March 21, 2025

This Week in Space 153: Pathways to Mars

1 hour 6 minutes

After 60 years of discussion, we may finally be making real, actionable plans to send a crew to Mars. One of the prime advocates for sending humans to the Red Planet has been Dr. Robert Zubrin, founder and president of The Mars Society. In 1990, he and David Baker worked up a plan called "Mars Direct," which took the core of then-current NASA planning and streamlined it into a more realistic, affordable approach. Since then, some of the key elements have been incorporated into NASA's Design Reference Missions, still the primary set of plans for reaching Mars. Join us for this fascinating discussion.

Headlines

Crew-9 Return: Astronauts Wilmore and Williams returned to Earth via SpaceX Dragon with dolphins swimming around their capsule—spoiler alert: it was NOT AI generated!

Isar Aerospace: A German company prepared for the first orbital launch from Norway's Andoya Spaceport

SpaceX Record: Achieved fastest booster turnaround yet by flying the same booster twice within nine days

Main Topic: Mars Exploration with Dr. Robert Zubrin

Mars Direct Plan: Zubrin's revolutionary 1990 proposal using just two heavy-lift launches and in-situ resource utilization, influencing NASA's planning

Purpose vs. Vendor-Driven: Critique of NASA's Artemis as "vendor-driven" rather than focused on the mission goal

Current Opportunity: New potential for Mars exploration under the current administration, but it must be a national program

Timeline Prediction: Realistic goals of uncrewed Starship on Mars by 2028 and humans by 2033

Scientific Value: First Mars Starship should carry substantial scientific payload instead of just a demonstration mission—no red Tesla Roadsters to Mars, please

Planetary Protection: Strong case against the "anti-human aesthetics" of keeping Mars pristine

Science Budget Concerns: Warning against proposed 50% cuts to NASA's science programs

Starboat Concept: Proposal for a smaller ascent vehicle to complement Starship for more efficient Mars and Moon missions

Moon vs. Mars Strategy: Design hardware primarily for Mars that can also work for lunar exploration

Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik

Guest: Dr. Robert Zubrin

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