For All Marskind with Garrett Reisman

This month’s special Everyday Mars episode heads into the alternate-history universe of For All Mankind with former NASA astronaut, SpaceX engineer, and series technical advisor Garrett Reisman.

If you somehow haven’t started the show yet… first of all, what are you doing? And second: fair warning, this conversation contains spoilers for Seasons 1 through 4. At this point though, you’ve had years to catch up, so that one’s on you.

We talked about how For All Mankind evolved from an alternate Apollo timeline into a story about a thriving Martian civilization, what the show gets surprisingly right about human spaceflight, how astronauts actually think about risk and isolation, why Mars settlement may end up looking less glamorous and more industrial than people imagine, how lunar missions set the stage for Mars, the psychological realities of becoming “Martian,” what Garrett learned from his own missions aboard the International Space Station, how his time at NASA and SpaceX shaped his view of humanity’s future in space, and why the hardest part of becoming multiplanetary may ultimately be learning how to live together.

We also discussed the real engineering challenges behind building cities on another world, how television can influence public enthusiasm for exploration, what happens when commercial industry collides with government space programs, the future of Artemis, whether Mars settlements may eventually develop their own culture and identity, and how close some of the technologies in the show actually are to becoming reality.

And for those already mourning the end of Season 5… the finale airs this Friday, and yes, one final season is still coming. But if you need even more For All Mankind immediately afterward, Apple TV is also launching the new spin-off series Star City this Friday, exploring the Soviet side of the alternate-history space race.

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