December 27, 2018 8:00 pm

Friday, Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice Answer Cosmic Queries on Colonizing Mars

It’s the planet we’re most familiar with besides Earth. It’s on everyone’s mind. The ultimate question: when will humans set foot on the Red Surface? Well, on this episode of StarTalk Radio, we focus on another question: once we’re on the surface, what’s next?

Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice answer fan-submitted Cosmic Queries about colonizing Mars. This episode is now extended with more Cosmic Queries that cover topics from across the universe.

You’ll discover more about militarizing space. Is a space war possible? What would it look like? According to Neil, it wouldn’t last very long. We also discuss what type of injuries could occur in space. Find out more about gravity and why it produces elliptical orbits and we explore why planets orbit in the direction they do.

You’ll hear about the heliosphere and its importance. Find out what the Drake equation tells us about the existence of aliens. We discuss Panspermia – the theory that life exists and is distributed throughout the universe in the form of germs or spores that develop in the right environment – and how plausible of a theory it is. And, Neil tells us where he thinks we’re most likely to find aliens in our solar system.

If you haven’t listened to the original episode, it’s full of Martian insight (pun intended) from Neil and Chuck. You’ll learn about garbage disposal on Mars and why the lack of microbes would cause problems. Find out about terraforming and growing crops on the Red Planet. You’ll investigate how human life would adapt, if at all, on the Martian surface where it’s 40% Earth’s gravity. All that, plus, you’ll find out how Martian gravity and atmosphere will impact the first baseball game on Mars between the New York Yankees and the Martian Reds.

Please join us tomorrow night for Extended Classic: Cosmic Queries – Colonizing Mars at 7pm ET right here on our website, as well as on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and TuneIn. If you’re an All-Access subscriber, you can listen to this episode ad-free at 7pm, too.

That’s it for now. Keep Looking Up!
-Ian Mullen