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:

• Buzz Aldrin with Euronews
• Dr. Robert Zubrin at NASA Ames
• Barack Obama at Kennedy Space Centre
• Elon Musk with CNN
• Orion Exploration Flight Test 1 (EFT-1)
• Elmo on Orion
• NASA Telecon following Orion Key Decision Point C
• SLS Solid Rocket Booster Qualification Test
• NASA Marshall’s SLS Booster Information
• RS-25 Development Test #7
• Space Launch System (SLS) post Critical Design Review
• NASA Astronaut Recruitment Video with Charlie Bolden
• Orbcomm-2 Launch and Landing Webcase (courtesy SpaceX)
• Bas Landorp on DailyMail
• The cast of The Martian interview ISS crewmembers Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren
• The cast of The Martian test a prototype Mars rover
• Matt Damon on the importance of The Martian
• Jessica Chastain and Tracy Caldwell Dyson on The Martian

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/