Science Essentials to Live on Mars | The Space Policy Show Ep.161

The journey to Mars is a long one so when humans arrive, we will need to maximize the science in order to understand the environment for a future there – and to learn more about how the universe formed. What are those big science questions we should seek to answer and how should the journey(s) be scheduled? After two years the National Academy of Sciences has published a report (Dec 2025) called “A Science Strategy for the Human Exploration of Mars”. In this episode Colleen Stover hosts the committee co-chairs The Honorable Dr. Dava Newman (MIT, former NASA Deputy Administrator) and Dr. Lindy Elkins-Tanton (Director, UC Berkely Space Sciences Laboratory). You can read the full report on the NAS website. “A Science Strategy for the Human Exploration of Mars”. And if you want to dive deeper into the science objectives within the report, be sure to check out this excel sheet Table J-3: STM of the Panel on Biological and Physical Sciences and Human Factors. This episode is part of the Future Forward Series that discusses some of the most cutting-edge topics in the space enterprise today – decisions today that will define the future in areas of space science, artificial intelligence, international relations, launch capabilities, new technologies, and capital investments.