The Mars Society - Interview with James Burk

On this episode Phil chats with Derek Harris, the business operations manager of Skyrora. Topics include starting a business in the space industry and green propellants. Find out more at Skyrora.com To get involved with Nexus Aurora you can find us at NexusAurora.org

In this episode Phil chats with James Burk from The Mars Society. The cover a range of topics but focus on the recent Mars Analogue mission which James took part in. You can learn more about The Mars Society at www.MarsSociety.org You can find more about Nexus Aurora by visiting www.NexusAurora.org or searching your favourite social media platforms for NexusAurora

In this episode we discuss the potential for colonising Antarctica. Can we learn valuable lessons to take with us to space? What would life look like in such a hostile environment? Could we use the ice-pick of human ingenuity to tunnel beneath the frigid surface and discover the greatest resource of all; the spirit of adventure?! There is only one way to find out.  You can learn more about us at NexusAurora.org If you have a question for the show please drop us an email [email protected] or leave us a comment on Reddit.com/r/NexusAurora

In this episode we discuss The Venus Project; a futuristic utopia which has nothing to do with the planet Venus. We talk about circular cities, AI, and a world without money to see if we can learn anything of use from this idealistic vision of the future.  If you'd like to learn more about Nexus Aurora please visit NexusAurora.org where you can find links to our socials, Patreon, and even some merch. 

In this episode we ponder the question "Is it possible to collect a sample from Jupiter?" No, no it isn't. But Jupiter's 4 Galilean moons are some of the most promising possible locations for finding life in our solar system and come without the barrier of intense, lander-crushing gravity. What would it take to return a sample from these moons or possibly even send a manned mission?  You can contact us at [email protected] or leave comments for the episode on Reddit.com/r/NexusAurora or if you're a super-fan you can support us directly by going to Patreon.com/NexusAurora.  More info at NexusAurora.org 

On this episode Phil is joined by propulsion engineer and fellow Nexus Aurora member, Cameron. This wide ranging discussion covers projects at Nexus Aurora and the industry as a whole.  If you'd like to chat with Cameron, Phil or anyone else from NA you can do so at NexusAurora.org/Discord If you'd like to get in touch with the show please reach out to [email protected] 

Join us for a spooky Halloween episode as we discuss UFOs and the possibility of alien life visiting earth. What does our current understanding of physics have to say about visitors from another world, and what would it take for us to flip the tables on these aliens and build our own UFOs?  You can get in touch with us [email protected] and find out more at NexusAurora.org Additional music this episode was composed by Frank Schroeter The following music was used for this media project: Music: Spooky Halloween by Frank Schroeter Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/9966-spooky-halloween License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Artist on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/frank.schroeter.52

Despite decades of robotic exploration we have yet to recover samples from anywhere in the solar system apart from Earth's moon. Why is it so difficult? Can we recover more diverse samples with current technology and what do we stand to gain from the exploration?  If you have any questions please send them to [email protected] If you like what we're doing at Nexus Aurora you can support us at Patreon.com/nexusaurora For anything else there's nexusaurora.org 

Now that we've settled on the best methods for power generation (see last episode) we need to figure out how to store that power. Do the solutions for Earth also work on Mars or do we need to think outside the sphere? If you think that we missed a possible solution or maybe you have a question then please get in touch. We'd love to hear from you at [email protected] While you're listening please consider leaving us a review so that we can climb the charts and reach more people.  For more info please see NexusAurora.org 

If you want to build a Martian colony you're going to need power, and lots of it. Do we have the technology to solve this problem or is our colony doomed to failure? We have 3 and a half answers for you in part 1 of our conversation on powering Mars.  Please send us your questions to [email protected] and we'll read them out on the show.  More info at NexusAurora.org