Space Policy Edition: Should a (potential) biosignature revive Mars Sample Return?

Space Policy Edition: Should a (potential) biosignature revive Mars Sample Return?

In 1996, a controversial claim of fossilized life in a Martian meteorite ignited a golden age of Mars exploration. Nearly 30 years later, a potential biosignature detected by the Perseverance rover at Jezero Crater has sparked…nothing, not even a formal effort to revive the beleaguered robotic Mars Sample Return project. Why did the claims surrounding the Allan Hills meteorite (which were ultimately rejected) kick off 25 years of unprecedented robotic exploration of the Red Planet? And why did the discovery at Cheyava Falls fail to ignite the same level of interest? Lou Friedman, former Executive Director of The Planetary Society and longtime proponent of Mars Sample Return, joins the show to contrast these to tipping points of Mars exploration, and argues why space scientists should seize this discovery to push for a scientific future at the Red Planet.


Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/spe-lou-friedman-on-msr-and-tipping-point-events

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Episoder(1323)

Space Policy Edition: Is this the moment for in-space nuclear power?

Space Policy Edition: Is this the moment for in-space nuclear power?

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Mat Kaplan’s first flight in zero-G

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First images from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory

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9 Jul 202559min

Space Policy Edition: Are Democrats falling behind on space policy?

Space Policy Edition: Are Democrats falling behind on space policy?

Have Democrats ceded leadership in space policy? That’s what Mary Guenther believes. She’s the Director of Space Policy at the Progressive Policy Institute and the author of an editorial that claims D...

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