Guest: David Susko, The Road To The Moon And Then To Mars

David Susko, a Martian geologist working for a NASA contractor is our guest. He builds and operates cameras for space missions, including a visible-light camera called MACIE (Mars Color Imager) that photographs the Martian surface at various scales and resolutions. Key points discussed: • Moon before Mars. The Moon is a mandatory stepping stone — everything from Apollo to the ISS has been about learning to live and work in space before attempting Mars. Going straight to Mars carries too much risk. • Historical context. Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo were proof-of-concept missions. The Saturn V rocket remains the gold standard. Retiring it in the 70s (and the engineers and facilities with it) was a costly decision NASA has been recovering from ever since. • The rocket equation problem. The vast majority of fuel is spent just escaping Earth’s gravity well. Every extra kilogram of payload requires exponentially more fuel, making heavy-lift missions extremely difficult. • Today’s rockets. Three heavy-lift vehicles are currently in play: NASA’s SLS, SpaceX’s Starship, and Blue Origin’s New Glenn. All three are involved in Artemis. • Artemis mission architecture. The plan involves multiple launches, orbital rendezvous and docking between the Orion capsule and the Starship lunar lander (or Blue Moon variant), new spacesuits from a private aerospace company, and astronauts landing near the lunar south pole. • Artemis milestones so far. Artemis I (2022, uncrewed) flew around the Moon and successfully re-entered Earth’s atmosphere. Artemis II will fly crew around the Moon. Artemis III will attempt the first crewed landing in decades. A first Moon landing in roughly 2–3 years is the current plan, though delays are likely. • Target: lunar south pole / Shackleton Crater. The south pole is almost permanently shadowed and likely harbors water ice — a critical resource for long-term habitation. The VIPER rover (using ground-penetrating radar) is being sent to prospect for these resources. • Long-term goal. Build permanent lunar infrastructure to support human habitation — a ”Moon base” — as the launchpad for eventual Mars missions. • Safety. The guest emphasizes not rushing; the Apollo program’s near-perfect safety record shouldn’t breed complacency, especially given tragedies like the Space Shuttle Columbia.