Cheap Astronomy - Dear CA #71: Space is Hard & Mars is Harder

Is there any point in ‘Nuking' Mars? In a word, no. The idea, famously championed by Elon Musk is that we should drop thermonuclear bombs on Mars poles, releasing large volumes of water vapour and carbon dioxide, which will bulk out Mars exceedingly thin atmosphere – and since both water and CO2 are greenhouse gases they should warm up the planet. How are we going to get home from Mars? Sorry we can’t seem to get off doing podcasts about Mars lately – and that is the topic of today’s podcast. How can we get off Mars? Getting something onto the surface of Mars in one piece is a major technical challenge.   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 [email protected].