March 13, 2017 6:54 pm

On Tuesday’s Extended Classic, Neil Tyson and Bill Nye Contemplate Mars from the Cosmic Crib

This Tuesday, join Neil deGrasse Tyson and Bill Nye in the Cosmic Crib as they crack open a nice bottle of wine and turn their gaze towards Mars.

Recorded in Neil’s office at the Hayden Planetarium, the two friends ponder the journey to Mars – and whether they would take it themselves. The conversation turns every which way from creating artificial gravity on spaceships to bow ties for astronauts.

You’ll feel like one of the crew as you listen in from the best seat in the house to this new 12-minute segment that has been added to our extended classic All-Stars episode, Putting Humans on Mars, with Mike Massimino.

If you’ve never listened to the original episode, which was our third ever StarTalk All–Stars episode, you are in for an in-depth discussion on the exploration of Mars, specifically getting humans there, and getting them back safely.

This was Astro Mike Massimino’s first time in the captain’s chair and he is joined by comic co-host Maeve Higgins and John Charles, the Chief Scientist at NASA’s Human Research Program.

Mike knows a lot of about the human aspect of space exploration. During his time as an astronaut, he flew on two space shuttle missions to fix the Hubble Space Telescope before retiring to teach mechanical engineering at Columbia University and to be a Senior Advisor of Space Programs at the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum.

A main theme of the episode is the choice between human exploration of the Red Planet, robotic exploration, or both. Mike, Maeve and John explore the physiological and physical issues that might arise when sending humans to Mars. You’ll also hear John highlight some of the 30 risks posed to astronauts on the journey to Mars that NASA is working to alleviate. Problems range from radiation exposure to dealing with the isolation and confinement of a minimum 30-month voyage.

The panel also discusses the accuracy of The Martian and NASA’s cooperation with SpaceX’s plan to send humans to Mars in 2025, and Mike offers advice to anyone willing to take the long trip to Mars.

If you want in on the journey to Mars then please join us tomorrow night for Extended Classic: Putting Humans on Mars, with Mike Massimino at 7pm EDT right here on our website, as well as on our new All-Stars channel on iTunes 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