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

Play Episode (45:30)

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

• Mars 2020 Name the Rover Contest
• ExoMars 2020 Parachute Progress
• UAE’s Mars Hope nearly assembled
• Long March 5 returns to flight
• Starliner in good shape after shortened flight
• NASA received $22.6B budget

Previous Conversations with Brendan and Emilee

• Episode 18 – State of Mars 2017
• Episode 35 – State of Mars 2018
• Off-Nominal Episode 6 (feat. Brendan Byrne)
• Episode 53 – State of Mars 2019

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.

1. 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!
2. 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!
3. 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

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/