has thrown more than a couple curveballs at the rover operations team during this time. JPL's Avi Okon joins Jake to talk about these challenges, and how the sample caching system has performed throughout the first year.

We talk Perseverance, Drills, and Rock Samples

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Marsti.me

Learn about time on Mars! See live mission clocks, learn about sols and Mars years and solar longitude, and discover your Martian birthday! Visit Marsti.me, a new site from Jake.

Dare Mighty Things Design

Celebrate Perseverance's landing anniversary with the Dare Mighty Things design at the WeMartians shop today! You can get it in a t-shirt or on a coffee mug.

114 - New Beginnings for MAVEN (feat. Shannon Curry)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 8 Feb 2022 14:34:24 +0000

NASA's MAVEN spacecraft is about to embark on its 5th extended mission observing the atmosphere of Mars, at a time when the sun's activity reaches a peak. The new PI for the mission, Dr. Shannon Curry, joins Jake to talk about this new mission, why it's so exciting, and how the work MAVEN is doing contributes to the overall exploration of our solar system.

We talk MAVEN, Mars, and the Sun

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Marsti.me

Learn about time on Mars! See live mission clocks, learn about sols and Mars years and solar longitude, and discover your Martian birthday! Visit Marsti.me, a new site from Jake.

Tharsis Planetary Park

Celebrate Mariner 9's 50th anniversary with the Tharsis Planetary Park design at the WeMartians shop today! You can get it in a t-shirt or on a coffee mug.

113 - What Makes a Planet (feat. Phil Metzger)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 08:05:00 +0000

In 2006, the IAU voted to define "Planet" in a way that had a profound impact on planetary science, most notably with regards to Pluto. But what is the story behind this decision, and why is it important to the field of exploration? Dr Phil Metzger joins Jake to talk about his new paper covering the very subject, and explains the context behind culture and science's different views on the subject.

We talk Pluto, Planets, and Taxonomy

Moons are planets: Scientific usefulness versus cultural teleology in the taxonomy of planetary science (Phil's Paper)

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Marsti.me

Learn about time on Mars! See live mission clocks, learn about sols and Mars years and solar longitude, and discover your Martian birthday! Visit Marsti.me, a new site from Jake.

Tharsis Planetary Park

Celebrate Mariner 9's 50th anniversary with the Tharsis Planetary Park design at the WeMartians shop today! You can get it in a t-shirt or on a coffee mug.

112 - Artemis in 2022 (feat. Brendan Byrne and Emilee Speck)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 11 Jan 2022 08:05:00 +0000

NASA's flagship human spaceflight program Artemis got through a tough 2021 and has a challenging 2022 ahead of it. Space reporters Brendan Byrne and Emilee Speck join Jake to talk about these challenges, and what we're excited to cover in the year to come.

We talk Artemis, SLS, Starship, and Astronauts

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Marsti.me

Learn about time on Mars! See live mission clocks, learn about sols and Mars years and solar longitude, and discover your Martian birthday! Visit Marsti.me, a new site from Jake.

Tharsis Planetary Park

Celebrate Mariner 9's 50th anniversary with the Tharsis Planetary Park design at the WeMartians shop today! You can get it in a t-shirt or on a coffee mug.

There's More to Explore

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 4 Jan 2022 08:05:00 +0000

Jake talks about the decision to start covering more than just Mars in 2022.

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Marsti.me

Learn about time on Mars! See live mission clocks, learn about sols and Mars years and solar longitude, and discover your Martian birthday! Visit Marsti.me, a new site from Jake.

Tharsis Planetary Park

Celebrate Mariner 9's 50th anniversary with the Tharsis Planetary Park design at the WeMartians shop today! You can get it in a t-shirt or on a coffee mug.

Red Planet Review - Jan 1, 2022

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Sat, 1 Jan 2022 08:05:00 +0000

In this free episode of Red Planet Review, Jakes keeps you up to date on Perseverance's new sample, Curiosity's holiday break, and the regulatory process for SpaceX big new rocket.

Headlines

FAA delays Starship Environmental Review Completion
Perseverance Update
Blog on the Jezero Geology
2021 in Samples - Perseverance
Robine with SuperCam rasters
New Perseverance Sample
Where is Perseverance?
Curiosity Update
Sols 3333-3343
Sols 3344-3346
Sol 3330 360 panorama
Where is Curiosity?

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Marsti.me

Learn about time on Mars! See live mission clocks, learn about sols and Mars years and solar longitude, and discover your Martian birthday! Visit Marsti.me, a new site from Jake.

Tharsis Planetary Park

Celebrate Mariner 9's 50th anniversary with the Tharsis Planetary Park design at the WeMartians shop today! You can get it in a t-shirt or on a coffee mug.

2021 Holiday Content

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 14 Dec 2021 15:27:48 +0000

Hi there, Martians!

The holidays are here and we're on our break until the new year, but I don't want you to be without content! Listen in to some info about two other shows you can check out: Off-Nominal and Red Planet Review.

Content

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Marsti.me

Learn about time on Mars! See live mission clocks, learn about sols and Mars years and solar longitude, and discover your Martian birthday! Visit Marsti.me, a new site from Jake.

Tharsis Planetary Park

Celebrate Mariner 9's 50th anniversary with the Tharsis Planetary Park design at the WeMartians shop today! You can get it in a t-shirt or on a coffee mug.

111 - Space Genes (feat. Chris Mason)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Wed, 8 Dec 2021 08:05:00 +0000

Space is a dangerous and challenging environment for the human body, but we're not completely helpless against it. One way to adapt ourselves to space is to unlock the power of the human gene. Geneticist Dr Chris Mason joins Jake to talk about his book The Next 500 Years where he lays out the science behind gene therapy and how it can help us leave Earth to Mars and beyond.

We talk humans, genes and space

The Next 500 Years

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Marsti.me

Learn about time on Mars! See live mission clocks, learn about sols and Mars years and solar longitude, and discover your Martian birthday! Visit Marsti.me, a new site from Jake.

Tharsis Planetary Park

Celebrate Mariner 9's 50th anniversary with the Tharsis Planetary Park design at the WeMartians shop today! You can get it in a t-shirt or on a coffee mug.

110 - The Ancient Floods of Mars (feat. Tim Goudge)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 23 Nov 2021 08:05:00 +0000

Mars' river valleys are an iconic feature, formed billions of years ago in a different climate. Planetary Scientist Tim Goudge joins Jake to talk about how they were formed, and how one such formation method may have been more important than we once thought.

We talk Mars river valley network

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Marsti.me

Learn about time on Mars! See live mission clocks, learn about sols and Mars years and solar longitude, and discover your Martian birthday! Visit Marsti.me, a new site from Jake.

Tharsis Planetary Park

Celebrate Mariner 9's 50th anniversary with the Tharsis Planetary Park design at the WeMartians shop today! You can get it in a t-shirt or on a coffee mug.

109 - Remembering Mariner 9 (feat. William K. Hartmann)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 9 Nov 2021 08:05:00 +0000

Fifty years ago this month, the Mariner 9 mission became the first spacecraft to orbit another planet beyond Earth. It created the first global map of Mars and set the course for Martian exploration for the next five decades. Dr. William K Hartmann was a co-investigator on the mission and wrote the book The New Mars: Discoveries of Mariner 9, and he joins Jake to talk about the impact this mission has, even today.

We talk Mariner 9

NSSDC Profile for Mariner 9

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Marsti.me

Learn about time on Mars! See live mission clocks, learn about sols and Mars years and solar longitude, and discover your Martian birthday! Visit Marsti.me, a new site from Jake.

Tharsis Planetary Park

Celebrate Mariner 9's 50th anniversary with the Tharsis Planetary Park design at the WeMartians shop today! You can get it in a t-shirt or on a coffee mug.

108 - Space, UAE, and the World (feat. Sarwat Nasir)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 26 Oct 2021 07:05:00 +0000

The UAE started their space agency in 2014 and have accelerated at a remarkable pace since then, including putting their first orbiter around Mars this year. The work continues with new mission announcements, astronaut selections and more. Dubai-based space journalist Sarwat Nasir joins Jake to report on Expo 2021 and IAC 2021, two back to back space conferences happening in the UAE.

We talk UAE, Space and the World

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Wheels Down

Pick up your Perseverance Wheels Down design at the WeMartians shop today!

107 - Perseverance in Conjunction (feat. Vivian Sun)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Wed, 13 Oct 2021 07:05:00 +0000

The Perseverance Rover has been operating for over 200 sols already. It's travelled far with the help of the Ingenuity helicopter and is already delivering great science, including acquiring its first rock sample. NASA JPL's Vivian Sun joins Jake to talk about the mission's successes and failures, and what we can expect from it next.

We talk Perseverance Rover

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Vivian's Website

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Wheels Down

Pick up your Perseverance Wheels Down design at the WeMartians shop today!

106 - Sulfate Curious (feat. Ashwin Vasavada)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 7 Sep 2021 07:05:00 +0000

Curiosity recently celebrated its 9th birthday on Mars and is exploring a new area of Gale Crater rich in sulphates. NASA JPL's Ashwin Vasavada, Curiosity's project scientist, joins Jake to talk about this new area, the dramatic landscapes it holds, and what it can tell us about past life on Mars and the history of Mars' climate.

We talk Curiosity Rover and the Sulfate-bearing Unit

Curiosity enters a new area

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Ashwin's profile at JPL

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Immensely Complex and High Risk

Our new design pokes fun at some of the criticism of SpaceX's Starship system. Wear it proudly!

105 - Icy Flows of Arcadia Planitia (feat. Shannon Hibbard)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 24 Aug 2021 07:05:00 +0000

Arcadia Planitia has attracted a lot of attention because of its potential as a human landing site on Mars. It's hidden water reserves, under the surface, are one of many reasons it may be ideal. Geologist Shannon Hibbard joins Jake to talk about the ice underground, and some of the interesting flows she's found.

We talk Ice, Glaciers and Arcadia Planitia

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Immensely Complex and High Risk

Our new design pokes fun at some of the criticism of SpaceX's Starship system. Wear it proudly!

104 - The Gooey Centre of Mars (feat. Simon Stähler)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 3 Aug 2021 07:05:00 +0000

Over two years ago, NASA's InSight lander touched down on Mars and began listening for mars quakes. Now, scientists have used these data to reveal the interior structure of Mars. ETH Zurich's Simon Stähler joins Jake to talk about these results, how they help us understand Mars, and what we can do with this knowledge as we explore the rest of the solar system.

We talk InSight and SEIS

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Tharsis Planetary Park

Our new design celebrates the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Mariner 9 mission, first spacecraft to orbit Mars. Get it on a shirt or a coffee mug today!

103 - Space Lasers on Mars (feat. Nina Lanza)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 20 Jul 2021 07:05:00 +0000

With the arrival of Perseverance at Jezero Crater, NASA now operates two space laser instruments - ChemCam and SuperCam. Together, they are exploring Mars' past by understanding the chemistry and mineralogy of the rocks. ChemCam's principal investigator Nina Lanza joins Jake to discuss the both instruments, what they're up to, and what we're learning from them.

We talk ChemCam and SuperCam

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Tharsis Planetary Park

Our new design celebrates the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Mariner 9 mission, first spacecraft to orbit Mars. Get it on a shirt or a coffee mug today!

102 - Bus Stops to the Moon (feat. Paul Bookout)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 22 Jun 2021 07:05:00 +0000

The Orion spacecraft isn't the only payload flying on the Artemis 1 launch. NASA's new SLS rocket is also taking 13 secondary payloads to deep space, from science missions to tech demonstrations. Paul Bookout from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center joins Jake to talk about these payloads and how they integrate with the main mission.

We talk Artemis 1 SLS secondary payloads

Follow Paul and SLS

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Tharsis Planetary Park

Our new design celebrates the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Mariner 9 mission, first spacecraft to orbit Mars. Get it on a shirt or a coffee mug today!

101 - SmartSuit (feat. Ana Diaz Artiles)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 8 Jun 2021 07:00:00 +0000

Today's space suits get the job done, but come with drawbacks that slow astronauts down, cause fatigue and injury, and introduce risks to the mission. Engineer Ana Diaz Artiles joins Jake to talk about her NASA-funded SmartSuit concept, which could solve many of these problems for future astronauts.

We talk SmartSuit and space suits

SmartSuit Final Report - NIAC Phase 1

Follow Ana & The Bioastronautics Lab

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Tharsis Planetary Park

Our new design celebrates the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Mariner 9 mission, first spacecraft to orbit Mars. Get it on a shirt or a coffee mug today!

100 - Zhurong Rover on Mars (feat. Andrew Jones)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 25 May 2021 07:05:00 +0000

The Chinese National Space Administration's Tianwen-1 mission made history this month when its Zhurong rover landed safely in Utopia Planitia, Mars. Space journalist Andrew Jones joins Jake to talk about the landing process, the surface operations, and what effect this mission's success will have on space domestically in China and abroad.

We talk Tianwen-1 and Zhurong Rover

Follow Andrew

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WeMartians 100 Sale Event!

Celebrate our 100th episode! Almost everything is on sale in the WeMartians Shop. Use the code WM100 to get free shipping on all orders of 2+ items. Discounted pricing on Mission Patches, Stickers and Discontinued shirt designs! Event lasts until June 6th, 2021!

Join Patreon, get a free Sticker Pack!

Join our Patreon at the $5 level or higher before June 6th and get a free Sticker Pack in the mail!

