Episode 33, “The Search for Biosignatures,” is now Live!

This week, I got into the subject of astrobiology and how scientists look for life beyond Earth. Since we can’t explore exoplanets directly, astrobiologists are confined to looking for the telltale chemical signatures that we associate with life and organic processes here on Earth (aka. biosignatures). Some examples include oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, water, methane, and ammonia. In this episode, I explain how this is done and how next-generation telescopes are going to make it a lot easier!

And, of course, I get into how this whole process is complicated b our very limited frame of reference. As it stands, humans know of only one planet and chemical arrangement under which life can emerge and thrive. In short, planet Earth, with its nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere (and trace amounts of CO₂), water on its surface, and orbiting around a G-type yellow star. As a result, we are confined to the “low-hanging fruit” approach.

But as long as we’re looking, we can expand the scope of “life as we know it.” Check it out below!

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Good News! I’m Teaching a Course at the Kepler Space Institute this Summer!

Hello all! Many moons ago, I posted an update where I explained how I would be teaching a course through the Kepler Space Institute (KSI). Titled “The Exploration and Potential Settlement of Mars,” this six-part course will examine how Mars has inspired our mythological/astronomical traditions, the history of Martian exploration, and the possibility that humans will live there someday.

Well, as of a few weeks ago, the starting date has been set! This course will commence this Summer (on July 24^th) and will last for six weeks. If all goes well, a second cohort will commence in the Fall and could lead to me reaching other courses through KSI. The six-part course breaks down as follows:

Session 1: Perceptions and Portrayals of Mars

This lesson deals with how ancient peoples perceived Mars, how it has inspired mythology and folklore, and how its passage across the heavens influenced our cultural development. From there, the lesson moves into what we have learned about Mars and how that led to its changing portrayal over time. From a deity to a planet, from the site of another civilization to a lifeless ball of rock. And now, a world that may have supported life and could again someday.

Session 2: History of Proposals

This lesson focuses on the history of proposed mission architectures that would send astronauts to Mars. These include Von Braun’s “The Mars Project,” the earliest plan for mounting crewed missions to the Red Planet. During the Cold War Era, as NASA got closer to setting foot on the Moon, several plans were drafted for what would come next. By the 1990s, there were renewed plans for missions that would leverage In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU). By the mid-2000s, work began on the next generation of launch vehicles to make this happen. Today, NASA and China plan to send crews there by the 2030s, with other space agencies following in the ensuing decades.

Session 3: Mars in Popular Culture

Mars has always occupied a special place in the hearts and minds of people, not the least of which are science fiction writers. The moment we realized Mars was a planet with similarities to Earth, speculation began that there might be a civilization there. The nature of this civilization reflected humanity’s hopes and fears, alternating between hostile invaders to benevolent creatures endangered by humanity. By the 1970s and after, SF portrayals shifted to one where Mars was a dead world and the first Martians would be humans. And with the growing knowledge that the planet was once warm and watery, we now portray humans living there and even restoring it to what it once was.

Session 4: Getting There

This session explores the major challenges in sending missions to Mars. Using current technology, missions are generally restricted to making transits every 26 months (when Earth and Mars are closest to each other), and transit times can last from six to nine months. For this reason, next-generation propulsion technologies have been explored for decades, including nuclear rockets! In addition to time, other challenges include radiation, microgravity, supplies, waste management, and more.

Session 5: Living There

Once we’ve solved the problem of getting there, there is the rather large challenge of how humans can operate there for extended periods. This includes a hostile environment (thin atmosphere, toxic air, radiation), providing food and water, sourcing power, seasonal hazards (like dust storms), and Martian gravity (40% of Earth). This lesson addresses these challenges, how they could be mitigated in the short term, and how space agencies and commercial space companies plan to do that.

Session 6: Staying There (Making a Garden)

What about the long term? Can humans live on Mars indefinitely, giving rise to the first “Martians”? What would this take in terms of planning, technology, and living strategies? And if we really want to think about the long term, how could ecologically engineer Mars to make it more like Earth (aka. terraforming)? What would that take? And what would implications would human settlement and terraforming have for any possible lifeforms that could still be living there?

