Podcasts about Mars Institute

Today we have planetary scientist Dr. Pascal Lee and STEM-Talk host Dr. Ken Ford in a wide-ranging conversation about NASA's ambitions to return humans to the Moon as a stepping stone to sending astronauts to Mars. Pascal is making his third appearance on STEM-Talk. Much of his research focuses on asteroids, impact craters, and the future human exploration of Mars. Pascal and Ken have a lively discussion about the growing momentum for space exploration. Pascal is a researcher at the SETI Institute, a not-for-profit NASA program focused on searching for extraterrestrial intelligence in an effort to understand and explain the origin and nature of life in the universe. He also is the co-founder and chairman of the Mars Institute, and director of the Haughton-Mars Project at NASA Ames Research Center. Last year, Pascal received significant news coverage for his discovery of a giant volcano along with a possible sheet of buried glacier ice in the eastern part of Mars' Tharsis volcanic province. This was the first geological find of this magnitude since the other major volcanos on Mars were discovered back in the 1970s. Show notes: [00:03:06] Ken welcomes Pascal back to STEM-Talk and starts our interview by mentioning the developments in space exploration over the past few years, including civilian space missions, NASA's Artemis program which aims to send humans back to the moon, and commitments to a manned mission to Mars. Given Pascal's career in advancement of space exploration, Ken asks if Pascal is excited by these recent developments. [00:04:43] Ken explains that for a couple of decades Pascal has spent his summers visiting Devon Island in the Canadian arctic archipelago, which is the largest uninhabited land on Earth. When Pascal was last on STEM-Talk, his annual trip to Devon Island was cancelled due to COVID-19. Devon Island has unique geological characteristics that are in some ways similar to those on Mars. Since 2001, Devon Isalnd has been the home of the Haughton Mars Project (HMP). Ken asks Pascal to talk about the advances in this project since his last appearance on STEM-Talk. [00:07:59] Ken mentions that while much conversation has been centered on a human trip to Mars, a mission to return humans to the Moon and establish a permanent base is a more immediately feasible goal in the short term. Ken asks Pascal to talk about the importance and significance of such a mission. [00:12:06] On the topic of a Moon base, Ken explains that NASA's Artemis project aims to send humans to the south pole of the Moon. Pascal has written a paper on that topic titled “An Off-Polar Site Option for the NASA Artemis Space Camp.” Ken asks Pascal what he sees as the primary weakness in the south pole location. [00:20:25] Ken agrees with Pascal's perspective on sending humans to the lunar south pole, and the two discuss the problems with focusing human space exploration on romantic ideas such as “living off the land.” [00:22:24] Ken follows up on the previous questions by mentioning that in Pascal's aforementioned paper, he suggests setting up a lunar base at the floor of the Clavius crater. Ken asks Pascal to talk about Clavius and why it is a potentially good permanent location for a moon base. [00:27:56] Ken asks Pascal how confident he and the community at large is in the Sophia finding of water. [00:29:00] Ken notes that contemporary interest in human space exploration appears tied to current geopolitical issues, much like the first space race between the US and USSR. Today, interest in space travel is closely linked with relations between the US and China. Ken asks Pascal to discuss this and how he believes the US should view this current situation. [00:35:43] Ken asks Pascal what he knows about the China's current plans for a lunar mission. [00:34:36] Ken talks about a meeting at IHMC that addressed power-beaming to the lunar surface. [00:39:01] Ken notes that there is a lot of talk the...

How do we know where to look for life on other planets? SETI scientists use analog sites on Earth, not only to study how life has evolved here, but the geological conditions that made it possible. Devon Island in Canada is one such analog. It's been called Mars on Earth.  In this third episode, Gary Niederhoff talks with planetary scientist Pascal Lee, co-founder of The Mars Institute, and principal investigator of the Haughton-Mars Project at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. They discuss how a remote arctic island offers clues about how liquid water once flowed on Mars, why the moons of the Red Planet are so mysterious, and Pascal's discovery of a heretofore unrecognized Martian volcano in 2024. Music by Jun Miyake You can support the work of Big Picture Science by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do we know where to look for life on other planets? SETI scientists use analog sites on Earth, not only to study how life has evolved here, but the geological conditions that made it possible. Devon Island in Canada is one such analog. It's been called Mars on Earth.  In this third episode, Gary Niederhoff talks with planetary scientist Pascal Lee, co-founder of The Mars Institute, and principal investigator of the Haughton-Mars Project at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. They discuss how a remote arctic island offers clues about how liquid water once flowed on Mars, why the moons of the Red Planet are so mysterious, and Pascal's discovery of a heretofore unrecognized Martian volcano in 2024. Music by Jun Miyake You can support the work of Big Picture Science by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A deeply eroded giant volcano, active from ancient through recent times and with possible remnants of glacier ice near its base, had been hiding near Mars' equator in plain sight. Its discovery points to an exciting new place to search for life, and a potential destination for future robotic and human exploration. “We were examining the geology of an area where we had found the remains of a glacier last year when we realized we were inside a huge and deeply eroded volcano,” said Dr. Pascal Lee, planetary scientist with the SETI Institute and the Mars Institute based at NASA Ames Research Center, and the lead author of the study announced at the 55th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference held in The Woodlands, Texas. Sourabh Shubham, a graduate student in the Department of Geology at the University of Maryland, is co-author of the discovery.  Join Dr. Lee as he talks with communications specialist Beth Johnson about the recent discovery and its potential impact on the search for life beyond Earth. (Recorded 11 April 2024.)  Press release: https://www.seti.org/press-release/giant-volcano-discovered-mars