Tharsis Planetary Park

Our new design celebrates the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Mariner 9 mission, first spacecraft to orbit Mars. Get it on a shirt or a coffee mug today!

99 - A SpaceX Moon Lander for Artemis (feat. Casey Dreier)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 11 May 2021 07:05:00 +0000

NASA has selected SpaceX's Starship to receive the sole award to take NASA astronauts to the surface of the Moon for the Artemis program. It's a non-traditional choice for NASA, and The Planetary Society's Chief Advocate Casey Dreier joins Jake to talk about what this means going forward for NASA and space exploration.

We talk SpaceX Starship and Artemis

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Ingenuity First Flight Commemorative Mug now available!

Celebrate the first flight of the Mars Helicopter Ingenuity with this commemorative coffee mug, now available in the WeMartians Shop.

Sticker Packs now available!

Head over to the WeMartians shop and pick up our new Sticker Pack, featuring stickers of WeMartians, Off-Nominal, the JPL Parachute and Perseverance's wheel!

98 - Ingenuity Takes Flight (feat. Teddy Tzanetos)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 27 Apr 2021 07:05:00 +0000

NASA made history this week as it flew Ingenuity, the Mars Helicopter, for the first time. The small technology demonstrator is the first powered aircraft to fly on another planet. JPL engineer Teddy Tzanetos joins Jake to talk about how it works, how it came together, and what he hopes its success does for space exploration.

We talk Ingenuity the Mars Helicopter

Follow Teddy Tzanetos

Teddy's profile at JPL

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Ingenuity First Flight Commemorative Mug now available!

Celebrate the first flight of the Mars Helicopter Ingenuity with this commemorative coffee mug, now available in the WeMartians Shop.

Sticker Packs now available!

Head over to the WeMartians shop and pick up our new Sticker Pack, featuring stickers of WeMartians, Off-Nominal, the JPL Parachute and Perseverance's wheel!

97 - The Future of Mars Exploration (feat. Bruce Jakosky)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 20 Apr 2021 07:00:00 +0000

As NASA embarks on a journey to return samples from Mars, the Mars Program faces a challenge maintaining a diverse portfolio of spacecraft alongside the cost of its flagship missions. Planetary Scientist and MAVEN Principal Investigator Bruce Jakosky chaired the Mars Architecture Strategy Working Group and was tasked with helping NASA figure out how to solve it. He joins Jake to talk about how we can keep exploring the whole planet while focusing so many resources into samples.

We talk Mars Exploration Program at NASA

Follow Bruce Jakosksy

Bruce's Profile at University of Colorado

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Ingenuity First Flight Commemorative Mug now available!

Celebrate the first flight of the Mars Helicopter Ingenuity with this commemorative coffee mug, now available in the WeMartians Shop.

Sticker Packs now available!

Head over to the WeMartians shop and pick up our new Sticker Pack, featuring stickers of WeMartians, Off-Nominal, the JPL Parachute and Perseverance's wheel!

96 - LPSC 2021

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 30 Mar 2021 07:05:00 +0000

This year, the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference goes virtual, and Jake reports "live" to catch up on mission updates and science themes. Scientists Sabrina Khan, Alyssa Pascuzzo, and Eva Scheller join Jake to report some interesting results from Mars.

We talk Mars Planetary Science

Follow Sabrina, Alyssa and Eva

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WeMartians Season 5 Mission Patches Now Available

Celebrate the arrival of Hope, Tianwen-1 and Perseverance with our Season 5 Mission Patch, featuring art by Beth Kerner. Available on the WeMartians Shop.

Sticker Packs now available!

Head over to the WeMartians shop and pick up our new Sticker Pack, featuring stickers of WeMartians, Off-Nominal, the JPL Parachute and Perseverance's wheel!

95 - Big Rocket Roundup (feat. Anthony Colangelo)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 07:05:00 +0000

The next two years could see multiple new heavy lift rockets enter the space world, bringing with them the capability to send bigger and better payloads to the Moon, Mars and beyond. Main Engine Cut Off Podcast host Anthony Colangelo joins Jake to catch us up on the latest developments in SLS, New Glenn, Vulcan and Starship.

We talk Big Rockets

Follow Anthony and Main Engine Cut Off

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WeMartians Season 5 Mission Patches Now Available

Celebrate the arrival of Hope, Tianwen-1 and Perseverance with our Season 5 Mission Patch, featuring art by Beth Kerner. Available on the WeMartians Shop.

Sticker Packs now available!

Head over to the WeMartians shop and pick up our new Sticker Pack, featuring stickers of WeMartians, Off-Nominal, the JPL Parachute and Perseverance's wheel!

94 - Guiding Perseverance to the Ground (feat. Swati Mohan)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 2 Mar 2021 08:05:00 +0000

NASA landed its 9th successful surface mission and 5th rover on Mars, Perseverance. To place is safely in the treacherous Jezero Crater, Perseverance used two new technologies: Range Trigger and Terrain Relative Navigation. Mars 2020 Guidance, Navigation and Controls Operations Lead Swati Mohan joins Jake to talk about these technologies and how they did their job so well.

We talk Perseverance Entry, Descent, and Landing

Incredible Perseverance EDL Footage

Follow Swati and Mars 2020

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WeMartians Season 5 Mission Patches Now Available

Celebrate the arrival of Hope, Tianwen-1 and Perseverance with our Season 5 Mission Patch, featuring art by Beth Kerner. Available on the WeMartians Shop.

Dare Mighty Things Parachute Design

Head over to the WeMartians shop and pick up the Dare Mighty Things t-shirt design, fashioned after the Perseverance parachute.

93 - WeMartians Live - Mars 2020 Perseverance Lands on Mars

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 23 Feb 2021 08:05:00 +0000

We talk the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Landing

Follow Tanya and our Guests

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WeMartians Season 5 Mission Patches Now Available

Celebrate the arrival of Hope, Tianwen-1 and Perseverance with our Season 5 Mission Patch, featuring art by Beth Kerner. Available on the WeMartians Shop.

92 - Hope Arrives at Mars (feat. Sarah Al Amiri)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 16 Feb 2021 08:05:00 +0000

The United Arab Emirates Space Agency became the first Arab nation to send an interplanetary probe to Mars this week. Minister of State for Advanced Sciences, UAE Space Agency Chair and Hope Science Lead Sarah Al Amiri joins Jake to talk about the spacecraft's arrival, what's next, and what it means for the UAE and the world.

We talk Mars Hope

Follow Sarah and the UAE Space Agency

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Perseverance Landing Livestream

Join us for WeMartians Live on YouTube as NASA's Perseverance Rover lands on Mars! Co-host Tanya Harrison joins Jake with special guests Debarati Das, Dave Buecher and Mike Seibert. Learn more at www.wemartians.com/2020live

WeMartians Season 5 Mission Patches Now Available

Celebrate the arrival of Hope, Tianwen-1 and Perseverance with our Season 5 Mission Patch, featuring art by Beth Kerner. Available on the WeMartians Shop.

91 - Canadarm3 (feat. Ken Podwalski)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 2 Feb 2021 08:05:00 +0000

NASA's Lunar Gateway is an international partnership that plans to put a small station in orbit around the Moon in 2024. Canada, the first country to join the program, will contribute a next-generation robotic arm to facilitate the station's work - Canadarm3. Ken Podwalski, Gateway Program Manager at the Canadian Space Agency, joins Jake to talk about the arm, it's role at Gateway, and Canada's plans for the future in space.

We talk Canadarm3 and Gateway

Follow the Canadian Space Agency

Canada's Canadarm3 Website at CSA

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90 – Volcanos on Mars (feat. Davitia James)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 19 Jan 2021 08:05:00 +0000

Much like Earth, Mars is a volcanic world and is home to the largest volcanos in the solar system. But it's activity has quieted since its early eras and volcanism on Mars today is quite different than what we have here on Earth. Planetary Vulcanologist Davitia James joins Jake to talk about the similarities and differences of these volcanos, and what else we need to learn about them.

We talk volcanos on Mars

Follow Davitia

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89 – Five Years of WeMartians (feat. Brendan Byrne and Emilee Speck)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 5 Jan 2021 08:05:00 +0000

Five years ago, WeMartians debuted its first episode. We've learned a lot since then, both in how the space world works, and how podcasts work, too! Space reporters and friends of the show Brendan Byrne and Emilee Speck join Jake to have a bit of a humorous look back at the first podcast and how far everything has come.

We talk Five Years of the WeMartians Podcast

The First WeMartians Podcast, January 20th, 2016

Follow Brendan and Emilee

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Going Pro Phase Two

It’s the end of the year, and traditionally around this time we ask for support from you, the listener, as we continue to produce space content on this podcast every month! WeMartians is entirely listener-funded, and as I noted about year ago this month, I’ve begun #GoingPro by making changes in my life in pursuit of creating space content full time. None of that is possible without you!

See some of the special limited time offers for new Patrons!

Support WeMartians on Patreon

88 – Lunar Science’s Next Giant Leap (feat. Renee Weber)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 15 Dec 2020 08:02:00 +0000

NASA is getting serious about sending people back to the Moon. And when the Artemis program lands on the surface, there’s a whole world of science to uncover. Renee Weber from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center joins Jake to talk about her new report on what NASA should prioritize when it finally sends astronauts back.

We talk Artemis and Lunar Science

Follow Renee and Artemis

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Going Pro Phase Two

See some of the special limited time offers for new Patrons!

Support WeMartians on Patreon

GoingPro Updates & Red Planet Review – Dec 5th, 2020

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Sat, 5 Dec 2020 21:00:18 +0000

And so as we kick off our December drive to gather support, it’s a great time to showcase one of the perks of being a Patron!

Red Planet Review is an exclusive extra podcast that is enjoyed weekly by our Patreon supporters of $3 or more. We cover all kinds of news from planetary science, rockets and spacecraft, space policy, all with a Moon and Mars focus. Enjoy this week’s episode for free, and consider signing up to support independent space media.

See some of the special limited time offers for new Patrons, too!

Support WeMartians on Patreon

Headlines for this week

Follow Jake & WeMartians

87 – HALO (feat. Michael Staab)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 1 Dec 2020 08:02:00 +0000

NASA is building a new outpost at the Moon called the Lunar Gateway. It’s a place for science but also a place to stage lunar activities like landings on the surface. Michael Staab from Northrop Grumman joins us to talk about the core module of Gateway, HALO, and what we can expect from it when it gets there.

We talk HALO and Lunar Gateway

Follow Michael and HALO

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Support WeMartians on Patreon

Now Available – Season 4 Mission Patches

Our season 4 mission patches are finally here! Celebrate our 4th season of podcasts with this awesome patch by artist Beth Kerner. We talk all about the design and its elements in our announcement blog post.

You can get the new patch for $17USD with free shipping. Plus, if you missed last year’s patch, you can get both together for just $25USD while supplies last. Both patches are limited print runs so pick it up today and support not only WeMartians but a great independent space artist, too!

Get your Mission Patch now!

86 – Equitable Design (feat. Kavya Manyapu)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 10 Nov 2020 08:02:00 +0000

As more and more human spaceflight vehicles enter service, and more and more people have access to spaceflight, the need to design vehicles to accommodate different kinds of passengers becomes more and more important. Kavya Manyapu, a spacesuit engineer on Boeing’s Starliner program, joins Jake to talk about equitable design, and the challenges and payoffs of pursuing it.

We talk spacesuits and equitable design

Boeing Suit unveiling

Follow Kavya and Boeing’s Starliner

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Support WeMartians on Patreon

Now Available – Season 4 Mission Patches

Get your Mission Patch now!

85 – Vera Rubin Ridge (feat. Abigail Fraeman)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 20 Oct 2020 07:02:00 +0000

In early 2019, NASA’s Curiosity Rover wrapped up a year-long chapter in its mission exploring Vera Rubin Ridge, an elevated rocky plateau with high iron content. Many months later, we’re starting to see the science results roll in. JPL’s Abigail Fraeman, the Deputy Project Scientist for the mission and campaign leader for the ridge chapter, joins Jake to talk about what we learned about the ridge, and how it surprised us.

We talk Vera Rubin Ridge on Mars

Follow Abby & the Curiosity Rover

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Support WeMartians on Patreon

Now Available – Season 4 Mission Patches

Get your Mission Patch now!

84 – The Mars Underground (feat. Charity Phillips-Lander)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 6 Oct 2020 07:02:00 +0000

The surface of Mars has been a subject of repeated exploration, from both in orbit and in situ. But this exploration is only skin-deep, and a growing community of scientists are calling on NASA to explore the Mars underground. Charity Phillips-Lander joins Jake to talk about this exciting world underground and how she thinks we might have a chance to learn about it with a mission concept called MACIE.

We talk Subterranean Exploration of Mars

Follow Charity Phillips-Lander

Charity’s Website

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Support WeMartians on Patreon

Now Available – Season 4 Mission Patches

Get your Mission Patch now!

83 – Humans to Mars 2020

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 8 Sep 2020 07:02:00 +0000

The annual Humans to Mars summit went virtual this year, and WeMartians stopped by to listen in on the discussions about getting humans to Mars. From life support to surface power, politics, and medicine, the summit covers a wide variety of topics. Guests Shawna Pandya, Robyn Gatens, Michelle Munk, Lee Mason, Marcia Smith and Chris Carberry join Jake to see where we’re at in this long-term plan.

