<p>Finally, we launch into Muskâs ultimate quest â his desire to colonize Mars â and how he went from wanting to save earth to wanting to escape it. We hear the origin story of SpaceX, including why one astrophysicist calls Muskâs Earth-exiting plan âdelusional.â Is the red planet the ultimate âbubbleâ of total control, or does it represent a level of hubris thatâs out-of-this-world? </p><p><br></p><p>Guests in this episode include:</p><ul><li><strong>Robert Zubrin</strong>, aerospace engineer and Mars-exploration advocate</li><li><strong>Tom Moline</strong>, former SpaceX employee and co-signer of an open letter against Muskâs antics</li><li><strong>Adam Becker</strong>, journalist with a background in Astrophysics, Mars mission skeptic</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Topics in this episode include:</p><ul><li>How Mars Society advocates courted Elon Musk in his PayPal days, but soon went from patron to self-appointed messiah of the movement</li><li>The origin and history of SpaceX, its âtoxicâ and loudest-voice-wins culture, and its plans to colonize Mars and turn humanity into a "multi-planetary species"</li><li>The ethics and feasibility of space colonization, Elonâs open fascination with Sci-fi and fantasy â especially utopian ideas and Isaac Asimovâs book Foundation</li><li>The very real challenges of colonizing Mars, from poison dirt to high radiation to the unpredictable impacts on human biology, fertility and psychology </li><li>Planet B and the idea of Mars as the ultimate, engineered "bubble" â and why even optimists like Zubrin are troubled by the scope of Muskâs promises, calling them âbat guano crazy.â</li></ul>