On this episode, Derek sits with Dr. Pascal Lee.  Dr. Lee is a planetary scientist and the Co-Founder and Chairman of the Mars Institute.  Pascal will be sharing much of his life work with us including how he got interested in physics, astronomy and space, his adventures in Antarctica, his work with NASA, working with Carl Sagan, his extensive knowledge about the planet Mars and our possible future missions to it and co-founding the Mars Institute.The Mars Institute: https://www.marsinstitute.no/Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/pascalleetweetsSPONSOR - Go to https://betterhelp.com/derekduvallshow for 10% off your first month of therapy with @betterhelp and get matched with a therapist who will listen and help #sponsored

On this episode, Derek sits with Dr. Pascal Lee.  Dr. Lee is a planetary scientist and the Co-Founder and Chairman of the Mars Institute.  Pascal will be sharing much of his life work with us including how he got interested in physics, astronomy and space, his adventures in Antarctica, his work with NASA, working with Carl Sagan, his extensive knowledge about the planet Mars and our possible future missions to it and co-founding the Mars Institute.The Mars Institute: https://www.marsinstitute.no/Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/pascalleetweetsSPONSOR - Go to https://betterhelp.com/derekduvallshow for 10% off your first month of therapy with @betterhelp and get matched with a therapist who will listen and help #sponsored

Array Cast - September 1, 2023 Show NotesThanks to Bob Therriault, Lynn Sutherland and Adám Brudzewsky for gathering these links:[01] 00:01:34 2023 APL Problem Solving Results https://www.dyalog.com/news/156/420/2023-APL-Problem-Solving-Competition-Winners.htm Dyalog System Admin/Enterprise Architect opening https://www.dyalog.com/careers.htm#sysadmin[02] 00:02:18 BQN Licensing change to MPL https://github.com/dzaima/CBQN/tree/master#licensing[03] 00:03:11 Contact Stephen about q tutorials sjt AT 5jt DOT com[04] 00:04:51 Nial Programming Language https://aplwiki.com/wiki/Nial APL Farm discord https://aplwiki.com/wiki/APL_Farm Alberta Research Council/Alberta Innovates https://albertainnovates.ca/ National Resource Council https://nrc.canada.ca/en/corporate/about-nrc MaRS Institute https://www.marsdd.com/[05] 00:11:12 Queens University https://www.queensu.ca/ Mike Jenkins https://www.cs.queensu.ca/people/Mike/Jenkins https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-jenkins-1ba84915/ Trenchard More https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trenchard_More[06] 00:14:10 Procedural Programming Language https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procedural_programming VAX https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VAX IBM PC XT https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_PC_XT[07] 00:17:20 Nested Array Theory https://aplwiki.com/wiki/Array_model#Nested_array_theory[08] 00:18:43 Jim Brown https://aplwiki.com/wiki/Jim_Brown[09] 00:25:14 Computer Language Magazine https://archive.org/details/computerlanguage Carl McCrosky https://www.linkedin.com/in/carl-mccrosky-b936051/ Intel AVX512 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AVX-512[10] 00:27:21 OpenAI https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenAI Triton OpenAI https://openai.com/research/triton[11] 00:29:31 APL 84 Helsinki https://aplwiki.com/wiki/APL_conference#1984[12] 00:31:15 Dyalog https://aplwiki.com/wiki/Dyalog_APL KX https://kx.com/ Julia Programming Language https://julialang.org/ Clojure Programming Language https://clojure.org/ Unix Operating System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix Red Hat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Hat Sun Microsystems https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_microsystems[13] 00:34:15 Matlab https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matlab[14] 00:38:09 Java Programming Language https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_programming BQN Programming Language Modifiers https://mlochbaum.github.io/BQN/doc/ops.html#modifiers J Programming Language Gerunds https://code.jsoftware.com/wiki/Vocabulary/GerundsAndAtomicRepresentation[15] 00:40:39 Nial tutorial https://www.nial-array-language.org/ndocs/intro/[16] 00:42:25 Strand Notation https://aplwiki.com/wiki/Strand_notation Combinators https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combinatory_logic Nial Atlas https://www.nial-array-language.org/ndocs/NialDict2.html#atlas Point free programming https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacit_programming[17] 00:44:43 eachboth https://www.nial-array-language.org/ndocs/dict/#eachboth[18] 00:46:56 q Programming Language https://code.kx.com/q/learn/startingkdb/language/ peach https://code.kx.com/q/basics/peach/ J threads https://code.jsoftware.com/wiki/Vocabulary/tcapdot#dyadic[19] 00:51:25 Nial website https://www.nial-array-language.org/[20] 00:52:37 Order of Operations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_operations[21] 00:55:00 Javascript Programming Language https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javascript Unary Functions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unary_functions Smalltalk Programming Language https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smalltalk[22] 01:02:50 TIO Nial Examples https://tio.run/##y8tMzPn/P7EstSgxPVUhs1hBP7q4NFdHoSQxJ6cy1pqrvCizJFUBJm@oYKRgrGDy/z8A https://tio.run/##y8tMzPn/v7wosyRVQVtBS0HD0EDByEATSCsYaf7/DwA https://tio.run/##y8tMzPn/v7wosyRVQVvB0EDByEBBS8FQwej/fwA https://tio.run/##y8tMzPn/v7wosyRVQUNbwdBAwchAQUvBUMFI8/9/AA https://tio.run/##y8tMzPn/v7wosyRVQVtBw9BAwchAU0ELyFIw0vz/HwA https://tio.run/##y8tMzPn/v7wosyRVQcPQQEFDK1pXRztWU8FI8/9/AAOnline Nial Interpreter https://niallang.github.io/NIAL_WASM/[23] 01:17:48 Contact AT ArrayCast DOT Com

