Worlds Apart: Living in and Exploring Space

In 2030 the International Space Station will retire, and NASA will turn its attention to long-
duration, deep-space missions to the Moon and Mars. As the agency makes plans to move
astronauts further away from Earth for longer periods, it has been searching for strategies to
address new problems of human habitability. Most of this research is unknown to the public.
Instead, information about future space travel largely comes from “hard” science fiction: movies
like The Martian, TV series like For All Mankind, and novels like Red Mars. We’ll explore the
scientific fictions and omissions in these popular media to better understand the habitation
challenges NASA faces before it can put boots on Mars.

"Venus is the planet in our Solar System most like Earth in terms of size and
composition, hence why it is often called Earth’s “sister planet”. However, the
environment is extreme compared to Earth, and the surface is covered in volcanic
deposits that are substantially larger and stranger than what we find on Earth. Evidence
indicates that Venus may currently have active volcanism, and that the extreme
environment on Venus may be due to past eruptions. NASA and ESA have three
planned missions to Venus. Will these upcoming missions be able to answer the
outstanding questions of Venus volcanism?"