Humans to Mars Summit

Follow Explore Mars and our Guests

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Support WeMartians on Patreon

Now Available – Season 4 Mission Patches

Get your Mission Patch now!

WeMartians theme music is “RetroFuture” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) and arranged by Jake Robins with Public Domain NASA audio and WeMartians interview samples. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

82 – WeMartians Live – Mars 2020 Perseverance Launch

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 4 Aug 2020 07:05:00 +0000

In the first ever WeMartians live video webcast, Jake is joined by co-host Tanya Harrison and special guests Alexandra Pontefract, Nathan Williams, and Phillip Hargrove to experience the launch of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover.

Mars 2020 Perseverance

Follow our Guests

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Support WeMartians on Patreon

81 – A Probe Called Hope (feat. the Mars Hope team)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Wed, 29 Jul 2020 07:05:00 +0000

It’s the Summer of Mars, and in between the larger space agencies of the United States and China vying to put the next rover on the surface, a small, upstart space agency in the United Arab Emirates is also looking to make their mark. Team members Mohsen Al Awadhi, Hessa Rashid Al Matroushi and Ayesha Al Sharafi from the UAE’s Mars Hope mission join Jake to talk about their successful launch and what they hope this mission will say to the people of the UAE and the world.

Mars Hope

Mars Hope launches Successfully

Follow Mars Hope

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Support WeMartians on Patreon

Announcing the first WeMartians Livestream Event for Perseverance

Be sure to join us on July 30th at 7:10AM EDT (T-40 minutes before launch). Co-host Tanya Harrison and I will be welcoming three amazing guests to talk about the NASA Perseverance launch, from science to engineering and more.

You can watch it on the Off-Nominal YouTube channel (subscribe to get the notification we’re live!).

We’ve Made Space Better

Here at Off-Nominal, we’ve been following the demonstrations against racial inequality and police violence in the United States, Canada, and around the world with concern. These events have highlighted deep problems with how we treat each other in many domains, and space exploration is not exempt.

While we have been processing this in real-time, it has become obvious that we must do our part and use our platform to speak up against these inequalities and take action to stop them. We have engaged with our Discord community to come up with a plan. The first part of this plan is to raise money for two great organizations listed above.

Thanks to two anonymous listeners and our friend Tim Dodd the Everyday Astronaut, we’ve been able to match $11,000 of listener donations with twice that again. All in, we’ve raised nearly $35,000 for the Banneker Institute and Black Girls Code.

80 – The Summer of Mars

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Thu, 2 Jul 2020 07:02:00 +0000

The Summer of Mars is here! Three missions are launching to Mars in the next few weeks from three different space agencies. We’ve got the definitive preview of these missions, from UAE’s Mars Hope, to China’s Tianwen-1, and of course, NASA’s Perseverance Rover. Get caught up on all the facts before you watch the launch!

Mars Hope

Follow Mars Hope

Mars Hope Twitter (@HopeMarsMission)

Tianwen-1

Perseverance

Follow Perseverance

NASA Perseverance Twitter

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Support WeMartians on Patreon

Help Make Space Better

While we have been processing this in real-time, it has become obvious that we must do our part and use our platform to speak up against these inequalities and take action to stop them. We have been engaging with our Discord community this past week to come up with a plan.

Many of these initiatives were developed not just by Jake and Anthony, but in partnership with the Patrons and listeners of our three podcasts. We’re proud that this is a community-led effort. We’re also really proud that some of our listeners and colleagues have joined in to make this an even stronger initiative.

Together, we’re putting on a fundraiser to support Black organizations whose missions we believe in.

All of the sponsors, including Jake and Anthony, will be matching contributions the community makes to both of these organizations through July 10. Jake and Anthony will match up to the total of this month’s revenue from Patreon (WeMartians, MECO), and other sponsors may have different max amounts.

Thank you for helping us work together to make space better.

79 – Preparing for a Martian Launch (feat. Tory Bruno)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 2 Jun 2020 07:02:00 +0000

NASA’s Mars2020 Rover is set to launch this summer on an Atlas V rocket from the United Launch Alliance. But it is no trivial payload, and a lot of work goes into preparing a rocket for this kind of journey. ULA’s CEO Tory Bruno joins Jake to talk about those preparations as they get close to this historic mission.

We talk Atlas V and Perseverance

Follow Tory

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Support WeMartians on Patreon

Now Available – Season 4 Mission Patches

Get your Mission Patch now!

78 – The Quest for a Piece of Mars (feat. Chris Herd)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 19 May 2020 07:02:00 +0000

NASA’s Mars2020 Rover is set to launch this summer to kick off an intense series of missions set to bring back a sample from Mars. But retrieving these samples is no small task. The University of Alberta’s Chris Herd, member of the Project Science Group for the mission, joins Jake to discuss Mars samples and all the challenges that go into getting them home.

We talk Sample Science for Mars2020 Perseverance

Follow Chris

Chris on Twitter (@SpaceRockDoc)

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Support WeMartians on Patreon

Now Available – Dragon Worm T-Shirt

Celebrate NASA’s upcoming SpaceX DM-2 flight, which will launch astronauts to the International Space Station from US soil for the first time since the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2011.

Our new design features the iconic NASA Logotype, the “Worm”, which will make a triumphant return on the Falcon 9 rocket for the launch. Pick one up today in the WeMartians Shop.

77 – Persevering through ATLO (feat. Christina Hernandez)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 5 May 2020 07:02:00 +0000

The ATLO phase of a planetary mission (Assembly, Test and Launch Operations) is the most intense of any part of its development. Amid a global pandemic, Perseverance’s time at it is even more remarkable. NASA JPL’s Christina Hernandez, a systems engineer on the rover team, joins us to talk about what it’s like getting a flagship mission out the door and to the launch pad.

We talk ATLO for Mars2020 Perseverance

Follow Christina

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#GoingPro Phase 1 – Complete!

On January 10th we concluded the first part of the #GoingPro fundraising campaign, and what a tremendous finish it was! With just hours to spare, we crossed the 200 patron milestone in an exciting finish. Missed the whole campaign? Catch up in our blog post explainer!

There’s lots more to do, but for now I want to say THANK YOU. Keep an eye the main feed for the upcoming Ask Me Anything style podcast. It’s coming up next!Show your support with a monthly pledge on Patreon!

Thanks to all the patrons who have come along so far, and to all the new ones ready to join the movement. Ad Ares!

Support WeMartians on Patreon

76 – A New Science Paradigm (feat. Elizabeth Frank)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 21 Apr 2020 07:02:00 +0000

For a long time, planetary science missions have been the exclusive domain of space agencies like NASA. But in the 21st century, things are changing, and commercial actors are increasingly involving themselves not just as suppliers to governments, but as mission leaders themselves. Elizabeth Frank from First Mode joins Jake to talk about a new paradigm for planetary science.

We talk Government, Industry, and Planetary Science

Elizabeth’s rejected LPSC abstract

Follow Elizabeth

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#GoingPro Phase 1 – Complete!

There’s lots more to do, but for now I want to say THANK YOU. Keep an eye the main feed for the upcoming Ask Me Anything style podcast. It’s coming up next!

Show your support with a monthly pledge on Patreon!

Thanks to all the patrons who have come along so far, and to all the new ones ready to join the movement. Ad Ares!

75 – Virtual LPSC (Part 2)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Thu, 2 Apr 2020 07:01:00 +0000

The annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference is the premier gathering for planetary scientists worldwide. But, like many events, it was cancelled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. We’ve covered it every year, and despite viral concerns, this year is no different. We speak with six planetary scientists about the work they were going to present by creating a virtual, simulated audio poster session. Stop step in, grab a drink, and learn about some cool space science.

We Mars Planetary Science and LPSC

Corbin Kling (@planetarydrone)
- Abstract on Noctis Labyrinthus
Justin Cowart (@jccwrt)
- Abstract on THEMIS data
Paul Niles (@PBNiles)
- Abstract on Jarosite formation
Shoshanna Cole
Szilard Gyalay (@szizygy)
- Abstract on porosity at InSight’s landing site
Peter Fawdon (@DrPFawdon)
- Abstract on Oxia Planum Crater Dating
- Abstract on Oxia Planum Landing Site

Follow Jake & WeMartians

#GoingPro Phase 1 – Complete!

There’s lots more to do, but for now I want to say THANK YOU. Keep an eye the main feed for the upcoming Ask Me Anything style podcast. It’s coming up next!

Show your support with a monthly pledge on Patreon!

Thanks to all the patrons who have come along so far, and to all the new ones ready to join the movement. Ad Ares!

74 – Virtual LPSC (Part 1)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 31 Mar 2020 07:01:00 +0000

We Mars Planetary Science and LPSC

Joe Levy (@colddirt)
- Abstract on Glaciers and Boulders
Frances Butcher (@fegbutcher)
- Abstract on Glaciers and the Gully
- Previous WeMartians Appearance: Episode 23
Stefano Nerozzi (@Micascisto)
- Abstract on the North Polar Layer Deposit Basal Unit
Chimira Andres (@RocksNRockets)
- Abstract on Ground Penetrating Radar in the Canadian Arctic
Catheryn Ryan (@geochemystery)
- Abstract on UV-LIF Instrument
- Previous WeMartians Appearance: Episode 39
- More on the BASALT program with Astronaut Stan Love
Andrew Annex (@AndrewAnnex)
- Abstract on Arabia Terra

Follow Jake & WeMartians

#GoingPro Phase 1 – Complete!

There’s lots more to do, but for now I want to say THANK YOU. Keep an eye the main feed for the upcoming Ask Me Anything style podcast. It’s coming up next!

Show your support with a monthly pledge on Patreon!

Thanks to all the patrons who have come along so far, and to all the new ones ready to join the movement. Ad Ares!

73 – Moving ExoMars (feat. Natalie Panek)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 17 Mar 2020 07:01:00 +0000

The ExoMars mission will be Europe’s first Mars rover, and when it drives off the platform on Mars to begin operating, it will do so on chassis and wheels made in Canada. Natalie Panek from MDA joins Jake to talk about the Rosalind Franklin’s mobility system, and how the rover will move around on the Red Planet.

We talk Rover Mobility Systems

Wheel walking Tests
More Wheel Walking!
Video shows deployment sequence of wheels and rover (you can also hear the clinking sounds of the metal treads)

Follow Natalie

Follow Jake & WeMartians

#GoingPro Phase 1 – Complete!

There’s lots more to do, but for now I want to say THANK YOU. Keep an eye the main feed for the upcoming Ask Me Anything style podcast. It’s coming up next!

Show your support with a monthly pledge on Patreon!

Thanks to all the patrons who have come along so far, and to all the new ones ready to join the movement. Ad Ares!

72 – Taking Stock of Planetary Protection (feat. Wendy Calvin)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 08:01:00 +0000

Planetary Protection is the framework by which we protect the worlds we explore from our own environment, and Earth from the worlds we explore. And while it’s purpose is important, its specifics can get out of sync as we learn more about science, technology, and when our priorities for exploration and development of space change. Dr. Wendy Calvin, a member of the Planetary Protection Independent Review Board, joins Jake to talk about her assessment of the current policies and the recommendations they made to NASA.

We talk Planetary Protection

The PPIRB Report

Follow Wendy

Wendycalvin.com

Follow Jake & WeMartians

#GoingPro Phase 1 – Complete!

There’s lots more to do, but for now I want to say THANK YOU. Keep an eye the main feed for the upcoming Ask Me Anything style podcast. It’s coming up next!

Show your support with a monthly pledge on Patreon!

Thanks to all the patrons who have come along so far, and to all the new ones ready to join the movement. Ad Ares!

Ask me Anything! – Patreon Milestone Episode

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 4 Feb 2020 13:30:00 +0000

In December we launched our #GoingPro campaign and you, the listeners, really stepped up! We hit our 200 patron milestone with hours to spare. And that means Jake’s on the hook for an Ask Me Anything podcast! So here it is.

Patrons from around the world submitted questions and we’ve asked Anthony Colangelo from Main Engine Cut Off and Off-Nominal to come by and read them. It is a fun filled episode with questions spanning space and non-space areas.

Thanks so much for your support in this endeavour. We hope you have fun listening.

Tidbits from the Show

Follow Anthony & Main Engine Cut Off

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#GoingPro – What’s Next?

There’s lots more to do! We’re going to keep working towards the next goal of 250 patrons. Once we reach it, I’ll make a bonus audio documentary about the Atlas Rocket, a storied launch vehicle that has sent a lot of really important payloads to Mars.

Show your support with a monthly pledge on Patreon!

Thanks to all the patrons who have come along so far, and to all the new ones ready to join the movement. Ad Ares!

71 – Martian Dust Towers (feat. Nick Heavens)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Wed, 29 Jan 2020 08:01:00 +0000

Dust is ubiquitous on Mars, and the way it moves around can be quite unique. While the global dust storm might be Mars most recognizable dusty weather pattern, the Dust Tower can be equally interesting. Planetary scientist Nick Heavens joins Jake to talk about these massive structures lifting dust into the upper atmosphere and leaking water in to space.

We Mars missions, Artemis, and Commercial Crew

Follow Nick

Nick on Twitter (@WeatherOnMars)

Follow Jake & WeMartians

#GoingPro Phase 1 – Complete!

There’s lots more to do, but for now I want to say THANK YOU. Keep an eye the main feed for the upcoming Ask Me Anything style podcast. It’s coming up next!