Finding water on Mars could be a boon for human explorers there, as it provides drinking water, oxygen, and rocket fuel. Dr. Pascal Lee of the Mars Institute and SETI, with his colleagues, has spotted the remains of what appears to be an ancient glacier—which may still contain ice–close to the Martian equator, where it would be most accessible to future astronauts. Image credit: NASA MRO HiRISE and CRISM false color composite. Lee et al. 2023 Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik Guest: Pascal Lee Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-space. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsor: athleticgreens.com/twis

Finding water on Mars could be a boon for human explorers there, as it provides drinking water, oxygen, and rocket fuel. Dr. Pascal Lee of the Mars Institute and SETI, with his colleagues, has spotted the remains of what appears to be an ancient glacier—which may still contain ice–close to the Martian equator, where it would be most accessible to future astronauts. Image credit: NASA MRO HiRISE and CRISM false color composite. Lee et al. 2023 Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik Guest: Pascal Lee Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-space. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsor: athleticgreens.com/twis

Finding water on Mars could be a boon for human explorers there, as it provides drinking water, oxygen, and rocket fuel. Dr. Pascal Lee of the Mars Institute and SETI, with his colleagues, has spotted the remains of what appears to be an ancient glacier—which may still contain ice–close to the Martian equator, where it would be most accessible to future astronauts. Image credit: NASA MRO HiRISE and CRISM false color composite. Lee et al. 2023 Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik Guest: Pascal Lee Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-space. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsor: athleticgreens.com/twis

PASCAL LEE is a Planetary Scientist with the SETI Institute, Founder of the Mars Institute, and he's Director of the NASA Haughton-Mars Project (HMP) at NASA Ames Research Center [a field research project on Devon Island, High Arctic, where they plan future human missions to the Moon and Mars]. We talked about Pascal's time as a meteorite-hunter

It has been nearly a month since NASA’s Perseverance rover landed on Mars. So far, the rover hasn’t detected any signs of past life on the planet. But scientists have determined that several of the rocks on Mars are chemically similar to volcanic rocks on Earth. This, of course, has caused quite a bit of buzz. So, the double-secret-selection committee decided it was a perfect time to invite the chairman of the Mars Institute onto the show to get his take on the Perseverance and the Mars Mission so far. Actually, this is Dr. Pascal Lee’s second appearance on STEM-Talk. Pascal is a planetary scientist and director of the NASA Haughton-Mars Project at NASA Ames Research Center who was our guest in 2016 on episode 17.  Back then we talked to Pascal about his annual visits to the High Arctic’s Devon Island, which is the Earth’s largest uninhabited land that has geological characteristics similar to what scientists believe we will find on Mars. Today we catch up with Pascal and his Haughton-Mars Project. We also talk to him about Perseverance and a host of other Mars-related topics. We ask Pascal if he thinks we’ll find signs of life on Mars, or if he believes we will ever find signs of alien life in our galaxy. We also get Pascal’s thoughts about future manned missions to Mars and whether humans will ever colonize the Red Planet. And after listening to today’s interview, be sure to check out Pascal’s artwork and his recent paintings of Mars. Show notes: 00:03:15 Dawn opens the interview welcoming Pascal back to STEM-Talk, mentioning that the last time he was on the podcast he was about to spend his 20th consecutive summer on Devon Island, the Earth’s largest uninhabited land with geological characteristics similar to what Pascal believes we will find on Mars. Dawn goes on to mention that due to COVID-19, last year’s trip to Devon Island was canceled and asks him about his disappointment. 00:05:11 Ken asks if Pascal is confident that he’ll return to Devon Island this coming summer. 00:05:36 Dawn mentions that it takes several stops and trips to reach Devon Island. She asks who makes those travel arrangements and how the journey plays out. 00:08:25 Ken asks about Pascal’s polar bear guard dog, Apollo, inquiring as the protocol when Apollo alerts the team about a nearby polar bear. 00:10:48 Dawn mentions the Webby Award-winning documentary filmed by a team at Google who came to visit Pascal on Devon Island in 2018 called “Mars on Earth: A Visit to Devon Island”. Dawn asks Pascal what he thought of the documentary. 00:12:20 Ken asks Pascal to elaborate on the space suit that he was planning to test on Devon Island last summer but couldn’t because the trip was canceled. 00:16:39 Dawn asks about the glove Pascal wants to test that may enable single-handed drone operation. 00:20:11 Dawn mentions that the atmosphere of Mars is around 60 times less dense than the Earth’s. She asks Pascal about the challenges of flying a drone on Mars. 00:22:15 Dawn asks Pascal to elaborate on his recommendation that scientists study the Inuit culture and history in relation to long-duration space travel. 00:26:01 Ken mentions NASA’s Perseverance rover, which landed on Mars in February and relates that Steve Jurczyk, the NASA acting administrator, described Perseverance’s landing on Mars as a pivotal moment for the United States and space exploration. Given that NASA has landed rovers on Mars before, Ken asks Pascal what makes this particular landing especially significant. 00:28:10 Dawn mentions that NASA recently released recordings of the Perseverance rover driving on the surface of Mars. Dawn goes on to ask what the particular significance is of the audios. 00:29:41 Dawn asks what NASA means when it describes Perseverance as a “robotic astrobiologist.” 00:32:36 Ken asks Pascal to discuss the Mars helicopter, Ingenuity, that made its flight to mars attached to the belly of Perseverance.

