Join us for this fascinating episode recorded July 1st, where we sit down with Crew 315 from the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS). Our guests —
🌟 Dave Laude (Commander)
🔧 Michael Andrews (Crew Engineer)
🩺 Urban Koi (Health & Safety Officer)
🎨 Tim Gagnon (Crew Artist; also a KSC Artist — kscartist.com)

— share their personal inspirations and reflections from their two-week analog Mars mission.

👨‍🚀 What you'll hear in this episode:
🚀 The story behind the 100cameras experiment — a unique photography initiative fostering connection, reflection, and community through images captured during isolation and confinement.
👨‍🍳 How the crew bonded over taking turns cooking meals and navigating life in close quarters under Martian simulation.
📸 Tim Gagnon’s insights on blending art, science, and space exploration as part of NASA’s creative community.
🤝 Tales of teamwork: Helping a stranded van in the Utah desert while maintaining sim integrity.
🌱 Urban Koi tells us about receiving NASA funding for her MUSHROOM FORGE initiative.

👉 Learn more about Crew 315’s mission:
🔗 Final Mission Summary – MDRS Crew 315
🔗 Tim Gagnon’s KSC Artist Site
🔗 Urban Koi's Instagram

From Pathfinder to Perseverance: A Planetary Scientist’s Journey 🔍

Origin Story: A Spark from the Museum

• A childhood visit to the Air and Space Museum sparked a lifelong love of space. Inspired by the Pathfinder mission and an exhibit on the Moon. Declared: “I’m going to discover water on the Moon.” Katie determined: “I want to work on another planet.” From Caltech to JPL, now as acting project scientist for Perserverance.

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• Katie has been working on Perseverance rover, now 4.5 years into the mission.

• • Carries ~40 sample tubes.

  • 32 filled, 7 left—final stages of a historic sample collection.

  • Decisions now more deliberate with remaining tubes.

• • Once a lake with rivers, Jezero Crater offers strong evidence for past water.

  • Home to sedimentary rocks, excellent for preserving signs of ancient environments.

  • Special focus on carbonates—formed from surface water + CO₂:

    • Preserve unique environmental signals.

    • Key to understanding Mars’ paleoclimate.

  • Sample with "leopard spots"—dark rims, light interiors.

    • Possible signs of oxidation-reduction reactions.

    • These could hint at the presence of microbial life.

      
      

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  And much more ! Tune into this episode to hear more from the Acting Project Scientist for the Perserverance rover at NASA's JPL.

🎙️ New Episode: CEO CJ Jannette of BlackStar Orbital – Building the Future of Personal Space Access

In this electrifying episode, we sit down with CJ Jannette, CEO of ⁠BlackStar Orbital⁠, live from Los Angeles and fresh off Space Tech Expo in Long Beach. With deep roots in SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy and NASA’s hydraulics systems, CJ is now pioneering a new frontier: making space accessible for everyone.

We cover:

🚀 His Direct-to-Phase II SBIR win and $1.8M contract 🛰️ A classified payload launching on Axiom-4

📦 The buzz around SpaceBox – a consumer space payload service for wedding rings, business cards, and more

🔬 BlackStar’s focus on microgravity research, thermal protection breakthroughs, and aerogel-carbon fiber structures 🛫 Spaceplanes, subscale X-37s, and why Dream Chasers are the “yachts of space”

⚠️ EpiPens and the danger of toxicity in orbit, and how space certification is becoming essential

📍 Updates from Titusville, FL – home of their latest operations near pads 39A and 39B 🌌 Why he’s excited about Space Force, CLPS 2 (CMPS), and the role of small payloads in making space personal and repeatable

If you're interested in space entrepreneurship, payload innovation, or simply want to know how to send a piece of yourself to space, don’t miss this one.

🛰️ Reach out to BlackStar Orbital about SpaceBox missions — new flights are launching soon!

BlackStar Orbital

https://www.spacedrone.io/

Connect with CJ Jannette:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-jannette-b2304539/