Show your support with a monthly pledge on Patreon!

https://twitter.com/We_Martians/status/1215815771315552257?s=20

Thanks to all the patrons who have come along so far, and to all the new ones ready to join the movement. Ad Ares!

70 – The State of Mars 2020 (feat. Brendan Byrne & Emilee Speck)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 7 Jan 2020 08:01:00 +0000

We’re in a new decade, and Mars is kicking it off strong with four missions to the Red Planet in July. As we do every year, we’re joined by Brendan Byrne and Emilee Speck to preview the missions as well as everything else ahead of us in 2020.

We Mars missions, Artemis, and Commercial Crew

Previous Conversations with Brendan and Emilee

Follow Emilee and Brendan

Emilee on Twitter (@EMSpeck)
Emilee’s Space Coverage (ClickOrlando.com)
News 6 WKMG Facebook (Facebook.com)
Brendan on Twitter (@SpaceBrendan)
Are We There Yet Podcast on Twitter (@AWTYMars)
WMFE Space (wmfe.org)

Follow Jake & WeMartians

Website (www.wemartians.com)
Patreon (www.patreon.com/wemartians)
- Featuring a limited time special offer! Ends Jan 10th!
WeMartians Shop (shop.wemartians.com)
- Free shipping if you buy 2+ items until Jan 10th
Twitter (@we_martians)
Jake’s Twitter (@JakeOnOrbit)
Off-Nominal Podcast
- Most Recent Episode: 25 – SpaceX Cinematic Universe

An Exciting Space Future

WeMartians is celebrating its fourth anniversary, and I couldn’t be more happy with the way this project has turned out. What began as a hobby has transformed in to a thriving community of thousands interested in Mars exploration.

I’ve got what feels like hundreds of ideas to make this show better, but I’ve always struggled balancing this hobby with my day job and the rest of my life. There’s not much else I can do without somehow getting more time! And so I’ve made some decisions to do just that.

I’ve left my day job. WeMartians is officially on the path of #GoingPro.

Learn more about the decision, what it means for the show, and how you can help at our blog post explainer!

https://twitter.com/We_Martians/status/1212865759665246208?s=20

Show your support with a monthly pledge on Patreon!

How you can help

You can help support me as I transition to a new career.

We’ve got some new Patreon goals for the next four patron milestones – all bonus content for YOU, including video tours of the new studio to audio documentaries.
1. UPDATE – Goal 1 has been reached! You can see the new studio tour here or below!
A limited offer extended until January 10th for new Patrons at the $5 level or higher – get a handwritten postcard and a pack of stickers!
A special sale in the WeMartians shop – free shipping on orders of two or more items!
1. UPDATE – New Shirt Design Available! SpaceX Super Heavy THIRTYSEVEN

Thanks to all the patrons who have come along so far, and to all the new ones ready to join the movement. Ad Ares!

New Shirt Design! THIRTYSEVEN

We’ve got a new shirt design out to mark our #GoingPro campaign. The much anticipated successor to our bestseller TWENTYSEVEN, THIRTYSEVEN features the business end of a Starship Super Heavy rocket. Pick it up now with the Rosalind Franklin shirt to take advantage of our free shipping promo using code GOINGPRO.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfWK32tXFd8

Red Planet Review – #GoingPro Edition

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Fri, 20 Dec 2019 08:01:00 +0000

Happy Holidays Martians!

We’re #GoingPro, and we thought it would be a good opportunity to showcase what you get for becoming a Patron by sharing an episode of Red Planet Review, our weekly news show normally reserved for our $3+ Patreon supporters.

To celebrate #GoingPro, we thought we’d end 2019 with a fresh new show that’s available to ALL listeners.

And remember, if you join at the $5 level or higher before January 3rd, you’ll get a limited time offer of a postcard from me and a set of podcast stickers!

Headlines this Week

NASA Budget for 2020
2020 Launch Window Updates
Insight Update
- The mole is moving again!
Curiosity Update

Follow Jake & WeMartians

Website (www.wemartians.com)
Patreon (www.patreon.com/wemartians)
- Featuring a limited time special offer! Click through or see below!
WeMartians Shop (shop.wemartians.com)
- Free shipping if you buy 2+ items until the end of the year!
Twitter (@we_martians)
Jake’s Twitter (@JakeOnOrbit)
Off-Nominal Podcast
- Most Recent Episode: 25 – SpaceX Cinematic Universe

Get your own Red Planet Review Shirt!

Support the show by wearing the RPR logo loud and proud! Get one today at the WeMartians Shop! And take advantage of our #GoingPro deal by pairing it with the new THIRTYSEVEN design!

69 – Looking for Life on Mars on Earth (feat. Teresa Fornaro)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 17 Dec 2019 13:57:00 +0000

In July, ESA plans to launch the 2nd ExoMars mission, a rover called the Rosalind Franklin that will search for signs of life on Mars. It’ll do so with the MOMA instrument. Recently, scientists from ESA and NASA embarked on an expedition to the Pilbara region in Australia to practice identifying biosignatures in rocks to prep them for their eventual interpretation of the data coming back. Teresa Fornaro, co-investigator on the MOMA instrument, joins Jake to talk about the instrument, the mission, and the expedition.

We talk MOMA, ExoMars, and Life on Mars

Follow Teresa Fornaro

Follow Jake & WeMartians

Website (www.wemartians.com)
Patreon (www.patreon.com/wemartians)
- Featuring a limited time special offer! Click through or see below!
WeMartians Shop (shop.wemartians.com)
- Free shipping if you buy 2+ items until the end of the year!
Twitter (@we_martians)
Jake’s Twitter (@JakeOnOrbit)
Off-Nominal Podcast
- Most Recent Episode: 25 – SpaceX Cinematic Universe

An Exciting Space Future

WeMartians is celebrating its fourth anniversary this month, and I couldn’t be more happy with the way this project has turned out. What began as a hobby has transformed in to a thriving community of thousands interested in Mars exploration.

I’ve left my day job. WeMartians is officially on the path of #GoingPro.

Learn more about the decision, what it means for the show, and how you can help at our blog post explainer!

https://twitter.com/We_Martians/status/1206647580370722816?s=20

Show your support with a monthly pledge on Patreon!

How you can help

You can help support me as I transition to a new career.

We’ve got some new Patreon goals for the next four patron milestones – all bonus content for YOU, including video tours of the new studio to audio documentaries.
1. UPDATE – Goal 1 has been reached! You can see the new studio tour here or below!
A limited offer until January 3rd for new Patrons at the $5 level or higher – get a handwritten postcard and a pack of stickers!
A special sale in the WeMartians shop – free shipping on orders of two or more items!
1. UPDATE – New Shirt Design Available! SpaceX Super Heavy THIRTYSEVEN

Thanks to all the patrons who have come along so far, and to all the new ones ready to join the movement. Ad Ares!

New Shirt Design! THIRTYSEVEN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfWK32tXFd8

68 – The Case of the Inexplicable Oxygen (feat. Melissa Trainer)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 3 Dec 2019 08:01:00 +0000

For years, the NASA Curiosity Rover has been quietly sniffing the atmosphere in Gale Crater with its SAM instrument. Today, scientists are finally getting a handle on that vast dataset, and they’re turning up some crazy results, especially an unexplained oxygen spike! Dr. Melissa Trainer from NASA Goddard, lead author on a paper covering the results, joins Jake to talk about this peculiar behaviour.

We talk Oxygen, Curiosity, and Atmospheres

Follow Melissa Trainer

Follow Jake & WeMartians

Website (www.wemartians.com)
Patreon (www.patreon.com/wemartians)
- Featuring a limited time special offer! Click through or see below!
WeMartians Shop (shop.wemartians.com)
- Free shipping if you buy 2+ items until the end of the year!
Twitter (@we_martians)
Jake’s Twitter (@JakeOnOrbit)
Off-Nominal Podcast
- Most Recent Episode: “Jim-Adjacent”

An Exciting Space Future

I’ve left my day job. WeMartians is officially on the path of #GoingPro.

Learn more about the decision, what it means for the show, and how you can help at our blog post explainer!

Show your support with a monthly pledge on Patreon!

How you can help

You can help support me as I transition to a new career.

We’ve got some new Patreon goals for the next four patron milestones – all bonus content for YOU, including video tours of the new studio to audio documentaries.
A limited offer until January 3rd for new Patrons at the $5 level or higher – get a handwritten postcard and a pack of stickers!
A special sale in the WeMartians shop – free shipping on orders of two or more items!

Thanks to all the patrons who have come along so far, and to all the new ones ready to join the movement. Ad Ares!

67 – From Hainan to Mars (feat. Andrew Jones)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 12 Nov 2019 08:00:29 +0000

Next year brings a quartet of missions heading from Earth to Mars, including one from the Chinese National Space Administration. Freelance journalist Andrew Jones, a specialist in Chinese space, joins Jake to talk about the mission, Huoxing-1, and what to expect leading up to China’s first Mars mission.

We talk China, Space, and Huoxing-1

Follow Andrew Jones

Follow Jake & WeMartians

The WeMartians Season 3 Mission Patch

This is the Season 3 (2018) commemorative WeMartians Mission Patch. We’ve partnered with space fan and talented graphic artist Beth Kerner to put together a custom, 4-inch, sew-on embroidered patch. It’s limited edition, with a print-run of just 100. And you can get one for yourself starting today! They’re just $17 USD, and shipping is free anywhere on Earth (Mars is extra, though). If you’re a Station-level or higher patron, your permanent store discount applies, too!

The patch captures the broad narratives of our third season of podcasts. It includes the Falcon Heavy inaugural flight, the InSight launch and landing, and the global dust storm that ended the Opportunity mission.

66 – IAC 2019

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Wed, 30 Oct 2019 10:00:50 +0000

The 70th International Astronautical Congress descended on Washington, DC this week, with 6300 delegates from around the world coming together to talk about space technology, policy and more. Jake is on site to report on the happenings, and connected with a range of people on robotic missions and human architectures.

Guests include Walter Cugno from Thales Alenia Space, Khaled Ali Al Hashmi from the United Arab Emirates Space Agency, and Gary Napier from Lockheed Martin.

We talk ExoMars, Mars Hope, and Human Landing Systems

Follow our Guests

Follow Jake & WeMartians

The WeMartians Season 3 Mission Patch

65 – Starship on Course (feat. Anthony Colangelo)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 8 Oct 2019 10:00:07 +0000

On September 28th, 2019, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk presented an update to the Starship architecture. To talk about what has changed and what hasn’t, Jake is joined by podcast partner Anthony Colangelo from Main Engine Cut Off in a two part conversation between the two shows.

You can listen to part 2 of the conversation on the MECO feed or by clicking here.

We talk SpaceX & Starship

Follow Anthony Colangelo

Follow Jake & WeMartians

WeMartians Meetup in Washington DC!

On October 20th, we’ll be meeting up with Anthony Colangelo from The Main Engine Cut Off Podcast as we head to Washington DC to cover IAC 2019.

You can join us as we visit the Udvar Hazy museum and see Space Shuttle Discovery, then come have beers with us at Dacha Beer Garden in the city. We’d love to meet you – this is going to be a big event and we can’t wait to talk with all our listeners.

Check out the details at our events page.

The WeMartians Season 3 Mission Patch

64 – The Dusty Plains of Arcadia Planitia (feat. Ali Bramson)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 24 Sep 2019 10:00:35 +0000

SpaceX has been requesting HiRISE images from an area called Arcadia Planitia as potential landing sites for their Starship vehicle. Dr Ali Bramson, a planetary scientist at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Lab and expert on the region, joins Jake to talk about what’s going on there and why SpaceX might be interested.

We talk SpaceX, Starship, and Arcadia Planitia

Follow Ali Bramson

Follow Jake & WeMartians

WeMartians Meetup in Washington DC!

On October 20th, we’ll be meeting up with Anthony Colangelo from The Main Engine Cut Off Podcast as we head to Washington DC to cover IAC 2019.

Check out the details at our events page.

The WeMartians Season 3 Mission Patch

63 – The 9th International Mars Conference (feat. Nina Lanza)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 27 Aug 2019 10:00:19 +0000

We talk the 9th International Mars Conference

Follow Nina Lanza

Follow Jake & WeMartians

Website (www.wemartians.com)
Patreon (www.patreon.com/wemartians)
WeMartians Shop (shop.wemartians.com)
Twitter (@we_martians)
Jake’s Twitter (@JakeOnOrbit)
Off-Nominal Podcast
- Most Recent Episode: The Dark Lord

The WeMartians Season 3 Mission Patch

62 – Through Stargate to Mars (feat. Jordan Noone)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 13 Aug 2019 10:00:41 +0000

We talk Relativity Space 3D-printed rockets

Follow Jordan Noone and Relativity

Follow Jake & WeMartians

Upcoming Seattle Meetup!

Join us in south Seattle on August 31st for another meetup at the charming Airways Brewing Taproom. They’ve got Blue Origin themed beers and a great atmosphere. Check out the details at our events page, and note this one is a little earlier ’cause the taproom closes at 7PM!

The WeMartians Season 3 Mission Patch

61 – Five Years in the Martian Atmosphere (feat. Gina DiBraccio)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 30 Jul 2019 10:00:26 +0000

We talk the MAVEN mission

Follow Gina DiBraccio and MAVEN

Follow Jake & WeMartians

The WeMartians Season 3 Mission Patch

60 – Why Go To Mars? (feat. Michael Robinson)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 16 Jul 2019 10:00:08 +0000

It’s been 50 years since Apollo 11, and while there’s still a lot to celebrate about the whole Apollo era, it also begs the question, “why haven’t we gone back?” Michael Robinson, historian and host of the podcast Time to Eat the Dogs joins Jake to dig in to what motivates people to go to deep space and Mars in an attempt to understand how to make it happen again.

