AirSpace

About 82,000 American service members are listed as Missing in Action – 72,000 from World War II alone. Many of these MIAs were lost at sea when their aircraft were shot down over open water. Recent technologies like robotic submersibles, advanced sonar, and DNA matching are making it easier for recovery operations to find the downed airplanes, and identify the remains of service members. In this episode, Emily, Matt, and Nick tell the story of one of those service members, from an aerial battle in the Pacific in 1944, to recovery and repatriation more than 70 years later. And we hear from the head of one of these recovery organizations who describes the herculean effort and coordination that goes into each recovery operation, all with the goal of providing an honorable homecoming to the fallen.

We’re back this month with the second installment of our side project, Voyages to Mars!

Leaving Earth on your way to Mars, the first pit stop you might make is the Moon’s orbit. In this episode, we follow three Mars-bound space travelers from Mark Wicks’ novel, “To Mars via the Moon.” We see the Moon through the eyes of two Englishmen and a Scotsman as they explore the lunar surface with a combination of stretched scientific speculation and science fiction imaginings.

About Voyages to Mars: On July 30, 2020 NASA’s Perseverance rover launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida to Jezero crater, Mars. To accompany Percy on its seven-month journey, we’re compiling a literary mixtape of Martian-themed sci-fi set to music by DJ Kid Koala.

Voyages to Mars is made possible by the support of the Secretary of the Smithsonian and the Smithsonian Orlando Regional Council.

And now for something a little different. On July 30, 2020 NASA’s Perseverance rover launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida to Jezero crater, Mars. To accompany Percy on its seven-month journey, we’re compiling a literary mixtape of Martian-themed sci-fi set to music by DJ Kid Koala.

In this first installment of Voyages to Mars, we hear launch stories from two famous science fiction novels written long before the invention of modern rockets. From Percy Greg’s 1880 novel, Across the Zodiac, we get a detailed account of one of the first imaginary ships ever to travel from the Earth to Mars in literature. In Jules Verne’s 1865 novel, From the Earth to the Moon, we find one of the first descriptions ever written of what it might be like to witness a launch. Strap yourself in and come along for the ride.

Special thanks to Lizzie Peabody of Smithsonian’s Sidedoor podcast.

Voyages to Mars is made possible by the support of the Secretary of the Smithsonian and the Smithsonian Orlando Regional Council.

In this addition of our at-home movie club, we explore the world of the sci-fi thriller Snowpiercer. This French graphic novel, turned Korean action film, and now TV series is set in a post-apocalyptic world where all that is left of humanity is endlessly circling the globe in a train. Emily, Matt, and Nick break down this distopian future, geoengineering gone wrong, and how learning to survive in extreme environments applies to space travel.

Note to our listeners - This episode is about the world of Snowpiercer which is common to the books, film, and new TV show. We hope you find this world as interesting as we do, but before you go and watch the 2013 film, please note it is rated R for violence and is definitely not suitable for kids. If that's not your thing, you might enjoy the TV show or graphic novels instead.

We’re all movie buffs here at AirSpace *gestures to extensive movie episode back catalog.* And while we’re not exactly film critics, we know what we like—and we love when people see themselves represented in their favorite stories. And a long time ago (2013), and not so far away (New Mexico), a group embarked on a quest of their own: to translate Star Wars: A New Hope into Navajo. Their goal was to help preserve the language by introducing it to new generations and audiences beyond the reservation. In this episode, we’ll recount our decade+ hero’s journey from the call to action, to seeking a greenlight from Lucasfilm, to finding the translators and voice actors, creating whole new words for terms like “lightsaber” and “droid,” and finally the triumphant fanfare of a live audience seeing the famous opening crawl for the first time in their language. A herculean grassroots effort to create the first indigenous translation of a major motion picture has become a movement to interpret other indelible pieces of pop culture from Finding Nemo to Baby Shark. Hear how it all started today on AirSpace.