What I learned from listening to two Mars geeks talk for an hour
Astronauts recycle their urine so they don't have to carry six months' worth of water up into space...
Hydrogen is actually a very effective shield against radiation. So the best shield for a rocket on its way to Mars? Food, water, and...waste.
Also on radiation: apparently the most effective way to shield against radiation while on Mars is to just cover your buildings with dirt.
If you step outside into the Martian atmosphere without a spacesuit, you'll die in like five different ways. The first way, basically you exploding due to the extremely low atmospheric pressure, was described by Pascal Lee as “a cruel and unusual death.”
The other ways were, in order, the toxic atmosphere (mostly CO2), the cold temperature, the dirt (perchlorates are nasty, man), and radiation.
NASA’s current projection on Mars exploration, laid out by President Obama, sees them putting humans on Mars sometime in the 2040s. I can’t wait to hear the exciting recap of that event on my favorite pod, Dear John and Hank.
Also: the European Space Agency launched a Mars probe, and it was just about to land on Mars when communication was cut one minute before landing. No one knows what exactly happened to it.
A debate on whether or not there was ever life on Mars can get quite heated.
On a completely different note: apparently Chile and Argentina have both set up civilian settlements in Antarctica. And people live there, and they have schools for the children there. People have been born in Antarctica.
Andy Weir would not like to go to Mars. I don’t blame him.
I think the whole talk -- which features mostly Pascal Lee and Andy Weir -- will be broadcast on KQED sometime soon, and you should go check it out. It was really fascinating and entertaining.