We Talk Motivations for People to Explore Mars and Deep Space

Follow Michael Robinson

Follow Jake & WeMartians

The WeMartians 2018 Mission Patch

Apollo 11 Celebration Discount Code!

Use the code APOLLO11 to get 11% off any order with two or more items! It wouldn’t be a 50th anniversary celebration without some sweet merch, including the patch above! Pick them up in our shop today until July 23rd.

59 – Artemis (feat. Casey Dreier)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Thu, 6 Jun 2019 10:00:08 +0000

NASA is sending people back to the Moon, or so they say. A human deep space program is easier said than done. The Planetary Society’s Casey Dreier returns to the show to talk about politics, policy, and balancing skepticism with excitement.

We Talk NASA’s Moon Plan, Artemis

Follow Casey

Follow Jake & WeMartians

The WeMartians 2018 Mission Patch

58 – Calling Home from Mars (feat. Michael Staab)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 7 May 2019 10:00:21 +0000

Getting data back from our Mars spacecraft requires some pretty robust communications technology. But the infrastructure that rovers like Curiosity relay their images through is aging, and scientists are starting to worry about what would happen if they fail. NASA JPL’s Michael Staab joins Jake to talk about a new idea to reinforce that infrastructure and keep those data flowing back each and every sol.

We Talk Mars Communications

MAVEN lowers orbit to facilitate communications

Follow Michael

Follow Jake & WeMartians

The WeMartians 2018 Mission Patch

WeMartians theme music is “RetroFuture” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) and arranged by Jake Robins. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

57 – How to do EVAs on Mars (feat. Stan Love)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 16 Apr 2019 10:00:37 +0000

NASA’s BASALT program (Biologic Analog Science Associated with Lava Terrains) has been working on understand how to do real science on an EVA since 2016. Jake is joined by NASA Astronaut, planetary scientist and program participant Stan Love to learn the challenges imposed by a Red Planet Spacewalk and what kinds of things the agency is trying to overcome them.

We Talk Mars, EVAs, and Science

Follow Jake & WeMartians

The WeMartians 2018 Mission Patch

56 – LPSC 2019 (The Legacy of Apollo)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 10:07:07 +0000

Jake is on-site at the 50th annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference to report on Mars science results and the shift to the Moon. Fifty years from Apollo’s first landing, lunar samples are still having an incredible impact on all planetary science, and as we look to the future, we have so much more to be excited about. Three special guests join Jake to talk about this exciting topic.

We Talk Mars and Apollo Lunar Science

Follow our Guests

Louise Prockter
- The Lunar and Planetary Institute Twitter
Gordon Osinski Twitter
Gordon Osinski’s Website

Our Travel Grant Winner

Follow Jake & WeMartians

Introducing the WeMartians 2018 Mission Patch

55 – Glen Torridon (feat. Kristen Bennett)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 5 Mar 2019 11:00:36 +0000

Curiosity recently drove down from the Vera Rubin Ridge, its home for the last year and a half, into a new clay-rich area called Glen Torridon. Planetary Scientist Kristen Bennett joins Jake to talk about what this new area is like and what questions we hope to answer in the next chapter of this rover’s mission.

We Talk Curiosity and Glen Torridon

Follow Kristen

Kristen’s Twitter (@planetkilobravo)

Follow Jake & WeMartians

Rosalind Franklin

ESA recently announced that the upcoming ExoMars 2020 rover will be named for the pioneering British DNA scientist, Rosalind Franklin. Just as Franklin sought to understand the smallest signs of life, so too will her titular rover as it explores Mars. We’re celebrating this announcement with a new t-shirt design, which you can get in our shop now!

54 – Women In Space 2019 (feat. Mallika Sarma and J.A. Grier)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 11:00:03 +0000

WeMartians visits Arizona to attend the 2019 Women in Space Conference, an interdisciplinary event covering science, engineering, and policy with a reimagined, humanized perspective. Jake and guests discuss some of the science as well as the social challenges women and other marginalized groups face as they try to explore space.

We talk the Human side of Exploration

Follow Mallika, J.A., Tanya and Sara

Follow Jake & WeMartians

Rosalind Franklin

The Rosalind Franklin design

53 – The State of Mars 2019 (feat. Brendan Byrne and Emilee Speck)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 22 Jan 2019 11:00:22 +0000

The fourth season of WeMartians has begun, and we bring in our friends and regular guests Brendan Byrne and Emilee Speck to talk about rockets, rovers, and Mars in pop culture.

We talk Mars in 2018 and in to the future

Sounds of Mars from NASA’s InSight

Previous Conversations with Brendan and Emilee

Follow Emilee and Brendan

Emilee on Twitter (@EMSpeck)
Emilee’s Space Coverage (ClickOrlando.com)
News 6 WKMG Facebook (Facebook.com)
Brendan on Twitter (@SpaceBrendan)
Are We There Yet Podcast on Twitter (@AWTYMars)
WMFE Space (wmfe.org)

Follow Jake & WeMartians

Come have a beer with me

I will be at McFate Brewing Company (South location) in Scottsdale, Arizona at 6PM on Friday, Feb 8th. It’s an open invitation to any listeners in the area who want to hang out! More details here!

Red Planet Review – Anniversary Episode

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Fri, 11 Jan 2019 11:00:12 +0000

Happy New Year Martians!

It’s been 1 year since we launched the Red Planet Review weekly news roundup for our $3+ Patreon supporters. To celebrate, we thought we’d kick off 2019 with a fresh new show that’s available to ALL listeners.

If you like what you hear today, consider joining the hundreds of other listeners over at Patreon. With a pledge of $3 or more, you can get a show like this every Friday, a great way to keep up on the news! Plus, you’ll help support things like the WeMartians Travel Grant, for which applications are now open!

Headlines this Week

Valles Marineris – Not a Glaciated Place!
SpaceX’s Starhopper Test Article comes together
Mars Express celebrates 15 years at Mars
INSIGHT Update
SEIS levels itself
SEIS Tether slack released
MSL Update
Sols 2279-2280
Sols 2281-2283
Sols 2284-2285
MER Update
MER-B December Update at Planetary.org

Follow Jake & WeMartians

Get your own Red Planet Review Shirt!

Support the show by wearing the RPR logo loud and proud! Get one today at the WeMartians Shop!

WeMartians 2019 Update

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Wed, 26 Dec 2018 23:55:42 +0000

In a quick holiday update, Jake shares an update on the podcast announcing the WeMartians Travel Grant, looking ahead to our next Patreon Goal and content for 2019, as well as two upcoming conferences and Podcast Meetups!

We talk 2019 Podcast News

Follow Jake & WeMartians

New Shirt Design!

In support of the WeMartians Travel Grant, you can pick up our new PLANETARY T-Shirt design. 100% of the proceeds of this shirt support an early career scientist travelling to LPSC to share their work about Mars. We also accept direct donations to the grant through the store link.

WeMartians music is “RetroFuture”, “Electrodoodle”, and “On My Way” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

52 – Comin’ up Jezero (feat. Tim Goudge)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 11 Dec 2018 11:00:22 +0000

NASA has selected the next landing site for its future Mars rover, Mars 2020. Jezero Crater is an incredible ancient river delta spilling in to the side of a crater. But what really makes it special, plus how and why did NASA pick it? Jake is joined by planetary scientist Tim Goudge, who led the advocacy of Jezero through the process, to explain its charm.

We talk NASA’s Mars 2020 rover and Jezero Crater

NASA Announces Jezero Crater as Landing Site Mars 2020 Rover

Previous Coverage of the Mars 2020 Rover

Follow Tim Goudge

Follow Jake & WeMartians

New Merchandise!

We’ve got a whole bunch of new merchandise in our shop! Check out the new designs, including Off-Nominal gear!

Our Sponsor

WeMartians is sponsored by MOVA Globes. Visit the site and use the code WEMARTIANS for 10% off your order of one of these really great looking pieces shipping to the Americas. They rotate without cords or batteries! Patrons, check your Patreon account for a special Patron-only discount code. Thanks to MOVA Globes for helping us explore Mars together.

We wanted to feature a cool globe this episode. Given that Voyager 2 made the news this week when it entered the Interstellar Medium, we thought it appropriate to feature the Neptune design. Neptune has only ever been visited by Voyager 2! Check out that Small Dark Spot!

51 – Entry, Descent, and Landing

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 4 Dec 2018 11:00:08 +0000

On November 26th, 2018, NASA successfully landed the InSight spacecraft on the surface of Mars. It was their 8th successful landing, went picture-perfect, and seemed to defy the common thought that Mars landings rarely work. Jake recounts the landing, provides historical context to the events, and asks the question of whether NASA’s entries, descents, and landings are as failure-prone as some make it out to be.

We Talk InSight and Entry, Descent, and Landing

Previous Coverage of InSight

Follow Jake & WeMartians

New Merchandise!

We’ve got a whole bunch of new merchandise in our shop! Check out the new designs, including Off-Nominal gear!

Our Sponsor

Check out this antique celestial globe! It’s a reprint of Globo Celeste, by Giovanni Cassini in 1792 (no, not that Giovanni Cassini).

50 – The Journey to Mars is Hyperbolic (feat. Mark Wallace)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 13 Nov 2018 11:00:02 +0000

NASA’s InSight lander arrives on Mars on November 26th. It is an exciting event that ends the 7 month cruise phase since its launch on May 5th. But how did it get there? NASA JPL’s Mark Wallace, the Lead Trajectory Analyst for InSight’s, joins Jake and explains how to plan a journey across the solar system.

We Talk InSight’s Trajectory

Previous Coverage of InSight

Follow Mark Wallace

Mark Wallace Twitter

Follow Jake & WeMartians

New Merchandise!

We’ve got a whole bunch of new merchandise in our shop! Check out the new designs, including Off-Nominal gear!

Our Sponsor

Check out their Moon globe! They did a great blog post featuring five of its prominent features, and also a sweet eclipse-primer last year that has the best GIF ever.

49 – Moon to Mars (feat. Laura Forczyk)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 10:00:11 +0000

NASA continues to advance it’s Moon-first strategy, and commercial companies are starting to hop on board. Along with international interest, it all forms the backbone of NASA’s Moon to Mars strategy. Space consultant and founder of Astralytical Laura Forczyk returns to the show to talk with Jake about what this all means for Mars.

We talk Moon and Mars

Previous Coverage of Mars Strategy

Follow Laura

Follow Jake & WeMartians

Our Sponsor

Learn how MOVA worked with Cassini scientist Alexander Hayes to put together the incredible Titan globe!

48 – Zooming in on Mars (feat. Melissa Rice and Elsa Jensen)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 2 Oct 2018 10:00:55 +0000

NASA’s upcoming flagship mission Mars2020 will send a state of the art rover to the surface of Mars. Along for the ride will be an impressive camera called Mastcam-Z which will unveil Mars in a way never seen before. Planetary scientist Melissa Rice from Western Washington University and instrument operations manager Elsa Jensen from Malin Space Science Systems join Jake to talk all about the new camera, how it’s put together and what questions it might help us answer.

We talk Mastcam-Z and NASA’s Mars2020 Rover

Previous Coverage of Mars2020

Follow Jake & WeMartians

Our Sponsor

Learn how MOVA worked with Marc Rayman from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to put together the Vesta globe using data from the Dawn Mission!

47 – Recovering Opportunity (feat. Mike Seibert)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 18 Sep 2018 10:00:31 +0000

The Opportunity Rover hasn’t been heard from since June 10th, and things are starting to look dire. NASA recently released a new plan to recover the intrepid Mars explorer but the plan hasn’t convinced everyone of its merit just yet. Engineer and former rover driver Mike Seibert returns to the show to talk about the plan, how it compares with Spirit’s recovery, and why some may not be as excited about it as others.

We talk NASA’s Opportunity Recovery Plan

Previous Coverage of Opportunity

Follow Mike Seibert

Twitter (@mikeseibert)

Follow Jake & WeMartians

Our Sponsor

46 – Keeping Mars Alive (feat. Rick Davis)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 10:00:05 +0000

NASA may have pivoted to the Moon, but Mars remains a horizon goal. Keeping the different departments at the Agency focused and working together towards this goal is no small task. Jake is joined Rick Davis, Assistant Director for Science and Exploration, to talk about how NASA is working to send Humans to Mars.

We Talk Humans to Mars

NASA’s Mars Human Landing Sites Study

Previous Coverage of NASA & Humans to Mars

Follow Rick Davis

Red Planet Rick Twitter

Follow Jake & WeMartians

45 – Coming Together for Mars (feat. Jeff Johnson)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 31 Jul 2018 10:00:06 +0000

Missions to Mars don’t happen by accident. A ton of planning goes in long before the spacecraft is even selected. Understanding the consensus wishes of the scientific community is critical to putting resources into the right missions, and one group that helps gather that consensus is the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group. Jake is joined by Jeff Johnson, planetary scientist from Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab and the current MEPAGC hair to talk about how MEPAG works and everything that it does.