In this special Year in Review episode of ID Talk, FindBiometrics and Mobile ID World founder Peter O'Neill interviews Courtney Gibson, CTO and CISO of BioConnect. The conversation begins with a look back on how BioConnect responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, and its much lauded Mobile Wellness Declaration solution. Gibson goes on to discuss his company's collaborations with MaRS Institute and the Canadian Digital Technology Supercluster, as well as the newest version of BioConnect Enterprise, before taking a look to the future of biometrics. Learn more about the topics discussed in this episode of ID Talk by visiting http://bioconnect.com/unified/find-biometrics

Dr. Bob Richards, co-founder and CEO, of Moon Express returns to ideacity to give us the latest update. Dr. Pascal Lee is a planetary scientist with the Mars Institute, the SETI Institute, and NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. Together, they will share the future human exploration of Mars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td7xHgwPQyQ Streamed live on May 6, 2020. Host: Fraser Cain ( @fcain )Special Guest: This week we welcome Dr. Pascal Lee to the Weekly Space Hangout. Pascal is chairman of the Mars Institute, planetary scientist at the SETI Institute, and director of the NASA Haughton-Mars Project (HMP) at NASA Ames. He holds an ME in geology and geophysics from the University of Paris, and a PhD in astronomy and space sciences from Cornell.   Pascal’s research focuses on water and caves on the Moon and Mars, the origin of Mars’ moons, and the future human exploration of the Moon and Mars. He has led over 30 expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctica for analog studies, including a 402-day winter-over in Antarctica. He is a recipient of the United States Antarctic Service Medal.   He also works on surface systems for future Moon and Mars exploration, including drones, hoppers, rovers, spacesuits, and habitats. Pascal was scientist-pilot for NASA’s first field test of the SEV concept pressurized rover. He also led the Northwest Passage Drive Expedition, a record-setting vehicular traverse on sea-ice along the fabled Northwest Passage and the subject of the award-winning documentary film Passage To Mars (2016). He currently leads the HMP’s Astronaut Smart Glove project and JPL’s GlobeTrotter planetary hopper concept study.   Pascal is also interested in SETI. He argues that there are likely very few advanced civilizations per galaxy, and that we might be the only one in ours at this time.   His first book, Mission: Mars, won the 2015 Prize for Excellence in children’s science books from the AAAS. In his free time, Pascal likes to be walked by his dog Apollo, fly, and paint. He is an FAA helicopter commercial pilot and CFI, and an artist member of the International Association of Astronomical Artists. Regular Guests: Dr. Morgan Rehnberg ( http://www.morganrehnberg.com/ & @MorganRehnberg ) Veranika (Nika) Klimovich ( @veranikaspace / Pictame: @nika_klim ) Beth Johnson - SETI Institute ( @SETIInstitute / @planetarypan ) This week's stories: - NASA chooses 3 (count 'em 3!!!) Artemis landers. - NASA DOESN'T choose Boeing. - Newly processed pictures of Europa. - CIMON-2 on the ISS. - Starship SN 4 does NOT explode.   We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs. Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too! Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ Do go visit http://astrogear.spreadshirt.com/ for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness! http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations. Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!) The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by Astrosphere New Media. http://www.astrosphere.org/ Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.

The planet Mars boasts the most dramatic landscapes in our solar system. Kevin Fong embarks on a grand tour around the planet with scientists, artists and writers who know its special places intimately- through their probes, roving robots and imaginations. As we roam Mars' beauty spots, Kevin explores why the Red planet grips so many. Beyond its alien topographic grandeur, Mars inspires the bigger questions: are we alone in the cosmos, and what is the longer term destiny of humanity? Was there more than one life genesis? Will humans ever live on more than one planet? The itinerary includes the solar system's greatest volcano - Olympus Mons. It is an ancient pile of lavas more than twice the height of Everest, with a summit crater that could contain Luxembourg. The weight of Mars' gargantuan volcanic outpourings helped to create the planet's extreme version of our Grand Canyon. Vallis Marineris is an almighty gash in the crust 4,000 kilometres long and seven kilometres deep. That is more than three times the depth of Earth's Grand Canyon. In some place the cliffs are sheer from top to bottom. A little to the east lies an extraordinary region called Iani Chaos, a vast realm of closely spaced and towering rock stacks and mesas, hundreds to thousands of metres high. One researcher describes it as Tolkienesque. This unearthly shattered terrain was created billions of years ago when immense volumes of water burst out from beneath the surface and carved another giant canyon, known as Ares Valles, in a matter of months. Imagine a hundred Amazon rivers cutting loose at once, suggests Professor Steve Squyres. The catastrophically sculpted landscapes are part of the plentiful evidence that in its early days, Mars was, at time,s awash with water and, in theory, provided environments in which life could evolve and survive. That is what the latest robot rover on Mars - Curiosity - is exploring at the dramatic Gale Crater with its central peak, Mount Sharp. Expert Mars guides in the programme include scientists on the current Curiosity mission, and on the preceeding rover explorations by Spirit and Opportunity. Kevin talks to hard sci-fi novelist Kim Stanley Robinson whose rich invocations of Martian landscapes form th narrative bedrock of his Mars Trilogy. He also meets Bill Hartmann, a planetary scientist since earliest generation of Mars probes in the 1960s and 1970. Bill has a parallel career as an artist who paints landscapes of the Red Planet. Planetary scientist Pascal Lee of the Mars Institute begins Kevin's tour with a painting he created - an imagined view of Mars from the surface of its tiny moon, Phobos. Producer: Andrew Luck-Baker, BBC Radio Science Unit

