Mars Ascend-Humans to Mars and Beyond

On this episode of Mars Ascend is Academy Award nominated and Emmy Award winning producer and director Justin Wilkes. Justin is Executive Producer of the National Geographic Channel series Mars premiering Monday, November 14th on the National Geographic Channel. He's also President of Media and Entertainment for RadicalMedia which partnered with Imagine Entertainment to produce the Mars series. We discuss the National Geographic Channel Mars television series, it's production, motivation and hope for the future.

On this episode of Mars Ascend is 15 year old future astronaut Alyssa Carson. Alyssa knows what it takes to make dreams come true. She's already completed 7 international Space Camps and numerous astronaut Sally Ride Camps. She's witnessed three shuttle launches, attended Space Academy's, Robotics Academy and an Aviation Challenge. She travels to many parts of the world as an inspirational speaker including TEDx in Greece motivating others to follow their dreams. Alyssa also speaks four languages and will soon begin work on her pilots license.

On this Part 2 episode of Mars Ascend we continue our conversation with the Director of the Office of Space and Advanced Technology for the U.S. Department of State, Kenneth D. Hodgkins. We discuss the role Ken's office and the State Department play in formulating international space policy and promoting cooperation in space.

On this episode of Mars Ascend is Air and Space Law Instructor Andrea Harrington of the University of Mississippi School of Law. Andrea is also a lawyer and instructor at the International Space University and the Executive Editor of the Journal of Space Law. She is a doctoral candidate in the field of Air and Space Law. In this Part 2 of a 2 Part series we discuss the national U. S . Space Act signed into law in 2015 and it’s relationship to the international Outer Space Treaty. The United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Use of Outer Space or COPUOS oversees the Outer Space Treaty.

On this episode of Mars Ascend is Paul Levinson, co-creator with Michael Waltemathe of the new book ‘Touching the Face of the Cosmos-On the Intersection of Space Travel and Religion'. We discuss the book and the role religion and spirituality play in humans desire to explore space, including Mars.