(note: in the interview, you may hear Jeff mistaken identify himself as the Goals Chair. He is in fact, the MEPAG Chair)

We Talk Mars Program Analysis and the Decadal Survey

Previous Coverage of Mars Policy

Episode 27: The Policy of Mars (feat. Casey Dreier)

Follow Jeff and MEPAG

Follow Jake & WeMartians

Get a Shirt!

The storm may be huge and terrible, but it’s time is limited. If you’ve been following along, you’ll know it’ll be over…soon! Get the shirt on our shop! Or, support Opportunity as she hunkers down through the worst of it in her typical, extra-nominal way.

44 – Ashes to Ashes, Clay to Dust (feat. Mark Lemmon)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 26 Jun 2018 10:00:24 +0000

There’s a serious Global Dust Storm happening right now on Mars. Several regional storms have kicked up a tremendous amount of dust into the skies, blocking out the sun and jeopardizing the Opportunity rover’s safety. But despite the threat, this is a great chance to do some science on Mars weather. Jake is joined by Space Science Institute’s Mark Lemmon to discuss these storms formation and what we’re learning from them.

We Discuss Mars Dust Storms and the NASA rover Curiosity and Opportunity

Follow Mark

The Space Science Institute

Follow Jake & WeMartians

Get a Shirt!

The storm may be huge and terrible, but it’s time is limited. If you’ve listened to the episode, you’ll know it’ll be over…soon! Get the shirt on our shop! Or, support Opportunity as she hunkers down through the worst of it in her typical, extra-nominal way.

43 – The Great Climate Debate (feat. Ashley Palumbo)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 12 Jun 2018 10:00:35 +0000

We’ve got plenty of evidence of liquid on the surface of Mars today. Lakes and channels indicate a past life abundant with water. But despite the evidence, scientists have had trouble modelling an ancient Mars climate warm enough to support the theory. Was the past warm and wet like the geology shows, or was it cold and icy like the climate models suggest? Brown University’s Ashley Palumbo, a Martian climatologist, joins Jake to talk weather, rain and mathematical models of the Red Planet’s mysterious history.

We Discuss Mars Past Climate

Ashley’s LPSC Abstract

Follow Ashley Palumbo

Follow Jake & WeMartians

Get a Shirt!

Evidence of Mars’ past is plainly visible thanks to the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter creepin’ over every inch of its surface. Now you can be that creepy, too! Get the shirt on our shop!

42 – A Culture of Safety (feat. Holly Griffith)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 22 May 2018 09:00:54 +0000

Before sending people in to space, space agencies like NASA or commercial companies like Boeing & SpaceX must take stock of risks to crew and vehicle and do their best to mitigate them. But how does this process actually work? How do you quantify risks to people? And most importantly, how do you determine that the risk is acceptable before you fly? Jake is joined by Holly Griffith, an engineer on the Safety team for NASA’s Orion Spacecraft, to talk about risks and to have a candid conversation about what’s at stake when making these kinds of decisions.

Follow Jake & WeMartians

41 – Thirty Years to the Centre of Mars (feat. Bruce Banerdt, Philippe Lognonné & Tim Linn)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Wed, 9 May 2018 10:00:37 +0000

NASA’s InSight mission, a lander to study the interior of Mars, lifted off from California on May 5th, 2018. For the scientists working on this geophysics mission, it’s been a long time coming. Jake travels down to Vandenberg to “see” the launch, and gets behind the scenes to hear the true story of this mission, thirty years in the making. Jake is joined by InSight Principal Investigator Bruce Banerdt, SEIS instrument Principal Investigator Philippe Lognonné, and Lockheed Martin Deputy Project Manager for InSight, Tim Linn.

We Discuss NASA’s InSight Mission

The InSight website
The Verge Science Launch Video
1991’s Mars Global Network Mission Paper (incl author Banerdt)
1992’s Intermarsnet (incl authors Banerdt and Lognonné)
1999’s Netlander (incl author Lognonné)
2003 Planetary Sciences Decadal Survey
2010 Mission Concept Study, Mars Geophysical Network
2010 MGN Options Study (InSight was originally option “G”)
2013 Planetary Sciences Decadal Survey
2011 Discovery Finalists Announced (incl. GEMS, which became InSight)
2011 JPL Changes name of GEMS to InSight
2012 InSight selected as Discovery 12
2015 SEIS leak delays launch of InSight

Previous Coverage of InSight

Episode 2: Every Twenty Six Months (covers InSight’s delay from 2016)
Episode 36: Systems Engineering InSight (feat. Farah Alibay, Payload Systems Engineer)

Follow Jake & WeMartians

Website (www.wemartians.com)
Patreon (www.patreon.com/wemartians)
- Learn about the Orbiter Level ($1/month)
- Learn about the Lander Level ($3/month)
- Learn about the Rover Level ($5/month)
WeMartians Shop (shop.wemartians.com)
- New InSight design GOOD VIBES
Twitter (@we_martians)
Jake’s Twitter (@JakeOnOrbit)

WeMartians music is “RetroFuture” and “On My Way” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

40 – Mars One Waning (feat. Ryan MacDonald)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 10:00:21 +0000

Mars One captured the world’s attention when it announced its intentions to colonize Mars by 2023. But since that milestone announcement back in 2012, the organization has faced funding difficulties, delays, and accusations of fraud and misdirection. Meanwhile, the Mars 100, the hundred candidates currently hoping for a seat on the first mission, are left waiting and wondering. Cambridge University PhD student and Mars 100 candidate Ryan MacDonald joins Jake to discuss his experience, the money situation, and Mars One’s future.

We Discuss Mars One

Follow Ryan

Twitter (@MartianColonist)
YouTube (MartianColonist)

Past coverage of Mars One

Episode 1: The Waxing Interest in Mars (January 2016)

Follow Jake & WeMartians

Website (www.wemartians.com)
Patreon (www.patreon.com/wemartians)
- Learn about the Orbiter Level ($1/month)
- Learn about the Lander Level ($3/month)
- Learn about the Rover Level ($5/month)
WeMartians Shop (shop.wemartians.com)
- New InSight design GOOD VIBES
Twitter (@we_martians)
Jake’s Twitter (@JakeOnOrbit)

WeMartians music is “RetroFuture” and “On My Way” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

39 – LPSC 2018

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Wed, 28 Mar 2018 10:00:02 +0000

Every year, upwards of 2,000 planetary scientists descend upon a suburb of Houston to discuss the latest findings, share the work, and learn something new at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC). A lot of Mars happens at these conferences, so WeMartians decided to attend it in person! Jake catches up with old friends, makes some new ones, and explores Mars like never before. This year, we explore the fascinating use of Earth Analogs to help us better understand the science happening on Mars.

We discuss #LPSC2018, Earth Analogs and their value at Mars

Past coverage of LPSC

Episode 21: LPSC2017 (March 2017)

Follow Jake & WeMartians

Website (www.wemartians.com)
Patreon (www.patreon.com/wemartians)
- Learn about the Orbiter Level ($1/month)
- Learn about the Lander Level ($3/month)
- Learn about the Rover Level ($5/month)
WeMartians Shop (shop.wemartians.com)
Twitter (@we_martians)
Facebook (@wemartians)
Instagram (@wemartians)
Jake’s Twitter (@JakeOnOrbit)

WeMartians music is “RetroFuture” and “On My Way” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

38 – Martian Mission Control (feat. Sophie Gruber and Reinhard Tlustos)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 6 Mar 2018 11:00:51 +0000

Behind every successful space mission is a talented team of support staff back on Earth, guiding the astronauts along the way. When we go to Mars, it will be much the same. But how can we practice these valuable skills? Mars analogues are a great way, and recently, the Austrian Space Forum completed a three week simulation called AMADEE 18. Project Manager Sophie Gruber and Flight Director Reinhard Tlustos join Jake to talk about the mission to the Oman Desert, and what it takes to get the astronauts to succeed.

We Discuss Habitats, Science, and International Collaboration

Other Analogue Coverage

Episode 7 – Sitting in a Tin Can (feat. Casey Stedman), covering the NASA HERA Analog mission
Episode 12 – Mission to sMars (feat. HISEAS IV), covering the NASA HISEAS IV year-long mission in Hawai’i

New Products in the WeMartians Shop

Opportunity’s 5000 sols celebration design, EXTRA NOMINAL
The Falcon Heavy TWENTYSEVEN design, now in a pullover hoodie!

Follow Jake & WeMartians

Website (www.wemartians.com)
Patreon (www.patreon.com/wemartians)
- Learn about the Orbiter Level ($1/month)
- Learn about the Lander Level ($3/month)
- Learn about the Rover Level ($5/month)
WeMartians Shop (shop.wemartians.com)
Twitter (@we_martians)
Facebook (@wemartians)
Instagram (@wemartians)
Jake’s Twitter (@JakeOnOrbit)

WeMartians music is “RetroFuture” and “On My Way” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

37 – Red Car for the Red Planet

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 13 Feb 2018 11:00:31 +0000

After years of delays, SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket has finally flown, sending a test payload of a Tesla Roadster with a mannequin called Starman to interplanetary space. With the launch, it becomes the most powerful rocket in the world. Jake, along with Anthony from the Main Engine Cut Off podcast, travelled to Florida to watch the launch from the Kennedy Space Center Press Site and returns to talk about the history, development and future of this fantastic launch vehicle.

We Discuss SpaceX, Falcon Heavy and BFR

Other Coverage of Falcon Heavy

Get the Falcon Heavy T-Shirt from our Shop

TWENTYSEVEN T-Shirt for Men and Women

Follow Jake & WeMartians

WeMartians music is “RetroFuture” and “On My Way” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Additional clips from the Walt Disney Corporation, RCA Records, CBS & SpaceX used under Fair Use.

Clips from NASA used under public domain.

36 – Systems Engineering InSight (feat. Farah Alibay)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 30 Jan 2018 11:00:09 +0000

This year is a Mars launch window, and NASA is taking full advantage of it with their Discovery-class InSight mission. This little lander will launch in May and land on Mars in November. Farah Alibay is a Payload Systems Engineer on this mission, and she joins Jake to talk about InSight’s objectives, integrating the instruments with the spacecraft, and the MarCO technology demonstrator.

We Discuss NASA InSight and MarCO

Past Coverage of InSight

Episode 2: Every Twenty Six Months (February 2016)
Episode 18: The State of Mars 2017 (January 2017)
Episode 35: The State of Mars 2018 (January 2018)

Follow Farah and JPL

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Twitter and Instagram
Farah’s Instagram

Follow Jake & WeMartians

35 – The State of Mars 2018 (feat. Brendan Byrne & Emilee Speck)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 16 Jan 2018 11:00:19 +0000

It’s a new year, and another trip around the sun exploring Mars. Emilee Speck & Brendan Byrne return to the show to continue a new tradition of covering the year that passed and the year that will be. From robotic exploration of Mars rovers and spacecraft to the endless saga of NASA’s human spaceflight program, we take a step back and examine everything going on.

Miss last year’s Sate of Mars 2017? Check it out here!

We discuss Mars, Robotic, Human and Otherwise

Methane Bursts on Mars (The Verge)
Opportunity survives 8th winter (Space.com)
- Recommended Episode to learn more: Episode 29: A Teenage Rover (feat. Mike Seibert)
Curiosity’s Wheels Breaking Down (Space.com)
Curiosity celebrates 5 years, rock drill still out (Space.com)
- Recommended Episode to learn more: Episode 28: Five Years of Being Curious (feat. Emily Lakdawalla)
InSight launching in 2018 (nasa.gov)
SLS Delayed (The Verge)
Mars is very expensive (Ars Technica)
- Recommended Episode to learn more: Off the Cuff “Should SLS Be Cancelled?” (for $1+ Patrons)
Deep Space Gateway Plans Announced (Ars Technica)
- Recommended Episode to learn more: Off the Cuff “NASA’s Roadmap to Mars” (for $1+ Patrons)
NASA Pivots to the Moon (Inverse.com)
- Recommended Episode to learn more: Episode 34: From the Moon to Mars (feat. Laura Forczyk)
National Geographic’s MARS series renewed (Deadline.com)

Follow Emilee and Brendan

Emilee on Twitter (@EMSpeck)
Emilee’s Space Coverage (ClickOrlando.com)
News 6 WKMG Facebook (Facebook.com)
Brendan on Twitter (@SpaceBrendan)
Are We There Yet Podcast on Twitter (@AWTYMars)
WMFE Space (wmfe.org)

Follow Jake & WeMartians

Introducing the Red Planet Review

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Fri, 5 Jan 2018 11:00:40 +0000

Hello Martians!

Last month we announced some changes to our Patreon goals and rewards. One of the exciting new things we announced was the Red Planet Review, a short new weekly series that will cover the Mars headlines of the week. It’s a fun way for Jake to explore more topical things happening at Mars without filling up the intros of the main episodes with updates.

Going forward, RPR will be available exclusively to our Patrons who contribute $3 or more per month on Patreon. But for the first episode, we’d like to share it with everyone and give them the chance to see what being a Patron is like. So for this one time, you’ll hear it here in the main podcast feed.

So go ahead, check it out and let us know what you think! If you like it, consider joining the dozens of others who help keep this show going by contributing financially.

