Travelers in the Night Eps. 899 & 900: Hitch Hiking an Asteroid to Mars & Earth Life From Mars
About this episode
The episode discusses using asteroids for radiation protection during space travel and explores the implications of Martian meteorites for understanding life on Earth and beyond.
Dr. Al Grauer hosts. Dr. Albert D. Grauer ( @Nmcanopus ) is an observational asteroid hunting astronomer. Dr. Grauer retired from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2006. travelersinthenight.org From May 2026. Today's 2 topics: - Asteroids could provide a solution for the serious problem of how to protect astronauts from harmful solar and cosmic radiation during long duration space flights and thus eliminate the need for the spacecraft itself to have heavy shielding material. The idea is for the spacecraft to spend most of the journey inside the asteroid. - Some of the 635,000 impact craters found on Mars are the result of such violent impacts that pieces of Mars are ejected, travel around the solar system, and a few become one of the several hundred Martian meteorites which have been discovered here on Earth. An experiment is described which does not prove we are descendants of martian bacteria however it does improve our ability to protect our planet and understand where life may be possible elsewhere in the Universe. We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs. Just visit…
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