Mars: Are we nearly there yet?

The Naked Scientists Podcast

Dr Chris Smith

Science Radio, Engineering, Naked Scientists, Natural Sciences, Technology, Life Sciences, Health & Fitness, Medicine, Science

4.6 • 957 Ratings

🗓️ 12 October 2015

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

To rocket engineers, the idea of transporting humans to Mars is a one colossal headache. Compared to inert satellites and probes, humans are highly unpredictable, needy and fragile. Radiation is our body's kryptonite; microgravity renders the bones thin and weak and if you broke a leg, it could take months to fix. These are just a few of the hundreds of problems scientists are grappling with when considering how they might send people to the rocky red planet. We'll be taking a closer look at some of those obstacles this week and asking if it's actually possible to get people to Mars. Plus,... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Transcript

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0:00.0	On Britain streets, you unknowingly see, extraordinary heroes who look just like me.
0:07.0	We live without capes or superpowers.
0:10.0	We're the everyday heroes who save the hour a nurse a teacher a cabby a mate pride of
0:17.3	Britain's here it's time to celebrate do you know an everyday hero who deserves
0:22.4	recognition visit pride of Britain dot com Do you know an everyday hero who deserves recognition?
0:23.0	Visit pride of Britain.com and nominate them today.
0:26.0	T.S.B. proud partners of the Pride of Britain Awards. You're going to. Hello and welcome to episode two of our series Destination Mars.
0:52.0	Last time we looked at what it takes to be an astronaut, but this
0:55.8	week we're probing how would-be spacefarers will actually get to the red planet, battling
1:00.7	against gravity, radiation, and even sound waves.
1:04.0	And also news that scientists have grown the first kidneys from scratch in a petri dish,
1:09.0	news that vitamin pills can make cancer spread and what a 4,500 year old skeleton
1:15.0	uncovered in a cave can reveal about our human origins.
1:19.0	I'm Katani and I'm Chris Smith and this is The Naked Scientists.
1:24.0	The Naked Scientists podcast is powered by UKfast.co.uk. The Nobel Prizes in Chemistry, Physics and Medicine or Physiology have been announced this week.
1:40.0	We've asked three scientists working in each of these three disciplines
1:44.0	to tell us the stories of this year's winners and why their contributions have been so
1:48.0	important.
1:49.0	First up is physiology or medicine.
1:51.0	Killel Thurloway is a parasitologist from Nottingham University.
1:55.0	Half of the prize goes to Chinese pharmacologist Tuyoyo
1:58.0	who discovered the antimelarial drug Artemisinin by looking to the past for inspiration. She lived and worked in China during
	...

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