Headlines for January 5th 2018

NASA to train astronauts in Mexican Desert (Riviera Maya News)
Methane on Mars continues to spur questions (Science Magazine)
ExoMars CaSSIS to get upgrade image compression software (@ExoMars_CaSSIS on Twitter)
Curiosity exits its holiday plan to continue exploring Vera Rubin Ridge (AGU Blog)
Opportunity waits for Orbital data at a fork in the road (NASA)
American Girl releases “Girl of the Year”, 11-year old Chilean Luciana Vega who wants to go to Mars (azcentral)

Follow Jake & WeMartians

Website (www.wemartians.com)
Patreon (www.patreon.com/wemartians) (Remember, $3+/month gets you weekly access to more Red Planet Review)
Shop (shop.wemartians.com)
Twitter (@we_martians)
Facebook (@wemartians)
Instagram (@wemartians)
Jake’s Twitter (@JakeOnOrbit)

BONUS – New Year, New Patreon, New Shop

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Fri, 22 Dec 2017 18:58:50 +0000

Hopefully everyone is having a great holiday break. I wanted to take the opportunity during this downtime to share some of the cool stuff we just launched!

This podcast is the audio version of the blog posts we put out early this week for the listeners who don’t follow along on the website or our social media. We think the message is too important to wait, and this way we don’t have to clutter up our first episode with 10 minutes of housekeeping!

Follow Jake & WeMartians

Happy Holidays!

WeMartians music is “RetroFuture” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

34 – From the Moon to Mars (feat. Laura Forczyk)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 5 Dec 2017 11:00:04 +0000

The US Vice President Mike Pence announced that the United States would be returning to the Moon. But for NASA, this is a change from the “Journey to Mars”. So what does this mean for human spaceflight, especially for the goal of getting people on the Red Planet? Space Consultant Laura Forczyk, founder of Astralytical, joins Jake to discuss the moving goal posts of the space community and what it means for Mars. Hopefully, we’ll get to the bottom of this ever-present debate.

We discuss the Moon and Mars

NASA’s switch from Mars to Moon, after Vice President Mike Pence’s announcement at the first National Space Council meeting
The response from space companies, like SpaceX and Blue Origin
The role of international partners like ESA, CNSA, Roscosmos and more
What’s next for Mars and what to look for in the future

Follow Laura

Follow Jake & WeMartians

WeMartians music is “RetroFuture”, “Electrodoodle” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

33 – Camping at Mars (feat. Danielle Richey & Steve Jolly)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Wed, 15 Nov 2017 20:15:47 +0000

Mission designs for human trips to Mars are common, but Lockheed Martin’s “Mars Base Camp” is something fresh. That’s because it’s a collaborative, orbit-first, science-focused approach, so it means the plan is a realistic path forward from NASA’s Deep Space Gateway. Complete with a habitat, a laboratory, propulsion, power and two Orion capsules, it’s a complete beachhead for a human trip to the red planet. It’s even got a lander! Listen to engineers Danielle Richey & Steve Jolly join Jake to talk about the idea and how it might become real.

32 – The Four Winds of Mars (feat. Lori Fenton)

info@wemartians.com (WeMartians Podcast) — Tue, 24 Oct 2017 12:12:06 +0000

The plains of Meridiani Planum, where the Opportunity Rover is currently exploring, is home to many surface features, but none are as stunning and the wind-formed dunes and ripples. How do these features form, and what significance do they have on the overall climate and history of Mars? The SETI Institute’s Lori Fention, an aeolian geomorphologist, joins Jake to talk all about these sandy structures and share the beauty of their past and present.

31 – The Interplanetary Business Case (feat. Chantelle Dubois)

info@wemartians.com (WeMartians Podcast) — Tue, 3 Oct 2017 12:07:47 +0000

On Friday, September 29th in Adelaide, Australia, Elon Musk presented SpaceX’s new update to the Interplanetary Transport System. The update to last year’s presentation focused on how to make this concept more real and specifically how to fund it. To get some fresh perspective on the business case, the University of Manitoba’s Chantelle Dubois joins Jake to discuss rocket stockpiles, fleet consolidation, and how this plan plays out across government and commercial space.

Links

WeMartians music is “RetroFuture”, “Electrodoodle” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

30 – Keeping Track of Curiosity (feat. Fred Calef)

info@wemartians.com (WeMartians Podcast) — Tue, 19 Sep 2017 12:08:45 +0000

Without GPS, keeping track of our Martian explorers is no easy task. Data management for the thousands of photos, especially their locations, is in fact a full time job. Fred Calef, JPL’s “Keeper of the Maps” joins Jake to talk all about how we build a base map for Curiosity to help scientists get the right context for their geologic studies.

Links

WeMartians music is “RetroFuture”, “Electrodoodle” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

29 – A Teenage Rover (feat. Mike Seibert)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 5 Sep 2017 12:07:52 +0000

For over 13 years, NASA’s Opportunity Rover has been exploring Meridiani Planum on Mars. The determined spacecraft has faced a lot of challenges through its mission, not least of which is continuing to operate in the harsh Martian environment. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Mike Seibert joins Jake to talk about all the intricacies of operating a spacecraft another world away.

Links

Mike’s Twitter Account (@mikeseibert)
Opportunity’s 13th Birthday Video
Planetary Society’s latest update on Opportunity
Breakdown of Curiosity’s Sampling Subsystem, which Mike works on now

WeMartians music is “RetroFuture”, “Electrodoodle” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

28 – Five Years of Being Curious (feat. Emily Lakdawalla)

info@wemartians.com (WeMartians Podcast) — Tue, 15 Aug 2017 12:08:00 +0000

It’s been five years since NASA’s Curiosity Rover touched down on the surface of Mars, and it’s been doing all kinds of science as it climbs the slopes of Mt. Sharp ever since. Taking a step back, what have we learned from this flagship mission so far? The Planetary Society’s Emily Lakdawalla joins Jake to discuss how Curiosity has pushed the limits of spacecraft engineering, operations, and science.

Links

Emily’s Twitter Account (@elakdawalla)
Emily’s Profile on the Planetary Society
7 Minutes of Terror Video
JPL’s 5 year review of Curiosity

WeMartians music is “RetroFuture”, “Electrodoodle” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

27 – The Policy of Mars (feat. Casey Dreier)

info@wemartians.com (WeMartians Podcast) — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 12:12:06 +0000

Despite a growing influence of private organizations in the space industry, government still holds a lot of power in the direction of exploration. Space policy is a messy, complicated and mysterious affair. The Planetary Society’s Casey Dreier, Director of Space Policy, joins Jake to talk about the current affairs of Mars exploration, from the robotic side to the human side.

Links

WeMartians music is “RetroFuture”, “Electrodoodle” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

26 – Remembering Pathfinder

info@wemartians.com (WeMartians Podcast) — Tue, 4 Jul 2017 12:08:17 +0000

On July 4th, 1997, NASA’s Mars Pathfinder mission touched down on Mars, ending a 15 years period where no spacecraft operated in the Red Planet. Twenty years later, the mission’s impact on our understand of Mars is still felt. Jake is joined by Matt Golombek (Project Scientist), Brian Muirhead (Flight Systems Manager & Deputy Project Manager), Donna Shirley (Mars Exploration Program Manager), and Tanya Harrison (Planetary Scientist) who recount the story and explain why the mission plays such an important role in the last two decades of Mars exploration.

Links

The original Pathfinder Press Kit for Landing Day at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Launch Footage
Paper by Matt Golombek on the Mission
CNN Coverage of the Landing
- Part 1
- Part 2

WeMartians music is “RetroFuture”, “Electrodoodle”, “We Got Trouble”, “Aretes” and “Heartwarming” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Additional sound effects by Sentuniman licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

25 – Building a Rover (feat. Abbie Hutty)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 13 Jun 2017 12:08:21 +0000

Europe’s ExoMars program has already kicked off with the Trace Gas Orbiter, currently manoeuvring downward to its final science orbit. But ExoMars is not limited to a single mission. By 2020, ESA hopes to launch the first European rover to the Red Planet. Abbie Hutty, a Lead Spacecraft Structures Engineer, comes on to talk about what it takes to design, test and build a rover chassis, from wheels to mast, and what this rover means in the broader view of Mars exploration and international cooperation.

Links

WeMartians music is “RetroFuture” and “Electrodoodle” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

24 – Risks and Rewards (feat. Leonard David)

info@wemartians.com (WeMartians Podcast) — Tue, 23 May 2017 12:14:13 +0000

All the obstacles in spaceflight can theoretically be broken down in to subsets of risk. Whether personal risk, programmatic risk, financial risk or professional risk, these are the things holding back individuals and organizations from accomplishing goals. What does this mean for Mars and how can we overcome it? Jake sits down with award-winning journalist Leonard David to explore this topic and try to understand what steps must be taken next to continue towards the objective of putting people on the Red Planet.

Links

Leonard’s panel on Risk at Humans to Mars 2017 (skip to 4:02:43)
- Bill Maher’s Earth Day Video Editorial (this is what is supposed to be playing in the gap in the above live stream, but couldn’t be re-posted due to copyright rules)
Buzz Aldrin/Leonard David book Mission to Mars – My Vision for Space Exploration
Mars: Our Future on the Red Planet (companion book to the National Geographic series MARS)
Leonard David’s Website

23 – Esker Questions (feat. Frances Butcher)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 2 May 2017 12:10:57 +0000

On Earth, geologists are pretty familiar with the concept of an esker, a snake-like ridge formation left behind by a receding glacier. Across our planet they can be found in areas where glaciers once dominated the landscape. The same is true on Mars, but eskers also require a time when glaciers could melt. Frances Butcher, a PhD student from the Open University, talks with Jake about these special kinds of Martian eskers that indicate a warmer, wetter environment than we once thought.

Links

Mars Timekeeping from the Planetary Society
The Martian Calendar from the Planetary Society
Frances’ abstract from the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference
HiRISE image of the esker system Frances is studying
- Analgyph version if you’ve got 3D glasses

Further Listening

Don’t Panic Geocast has some great episodes on eskers if you want to delve in to more of the science behind them. Episode 51 goes over them in detail.

22 – The Orbital Martians (feat. Ben Etherington & David Fourman)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 11 Apr 2017 12:10:17 +0000

In a mashup episode that combines the formats of The Orbital Mechanics, a great weekly spaceflight podcast, and WeMartians, Jake, Ben and David explore a variety of Mars topics. Delve in to history as we mark the 37th anniversary since Viking 2’s batteries gave out and learn about the spacecraft and its mission. Ben walks us through NASA’s new Road Map to Mars, a flight plan for SLS and Orion leading all the way to the 2030s. Then, we explore SpaceX’s Red Dragon mission and learn about the four candidate landing sites being considered when the Hawthorne-based company makes its first landing on the Red Planet in 2021.

You’ll also hear some of the great segments from The Orbital Mechanics, like #ThisWeekSF, upcoming spaceflight events, and space news. Note: If you are already a subscriber of The Orbital Mechanics, their episode 104 will be mostly the same content with some different introductions, ie. the same episode appears in both feeds.

Links

The Orbital Mechanics (subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher)

#ThisWeekSF (This Week in SpaceFlight History) – Viking 2

Apollo Applications Program
Voyager Mars (Photo 1 and Photo 2)
Camera System (Weird Photo of imaging team)
Astrobiology Instrument Schematic
Jake’s KSP History Post on Viking 2 (from his past life)

Spaceflight News

Questions, Comments and Corrections

Reddit – Insight into Falcon 9 Octoweb Construction

Red Dragon & its Landing Sites

Space News Article
Jake’s Landing Site Map
- Red X = Crashed/Failed Landing
- Green Circle = Successful Landing
- Yellow Question Mark = Candidate sites for Mars2020/ExoMars
- Space “X” – Red Dragon Landing Site Candidates
Deuteronilus Mensae (Photo 1 & Photo 2)
Phlegra Montes (Photo 1 & Photo 2)
Utopia Planitia (Photo 1 & Photo 2)
Arcadia Planitia (Photo 1 & Photo 2)

21 – LPSC 2017

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 28 Mar 2017 12:07:50 +0000

Every year, upwards of 2,000 planetary scientists descend upon a suburb of Houston to discuss the latest findings, share the work, and learn something new. A lot of Mars happens at these conferences, so WeMartians decided to attend it in person! Jake catches up with old friends, makes some new ones, and explores Mars like never before.

Links

History

The original Lunar Science Conference poster from 1970

Pre-Conference

Microsymposium 58 Website

Oral Session Highlights

NASA Night

Poster Sessions

Human Exploration

20 – Mars2020 Landing Site Candidates

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 7 Mar 2017 13:15:44 +0000

Ahead of the science, the surface operations, the tricky landing, interplanetary cruise, & launch of a NASA flagship class rover like Mars2020, the difficult decision of where to send the mission must be made. For the successor of Curiosity, this process is nearing completion as the 3rd workshop has narrowed the remaining candidates to three. Jake takes a long look at the mission requirements, landing site criteria, and Mars mapping techniques before exploring Jezero Crater, North East Syrtis and Gusev Crater to see what secrets might lie beneath the regolith.

Links

The Mars2020 Mission

Mapping Mars

The Landing Sites

Google Mars KMZ file to explore the landing ellipses on Google Earth

Jezero Crater

Jezero HIRISE image
SETI Talk with Tim Goudge (53:37), who led the Jezero team’s presentation

North East Syrtis

NE Syrtis HIRISE Image

Gusev Crater/Columbia Hills

Columbia Hills HIRISE Image
Spirit’s Traverse
Why Return to the Columbia Hills? by Alex Longo

19 – Dome Sweet Dome (feat. Kelsey Lents and Jeffrey Montes)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 14 Feb 2017 13:17:09 +0000

A surface mission to Mars will involve a lengthy stay in a harsh environment. Many have argued that this could be a psychologically draining experience as astronauts are forced into confined spaces with no light, perhaps underground away from harsh radiation. But architects Kelsey Lents and Jeffrey Montes don’t believe that’s necessary. They and their teams helped design the Mars Ice House, a 3D-printed ice dome that caught the eye of NASA and became a feasibility study to build a surface habitat.