This is Part II. Dr. Pascal Lee is a planetary scientist with the SETI Institute. He’s also Chairman of the Mars Institute, and Director of the NASA Haughton-Mars Project at NASA Ames Research Center. His research includes the history of water on Mars and planning future human exploration of Mars. Pascal has a Ph.D. in Astronomy and Space Sciences from Cornell University. In Part I, we chatted about his background and how he became a planetary scientist. We had just started discussing the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), when an internet outage stopped us cold. So I invited Pascal to return for Part II and discuss his analysis of the Drake Equation and its implications for the existence of other advanced, intelligent life in our galaxy.

Dr. Pascal Lee is a planetary scientist with the SETI Institute. He’s also Chairman of the Mars Institute, and Director of the NASA Haughton-Mars Project at NASA Ames Research Center. His research includes the history of water on Mars and planning future human exploration of Mars. Pascal has a Ph.D. in Astronomy and Space Sciences from Cornell University. We chatted about how he spent his very early years in Hong Kong, inspired by American and British SciFi TV shows. Later, he migrated to Paris where he continued his education and, inspired by Dr. Carl Sagan, made his way to Cornell in the 1990s. He was Dr. Sagan’s last teaching assistant. Next, we talked about his trips to the remote Canadian island, Devon, to study Mars-like conditions. We wrapped up with an introduction to his thoughts on SETI.

News! NASA’s Curiosity rover has found new evidence preserved in rocks on Mars that suggests the planet could have supported ancient life. You’ve probably heard, but what does this really mean? So in order to have life, you need certain organic molecules or building blocks. Organic molecules contain carbon and hydrogen, and also may include oxygen, nitrogen and other elements. They were found in three-billion-year-old sedimentary rocks near the surface. This is such a big deal because, as put by NASA’s Jen Eigenbrode, " The Martian surface is exposed to radiation from space. Both radiation and harsh chemicals break down organic matter.Finding ancient organic molecules in the top five centimeters of rock that was deposited when Mars may have been habitable, bodes well for us to learn the story of organic molecules on Mars with future missions that will drill deeper.”   Topic: (Our) Life on Mars!   This will be the last episode to cover my experience at the International Space Development Conference and I have truly saved the best for last. At ISDC, it was astonishing how much there was to learn about what people and companies are doing RIGHT NOW to prepare for living on Mars and the Moon. We’re talking trekking through the Arctic, students building inflatable and autonomous habitats, and companies long in the making of settlements that will launch into orbit and build on themselves overtime. Be ready to be caught up on what NASA, private companies, and incredible individuals are doing to prepare to live in space. The first man I heard speak about this that really blew me away was Pascale Lee.   Pascal Lee is a Planetary Scientist and Chairman and the Mars Institute and in all of these sessions, in all of the chaos of Space Settlements, Jeff Bezos, Student Projects, Pascal’s presentation stood out to me the most. He works in the most desolate place on Earth and tests systems for living and working on Mars, check it out! Questions: What are they actually doing there and why are they there? How do we get involved and what can we be doing here to spread the spirit of exploration He is also the author of Mission: Mars, a book training you to become a future Mars explorer. He takes you behind the scenes of space suits, rovers, and how we’re actually going to get there. After speaking with Pascale, I went to a session on the Development of Lunar Colonies and learned what private companies and NASA are doing in this area.   Many people think that right now, NASA is dead and doing nothing when it comes to the Moon but that couldn’t be more wrong! First you should know that in 2009, NASA sent the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to orbit the moon on and exploration mission. The Exploration Mission was focused on supporting the extension of human presence in the solar system, LRO continues to help identify sites close to potential resources with high scientific value, favorable terrain and the environment necessary for safe future robotic and human lunar missions. So first step, LRO is searching for a place for us to live.   Next, NASA is currently planning on building a Lunar Orbital Platform Gateway. This will be an orbiting space station around the Moon! It’s a Crew-tended gateway in Lunar orbit and it’s going to be used as a staging point for missions to the moon and Mars and a platform for science. It will bring commercial and international partnerships as well as help develop landing capabilities for future planetary missions. So right now we’re using the International Space Station to test capabilities for living in space So in 2020, they’ll launch SLS and Orion into cislunar space They want to go to the surface on the Moon with commercial landers Mars is still part of their plan! Mars 2020 rover to separate Oxygen from the atmosphere NASA is allowing 6 commercial companies to build lunar habitats and NASA will take the bests parts of those to develop a blueprint for a standard build. The speaker actually asked that if you have any great ideas of scientific experiments to include on the space station, to send it their way. Here’s what NASA is doing NOW: LOP-G is being built as a jumping off point for deep space missions NASA is planning several robotic missions to the Moon, including Search for ice in craters in the Lunar polar regions 13 cubesats into lunar orbit in 2020 Lunar Flashlight Lockheed Martin is testing a new infrared camera for the surface of the moon NASA has a partnership with the Korean Space Agency to test an imager in the permanent shadows of craters on the Moon NASA also is making arrangements to work with commercial companies to get equipment to the surface of the moon so it is there and ready for humans when they get there NASA also formed a new program called the Lunar Discovery and Exploration Program where they hope to fly multiple and frequent science missions to the surface of the moon using commercial landers Which will slowly scaling up to Human sized landers Ascent stages for future return missions Infrastructure for us to live and work there So in 2022 and 2024, they send midsize landers (500-1000kg of payload). These will act as: Overview: LRO search for landing sites > 2019/2020 Human return to moon in Orion > 2022 first element gateway will be launched > LOPG will have its initial capabilities launched and integrated in 2024 Commercial landers in 2024 that will grow to human scale It may sound like a lot, but we are preparing so that when we get there, we can stay there. After this really informative session with the NASA representative, I was able to catch up with Joshua Castro, CEO of InStarz, a company designed inflatable lunar habitats for the Moon and eventually Mars. In fact, this could be one of the companies NASA contracts to build a habitat. Although they are still in early stages, you have to hear about this   Questions: Their session was Inflatable Lunar Base? So young…. 19 years old, presenting to people who are really experienced in the Space industry, how does it feel to bring this new energy to this conference?

