The WeMartians Podcast delves into all aspects of the exploration of Mars, including robotic/human spacecraft and rocket engineering, planetary science, astronomy and other upcoming technology. Our episodes are research-supported and feature topical audio clips and special guests.
Red Planet Review – Anniversary Episode
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 Website (www.wemartians.com) Patreon (www.patreon.com/wemartians) The WeMartians Travel Grant WeMartians Shop (shop.wemartians.com) Check out the new PLANETARY design in support of the grant! Twitter (@we_martians) Jake’s Twitter (@JakeOnOrbit) 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
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 Introducing the WeMartians Travel Grant Our Next Patreon Goal Meetup Schedule (stay tuned!) Follow Jake & WeMartians Website (www.wemartians.com) Patreon (www.patreon.com/wemartians) WeMartians Shop (shop.wemartians.com) Check out the new PLANETARY design in support of the grant! Twitter (@we_martians) Jake’s Twitter (@JakeOnOrbit) Listener Survey 2018 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)
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 Episode 10 – Science meets Engineering on the 2020 Rover (feat. Sarah Milkovich) Episode 20 – Mars 2020 Landing Site Candidates Episode 48 – Zooming in on Mars (feat. Melissa Rice and Elsa Jensen) Follow Tim Goudge Tim’s Website Tim’s Twitter (@timgoudge) Follow Jake & WeMartians Website (www.wemartians.com) Patreon (www.patreon.com/wemartians) The WeMartians Travel Grant WeMartians Shop (shop.wemartians.com) Check out all the new merchandise out in time for the holidays! Twitter (@we_martians) Jake’s Twitter (@JakeOnOrbit) Listener Survey 2018 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! 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/
51 – Entry, Descent, and Landing
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 Viking Press Kit Mars Pathfinder Press Kit Mars Polar Lander Press Kit Mars Exploration Rovers Press Kit Mars Phoenix Press Kit Mars Science Laboratory Press Kit InSight Press Kit InSight L-1 Briefing Paper on Drag-assisted entry at Mars Summary of Mars EDLs Previous Coverage of InSight Episode 36: Systems Engineering InSight (feat. Farah Alibay) Episode 41: Thirty Years to the Centre of Mars (feat. Bruce Banerdt, Philippe Lognonné, and Tim Linn) Episode 50: The Journey to Mars is Hyperbolic (feat. Mark Wallace) Follow Jake & WeMartians Website (www.wemartians.com) Patreon (www.patreon.com/wemartians) The WeMartians Travel Grant WeMartians Shop (shop.wemartians.com) Check out all the new merchandise out in time for the holidays! Twitter (@we_martians) Jake’s Twitter (@JakeOnOrbit) 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. Check out this antique celestial globe! It’s a reprint of Globo Celeste, by Giovanni Cassini in 1792 (no, not that Giovanni Cassini). 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/
50 – The Journey to Mars is Hyperbolic (feat. Mark Wallace)
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 Porkchop Plots InSight Press Kit Previous Coverage of InSight Episode 36: Systems Engineering InSight (feat. Farah Alibay) Episode 41: Thirty Years to the Centre of Mars (feat. Bruce Banerdt, Philippe Lognonné, and Tim Linn) Follow Mark Wallace Mark Wallace Twitter Follow Jake & WeMartians Website (www.wemartians.com) Patreon (www.patreon.com/wemartians) The WeMartians Travel Grant WeMartians Shop (shop.wemartians.com) Check out all the new merchandise out in time for the holidays! Twitter (@we_martians) Jake’s Twitter (@JakeOnOrbit) The Off-Nominal Podcast Episode 14 with Gary Napier from Lockheed Martin 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. 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. 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/
49 – Moon to Mars (feat. Laura Forczyk)
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 Blue Origin signs agreement with OHB and MT dearMoon Airbus/Blue Origin backed Moon Race NASA’s Moon to Mars strategy Previous Coverage of Mars Strategy Episode 34 – Moon vs Mars (feat. Laura Forczyk) Episode 46 – Keeping Mars Alive (feat. Rick Davis) Follow Laura Laura’s Twitter Account Astralytical’s website Follow Jake & WeMartians Website (www.wemartians.com) Patreon (www.patreon.com/wemartians) The WeMartians Travel Grant WeMartians Shop (shop.wemartians.com) Twitter (@we_martians) Jake’s Twitter (@JakeOnOrbit) The Off-Nominal Podcast Episode 13 with Elizabeth Howell 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. Learn how MOVA worked with Cassini scientist Alexander Hayes to put together the incredible Titan globe! 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/
48 – Zooming in on Mars (feat. Melissa Rice and Elsa Jensen)