LINKS (Mars Ice House)

Mars Ice House – The initial concept and first place winner of NASA’s Centennial Challenge
Video on Mars Ice House
Mars Ice House – NASA Awards Announcement (1st place winner)

LINKS (Mars Ice Home)

Clouds AO Project Page
NASA Article on Feasibility Study

LINKS (Clouds AO)

LINKS (SEArch+)

18 – The State of Mars 2017 (feat. Brendan Byrne & Emilee Speck)

info@wemartians.com (WeMartians Podcast) — Tue, 24 Jan 2017 13:24:02 +0000

The year 2016 was a big one for Mars, and 2017 might be even bigger yet. We’re joined by two space reporters from Orlando to talk about the highlights of last year in Mars exploration, and look ahead to 2017, which promises to take us closer to the Red Planet. Brendan Byrne is a reporter from WMFE Orlando and the host of “Are We There Yet?”, a podcast about space exploration. Emilee Speck is a reporter from WKMG with a passion for planetary missions.

LINKS

WeMartians Theme Song is “RetroFuture” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

17 – Canada CanMars, too! (feat. Eric Pilles)

info@wemartians.com (WeMartians Podcast) — Tue, 13 Dec 2016 13:15:38 +0000

NASA currently operates two rovers on the surface of Mars, but in the next five years that population could more than double as JPL prepares its third rover, and space agencies in Europe and China look to create their own footholds. That’s why creating a pipeline of talent that can plan, target, drive and otherwise operate these rovers is so important. Enter CanMars – an anlogue mission run by the Canadian Space Agency using real rovers here on Earth. I caught up with Eric Pilles, the planning lead for CanMars 2016, to find out how he and his team of scientists from universities across Canada are learning the ins and outs of rover ops, and how the science drives their goals.

Links

WeMartians Theme Song is “RetroFuture” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

16 – Closed Ecological Systems (feat. Morgan Irons)

info@wemartians.com (WeMartians Podcast) — Tue, 29 Nov 2016 13:10:46 +0000

Living and working in a remote place requires more than just food, water, shelter and air. If we’re serious about maintaining the health of our future Martian astronauts, we’ll need to pay close attention to the mental health, and we’ll need to figure out a way to make food sustainable. The idea of farming on Mars isn’t new, but the ideas of Morgan Irons, founder and Chief Science Officer of Deep Space Ecology, certainly push them forward. Her “three-zone model” promises to create a closed ecological system that won’t collapse under pressure. Morgan joins us to tell us all about her startup and the way she sees future habitats working.

Links

WeMartians Theme Song is “RetroFuture” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

15 – The Frosty Plains of Utopia Planitia (feat. Cassie Stuurman)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 13:22:44 +0000

Some call water the “oil of the solar system” because of its importance in our eventual exploration of other planets. Finding new sources and learning about how to access it plays a key role in our future. Using the SHARAD instrument on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Cassie Stuurman and a team at University of Texas at Austin discovered a massive deposit of ice in the northern plains of Utopia Planitia. Cassie joins us to tell the tale of its discovery, characterization and importance.

Links

WeMartians Theme Song is “RetroFuture” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

14 – Methane in Stereo (feat. Nicolas Thomas)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 1 Nov 2016 12:11:48 +0000

The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter’s primary mission is to hunt down sources of trace gasses in the orbiter and characterize them. Chief among these chemicals is Methane, and when it is isolated on the surface, we’re going to want to know what that place looks like. Enter the Colour and Stereo Surface Imagine System, a state of the art instrument that can take stereo images of the surface, allowing us to see Mars in 3D. Nicolas Thomas, Principal Investigator of the instrument, joins us to tell us all about this fascinating device, including its operations, how it targets science and why finding methane is so important.

Links

WeMartians Theme Song is “RetroFuture” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

13 – Making Humans Multiplanetary (feat. Anthony Colangelo)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 4 Oct 2016 12:24:04 +0000

Elon Musk has now bore his heart (of gold) to the world. His plans for making humans multiplanetary have been shared with us, including his incredible 42-engine reusable booster, his 100-person interplanetary spaceship, and his vision for colonizing Mars. Together they form the SpaceX Interplanetary Transport System, and they are nothing if not bold. I’m joined by Anthony Colangelo from the Main Engine Cut Off Podcast to talk more about this vision, including some of the realities of making it possible, the challenges they’ll face, and how to bring partners like NASA on board for the ride.

Links

WeMartians Theme Song is “RetroFuture” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

12 – Mission to sMars (feat. the crew of HI-SEAS IV)

info@wemartians.com (WeMartians Podcast) — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 11:35:36 +0000

Understanding human social behaviour under conditions of remote isolation, close quarters, and constrained resources will one day be critical to successfully executing a crewed mission to Mars. Analogues and simulations provide a useful tool to learn these tactics. HI-SEAS IV (Hawaii Space Exploration Analogue and Simulation) is one such experiment, and six crewmembers recently exited after an entire year in a dome on the slopes of a Hawaiian volcano. We spoke with all six members of the crew and learned a lot of valuable lessons, not least of which is the power of the human spirit and ability to make anything possible.

This special episode features interviews with all six members of the HI-SEAS IV crew, who recently completed a 1 year simulated Mars mission on the slopes of Mauna Loa. Crew members include Sheyna Gifford, Carmel Johnston, Cyprien Verseux, Christiane Heinicke, Andrzej Stewart and Tristan Bassingthwaighte.

Links

Crew Twitter Accounts

WeMartians Theme Song is “RetroFuture” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Additional sound effects by Sentuniman, caquet, jandrasounds, breyenkatz, lolamadeus, klankbeeld, and bewagne, all licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

11 – Mad About Manganese (feat. Nina Lanza)

info@wemartians.com (WeMartians Podcast) — Tue, 23 Aug 2016 12:53:05 +0000

The Mars Curiosity Rover has an impressive suite of instruments, but none incite as much excitement as ChemCam, a laser/camera combo that vaporizes rocks and analyzes their components. ChemCam is firing more than it ever has before, and Nina Lanza, a staff scientist on its team, is helping make some pretty remarkable discoveries with it. On this episode, Nina tells us about a high concentration of manganese recently uncovered that tells us a lot about Mars’ past, and suggests that it might have been complete with a lot more oxygen than we initially thought.

Links

WeMartians Theme Song is “RetroFuture” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

10 – Science meets Engineering on the 2020 Rover (feat. Sarah Milkovich)

info@wemartians.com (WeMartians Podcast) — Tue, 2 Aug 2016 13:56:19 +0000

NASA’s next flagship Mars mission will put the generation of their rovers on the surface of Mars. With the working title of Mars2020, the rover will improve upon the Curiosity design that so far has been wildly successful. But putting together a rover, even one with a borrowed design, is not easy. Sarah Milkovich, a Science Systems Engineer with JPL, tells us about the challenges of bridging the gap between science and engineering on a $2 billion rover.

Links

WeMartians Theme Song is “RetroFuture” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

9 – Riding Ions (feat. Joe Cassady)

info@wemartians.com (WeMartians Podcast) — Thu, 21 Jul 2016 13:03:11 +0000

Electric vehicles aren’t just taking over our roads – they’re taking over our orbits, too! Solar electric propulsion is a cutting edge technology that allows spacecraft to change velocity up to an order of magnitude more efficiently than traditional chemical rockets. Joe Cassady from Aerojet Rocketdyne and Explore Mars talks with us about how this propulsion works, it’s power requirements, the development status, and how we’ll use it to eventually send cargo to Mars in support of human exploration.

Links

WeMartians Theme Song is “RetroFuture” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

8 – Gullies on Mars (feat. Tanya Harrison)

info@wemartians.com (WeMartians Podcast) — Fri, 1 Jul 2016 12:54:20 +0000

Increasingly, Mars is appearing to us as a living, breathing world with dynamic features. One such feature that has captivated planetary scientists around the world is the occurrence of Martian Gullies, channels carved into the surface as if by water, in a world where flowing water is not exactly common. We talk with Tanya Harrison, a planetary scientist and geologist from the University of Western Ontario. She tells us all about gullies on Mars, how they might be formed, and what scientists are doing about it to learn more in the search for life on Mars.

Links

WeMartians Theme Song is “RetroFuture” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

7 – Sitting in a Tin Can (feat. Casey Stedman)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Fri, 10 Jun 2016 12:42:07 +0000

NASA and other space organizations have used mission analogues to simulate various aspects of space travel since the dawn of the space age. As humanity steps closer to deep space and eventually Mars, new analogues are being developed to represent the new challenges we’ll face. HERA (Human Exploration Research Analogue) is one such mission, and crew member Casey Stedman gives us an inside look at the exciting challenges he faced while stuck inside a habitat for 30 days.

Audio Links from the show

6 – Mars; God of War (feat. Kyle Dally)

info@wemartians.com (WeMartians Podcast) — Mon, 30 May 2016 13:18:40 +0000

Mars reached opposition (when it, Earth and the Sun form a straight line) on May 22nd. It’s closest approach (today, May 30th) is another important astronomical event. All of these work on a 26-month cycle. Astronomers around the world have their eyes trained on the blood-coloured planet, tracking its retrograde motion, supreme brightness, and near-approach with great interest. We went on site with Kyle Dally of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada to learn about what these events mean, why they are important, and how someone like you or me can get involved with amateur astronomy without spending thousands of dollars on equipment and training.

Links

WeMartians Theme Song is “RetroFuture” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

5 – Space Habitats and the Story of Bigelow

info@wemartians.com (WeMartians Podcast) — Thu, 28 Apr 2016 13:16:21 +0000

Habitation in space will become a very important topic as we venture out into deep space and eventually to Mars. Turning space from a place to travel through to a place to live will be a prime objective of technology development in the near term. In this episode we’ll explore the history of habitation, from the earliest Skylab and Salyut stations to the modular Mir and ISS designs. Then we’ll talk about Bigelow Aerospace, its NASA roots, and the commercial impact on the industry as it sets its sights on Mars.

Audio Links from the show:

NASA Audio provided under Public Domain. All others used under Fair Use.

4 – Citizen Science on Mars (feat. Michael Aye)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Sun, 3 Apr 2016 00:00:00 +0000

In the fourth episode of the WeMartians podcast, we explore the growing problem in Planetary Science – there’s too much data! With the dawn of the digital age, the volume of data coming back to Earth from planetary missions is increasing exponentially.

We’ll talk with Michael Aye, project scientist for Planet Four. Planet Four is a Citizen Science project which lets everyday people participate in planetary science by classifying features on the surface. It helps scientists like Michael get through the massive amounts of imagery from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and lets people like you do science on Mars!

Audio Links from the show:

Chris Lintott on the Galaxy Zoo

3 – Go! Go! Go! Exomars! (feat. Michael Coarezza)

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Tue, 29 Mar 2016 03:20:45 +0000

In the third episode of the WeMartians Podcast, we learn a little bit about the 1877 perihelic opposition of Mars, during which many famous astronomers, Giovanni Schiaparelli included, made crucial discoveries about the Red Planet.

Then, we’ll explore how this affects us today and for the launch of ExoMars. To help explain the massive process that goes in to building and launching a spacecraft, we’re joined by Assembly Integration and Test Engineer Michael Coarezza of Thales Alenia. He shares some stories about meeting deadlines, working with the historical Proton rocket, and the importance that international collaboration plays in space exploration today.

Audio Links from the show:

Other Links
Learn more about historical observations of Mars from the book The Planet Mars: A History of Observation and Discovery, available for free online here.

WeMartians Theme Song is “RetroFuture” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

2 – Every Twenty-Six Months

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Fri, 5 Feb 2016 00:00:00 +0000

In the second episode of the WeMartians Podcast, we explore the topic of Launch Windows, answering questions like “why do they happen?”, “when do they happen?”, and “are any windows more important than others?” From there, we’ll talk about Mars’ windows specifically.

Then follow along as we explore the two mission profiles in the upcoming launch windows in March – the delayed InSight mission from NASA and the European Space Agency’s ExoMars 2016 mission, including the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and Schiaparelli Entry and Landing Demonstrator.

Audio links from the show

1 – The Waxing Interest in Mars

info@wemartians.com (Jake Robins) — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 04:56:31 +0000

In this first episode of the WeMartians podcast, we explore the fundamental question facing all space exploration but especially those seeking to travel to Mars – why go? Why spend the money and take the risk on this important endeavour? We’ll hear from industry experts and visionaries as well as my own opinions.

Then we explore a 2015 Year in Review, covering topics from NASA’s Evolvable Mars Campaign (using the Orion capsule, Space Launch System rocket, and more) as well as efforts from the private industry including Elon Musk and SpaceX. We’ll talk about pop culture influences like Mars One and The Martian and ultimately show that 2015 was an amazing year for Mars – we want to go, and we’re making real progress to get there!

Audio Links from the show:

NASA audio used under public domain. All others used under fair use policy.

WeMartians Cover Art Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
WeMartians Theme Song is “RetroFuture” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/