A Personal Chef is not just for the rich and famous   Speaker BIO: Gil Eiges was born in Jerusalem, Israel.  He has lived in four countries around the world. After graduating from the London School of Economics, he started his career as a management consultant and worked at Amdocs leading various large business and marketing teams. Gil co-founded manjya along with business partner Mia Andrews, which is an online bidding marketplace that connects chefs with individuals and businesses who need catering either at home or for large and small events. He consults and sits on advisory boards for several start-ups. He's also an advisor to the MaRS Institute, a launchpad for innovation based in Toronto.   Episode Overview: How do you get tasty, healthy food when you don’t have the time or ability to do the cooking?  Or if you want a special experience to offer to your guests? Or if you want a special date night in your own home without doing the work?  You turn to manjya.   It's like having your own Masterchef in the kitchen, delivering a culinary experience that you've designed!  A Personal Chef is not just for the rich and famous, it's accessible to everyone!    Gil Eiges co-founded manjya which is an online market for chefs and caterers.  Clients just enter their desired experience and their budget, and manjya makes magic happen.   Different chefs provide menus based on the clients’ requirements. All clients need to do is go online to manjya and post their request, including food preferences, and various chefs and caterers who are available will bid on the client’s business.  Clients will  get to see all of the different offers in one place. Simple, easy and FUN!   manjya, in partnership with the Canadian Personal Chef Association, is helping people host events, follow a diet or just eat healthy exactly the way they want. Submit a request for what you want, when and where you want it, and let the bidding begin.   What you’ll learn in this episode: People have a lot of food sensitivities and allergies that need to be taken into consideration Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans Circumstances are going to change, and you’ve just got to be ready for every change that comes along and take it with a smile You can design an experience through food Meditation generally helps one to be sane Word of mouth is still having an impact  You can't ignore the personal touch even in a such a modern, automated digital world.    Resources Mentioned: Productivity Tool: Fiverr Tool: FULLSTORY Website: Manjya Book:   The Four Hour Body By Tim Ferriss Podcast:  How I built this by NPR Podcast: Start-up School by Seth Godin Hotspots: Bar Buca Hotspots: Pearl Diver Email: Gil@manjya.ca   Company Background: manjya is an online marketplace that connects businesses and individuals on one side, to chefs and caterers on the other. So if you're having a party, a dinner party, a wedding, an event at the office, or if you just need food for the week because you're too busy to cook, this is what manjya can help you with.  Clients don’t need to go through a lot of menus and offers, or numerous chefs profiles. Clients can actually go online with their requests and chefs will get back to them with bids which include menus and quotes. You can chat with the chefs, you can negotiate, and then you can choose whatever you like.    

The planet Mars boasts the most dramatic landscapes in our solar system. In a programme first broadcast in March, 2013, Kevin Fong embarks on a grand tour around the planet with scientists, artists and writers who know its special places intimately - through their probes, roving robots and imaginations. As we roam Mars' beauty spots, Kevin considers why the Red Planet grips so many. Beyond its alien topographic grandeur, Mars inspires the bigger questions: are we alone in the cosmos, and what is the longer term destiny of humanity? Was there more than one life genesis? Will humans ever live on more than one planet? The itinerary includes the solar system's greatest volcano - Olympus Mons. It is an ancient pile of lavas more than twice the height of Everest, with a summit crater that could contain Luxembourg. The weight of Mars' gargantuan volcanic outpourings helped to create the planet's extreme version of our Grand Canyon. Vallis Marineris is an almighty gash in the crust 4,000 kilometres long and seven kilometres deep. That is more than three times the depth of Earth's Grand Canyon. In some place the cliffs are sheer from top to bottom. A little to the east lies an extraordinary region called Iani Chaos, a vast realm of closely spaced and towering rock stacks and mesas, hundreds to thousands of metres high. One researcher describes it as Tolkienesque. This unearthly shattered terrain was created billions of years ago when immense volumes of water burst out from beneath the surface and carved another giant canyon, known as Ares Valles, in a matter of months. Imagine a hundred Amazon rivers cutting loose at once, suggests Professor Steve Squyres. The catastrophically sculpted landscapes are part of the plentiful evidence that in its early days, Mars was, at times, awash with water and, in theory, provided environments in which life could evolve and survive. That is what the latest robot rover on Mars - Curiosity - is exploring at the dramatic Gale Crater with its central peak, Mount Sharp. Expert Mars guides in the programme include scientists on the current Curiosity mission, and on the preceding rover explorations by Spirit and Opportunity. Kevin talks to hard sci-fi novelist Kim Stanley Robinson whose rich invocations of Martian landscapes form the narrative bedrock of his Mars Trilogy. He also meets Bill Hartmann, a planetary scientist since earliest generation of Mars probes in the 1960s and 1970s. Bill has a parallel career as an artist who paints landscapes of the Red Planet. Planetary scientist Pascal Lee of the Mars Institute begins Kevin's tour with a painting he created - an imagined view of Mars from the surface of its tiny moon, Phobos. Producer: Andrew Luck-Baker