To learn more, check out the course info at the Kepler Space Institute.

Episode Thirty-Two of Stories from Space: “The Coming Age of Exoplanet Study with Caroline Piaulet.”

This week, I sat down with noted researcher Caroline Piaulet, a doctoral student at the Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets (iREx) and the Université de Montréal. Caroline is an astrophysicist who specializes in the study of exoplanets that are between Earth and Neptune in terms of size. These are the planets that are largely missing from the exoplanet census. Caroline and her colleagues intend to find out why!

Caroline also specializes in the study of “Water Worlds,” a strange and exotic type of exoplanet where water makes up a significant fraction of their mass. This means that they are covered in oceans many kilometers deep, far far greater than anything we know here on Earth! These worlds are something astronomers never imagined until they began popping up in telescope data less than two decades ago and the implications they could have for finding life in our Universe could be immense!

These and other fascinating topics came up in the course of our half-hour conversation. Her research and the topic itself warranted way more time, but she’s a busy person. Check it out below!

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Episode Thirty-One, “The Berserker Hypothesis,” of Stories from Space is now Live!

This week, I addressed one of my favorite proposed resolutions to the Fermi Paradox. Known as the “Berserker Hypothesis” (or deadly probe scenario), this theory states that the reason we haven’t heard from any advanced civilizations is that advanced life is wiped out before long. The theory incorporates advanced concepts like John von Neumann’s “Universal Constructor” (aka. self-replicating probes, or von Neumann Probes) and Robin Hanson’s “Great Filter Hypothesis.”

Basically, the idea is that at some point in the future, advanced species will create self-replicating probes to explore the Universe. If just one of these species designed these probes to seek out and eliminate other species before they could become a threat, then this might explain the “Great Silence.” In another scenario, the probes suffered a malfunction and went “berserk,” consuming all matter in the Universe in a runaway manner (which included their creators).

This theory takes its name from the Berserker science fiction series by Fred Saberhagen and has been explored by countless science fiction series and franchises. Some examples include Greg Bear’s The Forge of God and Anvil of Stars, Alastair Reynold’s Revelation Space series (aka. The Inhibitor Cycle), the Mass Effect series, Star Trek, Babylon 5, Stargate, and the original Battlestar Galactica.

While the idea is science fiction gold, it is admittedly frightening when considered as a serious prospect. Luckily for all of us, various lines of research indicate that it is not a likely scenario. Check it out below:

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Episode Thirty of Stories from Space is Now Live! – Part II of my interview with James Maynard

This week’s episode is part II of my interview with science communicator, author, and educator James Maynard, creator and host of The Cosmic Companion. For Part II, we talked more about the Artemis Program, the role of the commercial space industry, and the future of human spaceflight and space exploration (and what it will make possible). During our chat, he capped things with a brilliant quote, which I had to introduce the episode with:

“The squabbles of nations on other worlds will soon become as distant to people living in space as the squabbles of ancient city-states are to us today. It could be the end of nationalism as we know it.”

Heady stuff! And inspiring words for the future. Follow the links below to hear the episode:

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Episode Twenty-Nine of Stories from Space – “Inspired Space with James Maynard” – is now Live!

This week, my guest was science communicator, author, and educator James Maynard, creator and host of The Cosmic Companion. Maynard is what is typically referred to as a “NASA legacy,” a person whose parents worked for NASA. In Maynard’s case, that includes his mother and father, who worked with the Apollo and Space Shuttle programs. Through the network he’s created, Maynard maintains this tradition of educating and inspiring people to pursue careers in space, the STEAMs, and science communication.

This is Part I of our two-part interview, where we discuss today’s most important missions and programs and what we can look forward to in the future. We also got into what it means to be a science communicator, how to deal with doubters and skeptics, how awesome it is to do what you love for a living, and how to deal with that nasty old voice that says, “you’re not good enough.” – aka. “imposter syndrome.” Check it out below: