Broadcast 1455 (Special Edition)

Guests: Chris Carberry, Artemis Westenberg. Topics: Explore Mars, Inc. projects and humans to Mars programs. Please note that you are invited to comment, ask questions, and rate this program on the new Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. We welcomed back Chris Carberry, Executive Director of Explore Mars, Inc. and Ms. Artemis Westenberg who is the President and a Board Member of Explore Mars, Inc. We started our first segment with Chris bringing us up to date on Explore Mars programs since he was on several months ago introducing us to the new organization. You can find out more about all of these programs by visiting their website, www.exploremars.org. The first project discussed was the Mars Educational Challenge, a program in partnership with the National Science Teachers Association and The Planetary Society. This program challenges science educators in the U.S. to create Mars related curricula and support materials for students. We also asked Artemis about the support for human Mars missions in the Netherlands and across Europe. Another program our guests talked about involved programs to discuss how best to use the ISS to advance humans to Mars missions. The organization wants to expand these meetings to Europe and other key space fairing countries. Many questions came up regarding space policy and the direction the U.S. may be taking with regards to Mars missions. International cooperation and efforts were stressed by both guests throughout the program. Other topics discussed in this segment included closed loop environmental systems, Mars analog bases, and insitu resource utilization. Toward the end of this segment, Chris and Artemis told us about the Mars Exploration Magazine which will be made available off their website. In the second segment, our guests got a question about a human mission to Phobos rather than Mars. This came up many times through the balance of the program as it related to excitement, student and general population inspiration, even private sector involvement in a Mars mission. Don't miss what our guests had to say about the idea of humans to Phobos before or instead of putting humans on Mars. A Little Rock listener asked for more information about the Explore Mars Agriculture Workshop which our guests described in detail. In the third and final segment of the program, we began our discussion by talking about the Mars Talk program. This program will consist of interviews with people in the Mars community to help facilitate interest and activity in Mars missions. Our guests also stressed the volunteer network Explore Mars works with and needs. Listeners were invited to inquire about volunteering and being involved with Explore Mars, Inc. In this segment, we discussed in some detail the ISRU Challenge which offers a $50,000 prize . Listeners also wanted to know about using nuclear propulsion to get to Mars fasters and several questions came in about Mars analog stations which Artemis fielded on behalf of the listeners. Toward the end of the show, we talked about the possibility of finding life on Mars and what this would mean for Mars human missions. We ended the discussion with both our guests suggesting meaningful ways for listeners to advocate on behalf of human Mars missions. You will definitely want to hear their suggestions. If you have questions or comments for our guests, please post them on the blog URL above. You can also send them to carberry@exploremars.org, artemis@exploremars.org or drspace@thespaceshow.com.