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 Planetary Society’s Mastcam-Z Outreach content NASA’s page on Mastcam-Z Malin Space Science Systems Previous Coverage of Mars2020 Episode 10 – Science Meets Engineering on the 2020 Rover (feat. Sarah Milkovich) Episode 20 – Landing Site Candidate Overview Follow Jake & WeMartians Website (www.wemartians.com) Patreon (www.patreon.com/wemartians) WeMartians Shop (shop.wemartians.com) Twitter (@we_martians) Jake’s Twitter (@JakeOnOrbit) The Off-Nominal Podcast 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. 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! 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/
47 – Recovering Opportunity (feat. Mike Seibert)
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 NASA’s Press Release on the new Opportunity Rover Plan Is NASA’s Opportunity Mars Rover Doomed? Planetary Society’s August Deep Dive Deep Space Network’s DSN Now Previous Coverage of Opportunity Episode 29: A Teenage Rover (feat. Mike Seibert) Episode 44: Ashes to Ashes, Clay to Dust (feat. Mark Lemmon) Follow Mike Seibert Twitter (@mikeseibert) Follow Jake & WeMartians Website (www.wemartians.com) Patreon (www.patreon.com/wemartians) WeMartians Shop (shop.wemartians.com) Twitter (@we_martians) Jake’s Twitter (@JakeOnOrbit) The Off-Nominal Podcast New Episode feat Loren Grush! 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. 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/
46 – Keeping Mars Alive (feat. Rick Davis)
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 Episode 1: The Waxing Interest in Mars (January 2016) Episode 24: Risks & Rewards (feat. Leonard David, May 2017) Episode 34: Moon vs. Mars (feat. Laura Forczyk, December 2017) Episode 42: A Culture of Safety (feat. Holly Griffith, May 2018) Follow Rick Davis Red Planet Rick Twitter Follow Jake & WeMartians Website (www.wemartians.com) Patreon (www.patreon.com/wemartians) WeMartians Shop (shop.wemartians.com) Back to School Sale details! Twitter (@we_martians) Facebook (@wemartians) Instagram (@wemartians) Jake’s Twitter (@JakeOnOrbit) The Off-Nominal Podcast 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/
45 – Coming Together for Mars (feat. Jeff Johnson)
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 The MEPAG Goals Document (2015) The 2013 Planetary Sciences Decadal Survey Previous Coverage of Mars Policy Episode 27: The Policy of Mars (feat. Casey Dreier) Follow Jeff and MEPAG Jeff’s Profile at JHUAPL’s Website MEPAG Website (JPL) MEPAG Committee Members Follow Jake & WeMartians Website (www.wemartians.com) Patreon (www.patreon.com/wemartians) WeMartians Shop (shop.wemartians.com) Twitter (@we_martians) Facebook (@wemartians) Instagram (@wemartians) Jake’s Twitter (@JakeOnOrbit) The Off-Nominal Podcast 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/ 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)
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 Most recent JPL news release on the Global Dust Storm Curiosity, starting at the Sun through the dust A look out across Gale Crater through the Storm The last photo taken by Opportunity on June 10th Follow Mark The Space Science Institute Follow Jake & WeMartians Website (www.wemartians.com) Patreon (www.patreon.com/wemartians) WeMartians Shop (shop.wemartians.com) Twitter (@we_martians) Facebook (@wemartians) Instagram (@wemartians) Jake’s Twitter (@JakeOnOrbit) The Off-Nominal Podcast 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/ 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)
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 Ashley’s Website Brown University’s Planetary Science Website Follow Jake & WeMartians Website (www.wemartians.com) Patreon (www.patreon.com/wemartians) WeMartians Shop (shop.wemartians.com) Twitter (@we_martians) Facebook (@wemartians) Instagram (@wemartians) Jake’s Twitter (@JakeOnOrbit) The Off-Nominal Podcast 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/ 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)
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. We Discuss NASA’s Orion Spacecraft and the Culture of Safety CAIB Report (NASA.gov) Previous Coverage about Human Spaceflight Risk Episode 24 – Risks and Rewards (feat. Leonard David) Follow Holly Griffith Twitter (@absolutspacegrl) Follow Jake & WeMartians Website (www.wemartians.com) Patreon (www.patreon.com/wemartians) WeMartians Shop (shop.wemartians.com) Twitter (@we_martians) Facebook (@wemartians) Instagram (@wemartians) Jake’s Twitter (@JakeOnOrbit) The Off-Nominal Podcast 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/
41 – Thirty Years to the Centre of Mars (feat. Bruce Banerdt, Philippe Lognonné & Tim Linn)
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)
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 Original Mars One Press Release (March 2012) All Mars One Press Releases Ryan’s Application Video The Mars One Indiegogo Crowdfunding Campaign MIT Press Release for Feasibility Study Elmo Keep’s Piece on Josh Richards Elmo Keep’s Piece on Joseph Roche Rae Paoletta’s Piece on Mars One Mars One Revenue Projections Document 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/