November 12, 2018 9:44 pm

Get Us Outta Here! We Explore Interstellar Travel with Natalia Reagan and Friends

On this episode of StarTalk All-Stars we’re coming to you live from our show at the Caveat in New York City as primatologist and host Natalia Reagan and comic co-host Harrison Greenbaum welcome a wonderful panel of guests to guide us on an interstellar journey and explore the future of human space travel.

Joining us first is Jana Grcevich, co-author of Vacation Guide to the Solar System: Science for the Savvy Space Traveler!, who you might remember helped us plan vacations that are out of this world on the episode The Intergalactic Travel Bureau, with Emily Rice.

Jana joins us to discuss which places are the hot spots and which places are the not spots in planetary vacation. You’ll discover the pros and cons of the Moon, Mars, Venus, Europa, Enceladus, Proxima b, and others as we try and help you find your perfect trip.

Next up, we chat with biomedical engineer Ronke Olabisi, about what it will take to have a successful interstellar trip. She gives us details on the 100 Year Starship project she’s working on alongside former astronaut Mae Jemison. You’ll learn how inspiration, like President Kennedy’s famous Moon speech, can spark vast amounts of change in very little time. We also discuss the possibilities of reproduction in space and how the body changes when you’re off-Earth. Lastly, discover some ways to deal with radiation while traveling in space.

Finally, we hear from Kate Greene, poet, essayist, and former crew member on HI-SEAS, the NASA-funded Mars simulation mission based in Hawai’I, and psychologist Jay Van Bavel as they help us paint a picture of what social constructs and group dynamics will look like during long-term space travel. Kate tells us about her time on the HI-SEAS mission. You’ll find out about her duties as second in command on the mission.  Learn why functional marriage dynamics are similar to the dynamics of a functional crew. All that, plus, Jay tells us if it’s possible to abandon or evolve social structures on long-term missions.

Please join us tomorrow night for StarTalk All-Stars @ Caveat – Gettin’ Off Earth! at 7pm ET right here on our website, as well as on our All-Stars channels on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and TuneIn. And if you’re an All-Access subscriber, you can watch or listen to this episode ad-free at 7pm, too.

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