For Radio 4's Mars series, Kevin Fong asks: what future do we have on Mars when we finally get there? He talks to scientists and writers about their visions of a human presence and purpose on the Red Planet. This is the third part on this series on our relationship with Mars. The American space agency NASA aims to get the first human crew to Mars sometime in the 2040's. It is likely to be an international mission and carry a crew of six people. Elon Musk, the founder of private rocket company SpaceX, has unveiled a scheme to get a spacecraft of one hundred colonists to the Red Planet before 2030. Do we go to Mars for the big science questions and exploration? Or is Project Mars about becoming a multi-planetary species, extending the American western frontier by a hundred million miles? Do we need to prepare Mars as a refuge should civilisation face extinction here on the home planet. Even the first boot print mission will be the mother of all camping trips, and full of hazard. Mars' tenuous atmosphere contains no oxygen, the average temperature is -60 degrees Celsius, the surface is bathed in cosmic and solar radiation and toxic dust lies all over the planet. So some Mars enthusiasts predict that our presence there will never amount to more than something like extraterrestrial Antarctic style bases, where visiting scientific explorers and back-up technicians live and work for a few years at a time before returning to Earth. But for others, the vision is much grander and more ambitious. Colonies will become city sized and economically productive, trading technological innovations with the home planet. Generations of people will live and die in societies free from oppressive authority on Earth. Kevin Fong hears from would-be Martian explorers such as Elon Musk and Robert Zubrin. Robert Zubrin is president of the Mars Society and is credited with coming up with the basic technical strategy for mounting a return trip to Mars which both NASA and Space X have adopted. If we do this in our generation, says Zubrin, within two centuries there will be self-sustaining communities on Mars with their own dialects, cultures of technological and artistic invention, and their own history of 'heroic deeds'. This is romanticism to others such as Oliver Morton, author of 'Mapping Mars', and that Mars is no place for civilians. let alone children. With gravity little more than one third of Earth's, a successful human pregnancy may in fact be impossible. That's one of the many unknowns about the future of humans on Mars revealed, as Kevin talks to the scientific Mars visionaries such as Chris McKay of NASA Ames Research Center and Pascal Lee of the Mars Institute, and to science fiction authors such as Kim Stanley Robinson, Emma Newman and Stephen Baxter who've imagined people on the Red Planet.

Bill Hargenrader, bestselling author of the Mars Journey series, interviews Chris Hoftun Chairman and co-founder of the Mars Institute Norway, and Program Manager Space Systems at Zaptec where he is currently investigating a new plasma drilling system under development (PLASMARS). We talked about his trip to Devon Island for a Mars science research trip, learned about plasma drilling for earth, asteroids, Mars and its moons, as well as talked about what it takes to pursue your passion and help realize a greater vision for humanity. Christopher Hoftun has a Master of Science from the University of Stavanger, Norway. He is the chairman and co-founder of the Mars Institute Norway, after he conducted a study of planetary drilling at the Mars Institute, at NASA Ames Research Center, California, USA. He is also the Program Manager Space Systems at Zaptec, HQ in Stavanger, Norway, and based at NASA Ames Research Center. He is currently investigating a new plasma drilling system under development (PLASMARS) by the Zaptec, Inc company and the European Space Agency (ESA). The plasma- drill that will enable deep subsurface access on asteroids, Mars and its moons for in-situ science investigation sampling and exploration. Drilling is anticipated to be an important activity in the future exploration of the Moon, Mars, and of small bodies, such as asteroids and the moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos. NASA and ESA have identified subsurface access as a significant science and exploration priority for planetary missions in the near-future, and are pursuing technologies necessary to enable such access. The PLASMARS project ́s purpose is to develop prototypes and field-test robotic plasma drilling technologies for missions to the Moon, asteroids, and Mars in the 2021-2025 time. The show and its contents are presented by The Mars Society and co-produced with I Love Mars Media. Find out more at: www.marssociety.org and www.ILoveMars.info

