EPISODE 3 OF SPACE ON THE PAGE

Space on the Page is a podcast series hosted by David Baron and Lucas Mix, both holders of the Baruch S. Blumberg NASA/Library of Congress Chair in Astrobiology, Exploration, and Scientific Innovation at the John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress.

In Space on the Page, Baron and Mix interview authors who write about space exploration and the search for life outside of Earth. Baron is joined by nonfiction science writers who share their perspective and expertise on the past, present, and future of human efforts to understand and explore the universe. Mix talks with scientists as well as science fiction authors who show how the human imagination depicts everything that we anticipate, hope, and fear about what is currently unknown.

Episode 3 (David Baron) – The Race to Put Humans on Mars

An interview with author and scientist David Whitehouse on the prospects for future space exploration and human missions to Mars, as well as to other planets.

"It's hard to see how anybody would make a vast amount of money going to Mars. And that's probably why billionaires are interested... What's the difference between having $4 billion and $50 billion to a person? It makes no difference. And yet, the difference is something you can use to develop space technology."

David Baron, Baruch S. Blumberg NASA/Library of Congress Chair in Astrobiology, Exploration, and Scientific Innovation, interviews author and scientist David Whitehouse on the prospects for future space exploration and human missions to Mars, as well as to other planets. While human technology has landed on Mars, landing a human being on the red planet poses a greater challenge. Whitehouse and Baron look at the special constraints and risks – biological, technological, and social – that accompany sending people on such a long and uniquely taxing voyage. They also explore the question of how putting humans on Mars could transform human art, literature, and culture.

Dr. David Whitehouse has a doctorate in astrophysics from the Jodrell Bank radio observatory with The Victoria University of Manchester. He has been a consultant to many space agencies and involved in many space missions, and became the BBC Radio science correspondent in 1988, and was a Science Editor of BBC News Online. He is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, and author of four books, The Moon: A Biography, The Sun: A Biography, Astronaut, and Arch of Heaven: The Science and Mystery of the Rainbow.

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