Colonizing the Moon, Trump Waives Endangered Species Protections, and A Citizen Science Bioblitz.

About this episode

The episode discusses the Artemis II mission to the Moon, recent decisions affecting endangered species protections, and a citizen science bioblitz event.

The astronauts of the Artemis II mission are prospecting for a planned base on the moon, the first lunar expedition since 1972. The crew includes the first woman, the first person of color, and first Canadian to travel to the Moon. Danny Olivas, an engineer and retired NASA astronaut, talks about the mission objectives and challenges, why it faced delays and what sets the Artemis program apart from the Apollo visits to the moon of more than 50 years ago. Also, a panel known as the “God Squad”, consisting mostly of Trump cabinet members, recently voted to exempt the oil and gas industry operating in the Gulf of Mexico from the Endangered Species Act. If courts do not intervene, this decision would waive the standard ESA requirements to protect endangered species including the Rice’s whale, of which there are only a few dozen left. And the City Nature Challenge is an international contest known as a bioblitz: a brief, intensive survey of biological diversity over a set area and time. A few years back we met up with the Boston BioBlitz Initiative for Girls during a trip to Thompson Island in Boston Harbor, where a group of teens practiced their observational skills for the…

People in this episode

Host: Living on Earth

Guest: Danny Olivas

Topics covered

• moon colonization
• Artemis II mission
• endangered species
• oil and gas industry
• citizen science
• bioblitz
• biological diversity

Keywords

• Artemis II
• moon
• endangered species
• bioblitz
• NASA
• Trump
• Gulf of Mexico
• Rice’s whale
• Boston Harbor

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: NASA, Trump, Endangered Species Act, Boston BioBlitz Initiative for Girls

Places: Gulf of Mexico, Rice’s whale, Thompson Island, Boston Harbor

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