Dr. Pascal Lee is not the first Renaissance man to be interview on STEM-Talk, but his impressive biography merits that moniker. “An artist, helicopter pilot, polar researcher, planetary scientist, and a pioneer in thinking about possible human futures in space,” as described by IHMC Director Ken Ford, Lee has an impressive list of accomplishments to his name. He is co-founder and chairman of the Mars Institute, director of the NASA Haughton-Mars Project at NASA Ames Research Center, and senior planetary scientist at the SETI Institute. Born in Hong Kong, he was sent to boarding school in Paris as a child, and later graduated from the University of Paris with a degree in geology and geophysics. During his year of civil service after college, he lived with 31 other men in Antarctica—a formative experience that gave him a thirst for field work and hands-on exploration. As Lee himself says in this interview, “Forever in my life there will be before and after Antarctica.” Lee went on to study astronomy and space science at Cornell University, where he was also Carl Sagan’s teacher’s assistant. He then did a post-doc at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, where he has been ever since. He continues to search for “new life” in the universe, with a particular interest in preparing for future exploration of Mars. This summer marks Lee’s twentieth summer field trip on Devon Island, the largest uninhabited earth with geological evidence similar to what Lee suspects would be found on Mars. Lee is also the author of a children’s book, called Mission: Mars, about what it would take for humans to travel to the planet. He is also currently working on a book for adults addressing similar questions. Several of Lee’s lectures are available on YouTube, or at his page on the SETI website: http://www.seti.org/users/pascal-lee. His personal web site is http://www.pascallee.net. In this episode, STEM-Talk Host Dawn Kernagis and IHMC senior research scientist Tom Jones, also a veteran NASA astronaut, interview Lee. 00:49: Ken Ford describes Lee’s accomplishments, adding, “Pascal and I share a passion for the moons of Mars—especially Phobos.” 2:10: Ford reads a 5-star iTunes review from “podcast file”: “The STEM-Talk podcast is a must listen. I appreciate how the format of a podcast stays focused and on topic. It is packed with outstanding content that lives up to its name. I truly found useful information and perspectives that impacts how I understand and see the world.” 3:57: Lee describes his upbringing in a Hong Kong that was booming. His father was ethnically Chinese, and his mother was French. As a child, he was sent to boarding school in France—without yet knowing how to speak French. “I started a new life at age eight. I stayed there for fifteen years.” 5:10: He always loved space travel. “I thought that was really inspiring and exciting. It wasn’t just the travel itself. [It was also the fact that there was] more to the universe than what we had on earth. Mars came into the picture a little later, as a teenager. That’s when I got serious about becoming a scientist.” 6:05: Carl Sagan’s book Cosmic Connection “really changed my life at the time…. From that day on, I decided that the planetary sciences were what I wanted to do. The rest was easy because once you have a goal and a focus, it makes a lot of decisions for you.” 6:38: Lee studied science and physics at the University of Paris. He spent his obligatory year of national service in Antarctica. 7:30: “On my way South [to Antarctica], I posted a letter to one graduate school—where Carl Sagan taught. In the middle of winter, I get this Telex from Cornell that I’d gotten in.” 8:28: Lee says his 402 days at a station in Antarctica “was an other-worldly experience. We were 31 people. All men. Forever in my life there will be before and after Antarctica.” 9:48: He went on his first helicopter ride off the coast of Antarctic...

We all may prefer the goldilocks zone – not too hot, not too cold. But most of the universe is bitterly cold. We can learn a lot about it if we're willing to brave a temperature drop. A chilly Arctic island is the closest thing to Mars-on-Earth for scientists who want to go to the Red Planet. Meanwhile, the ice sheet at the South Pole is ideal for catching neutrinos – ghostly particles that may reveal secrets about the nature of the universe. Comet ISON is comet ice-off after its passage close to the Sun, but it's still giving us the word on solar system's earliest years. Also, scientists discover the coldest spot on Earth. A champion chill, but positively balmy compared to absolute zero. Why reaching a temperature of absolute zero is impossible, although we've gotten very, very close. Guests: Francis Halzen – Physicist, University of Wisconsin-Madison, principal investigator of The IceCube Neutrino Observatory Ted Scambos – Glaciologist, lead scientist, National Snow and Ice Data Center, University of Colorado Pascal Lee – Planetary scientist, SETI Institute, director, NASA Haughton-Mars Project, and co-founder of the Mars Institute. His new book is Mission: Mars Andrew Fraknoi – Chair, astronomy department, Foothill College Vladan Vuletić – Physicist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We all may prefer the goldilocks zone – not too hot, not too cold. But most of the universe is bitterly cold. We can learn a lot about it if we’re willing to brave a temperature drop. A chilly Arctic island is the closest thing to Mars-on-Earth for scientists who want to go to the Red Planet. Meanwhile, the ice sheet at the South Pole is ideal for catching neutrinos – ghostly particles that may reveal secrets about the nature of the universe. Comet ISON is comet ice-off after its passage close to the Sun, but it’s still giving us the word on solar system’s earliest years. Also, scientists discover the coldest spot on Earth. A champion chill, but positively balmy compared to absolute zero. Why reaching a temperature of absolute zero is impossible, although we’ve gotten very, very close. Guests: Francis Halzen – Physicist, University of Wisconsin-Madison, principal investigator of The IceCube Neutrino Observatory Ted Scambos – Glaciologist, lead scientist, National Snow and Ice Data Center, University of Colorado Pascal Lee – Planetary scientist, SETI Institute, director, NASA Haughton-Mars Project, and co-founder of the Mars Institute. His new book is Mission: Mars Andrew Fraknoi – Chair, astronomy department, Foothill College Vladan Vuletić – Physicist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Descripción en español