In July, ESA plans to launch the 2nd ExoMars mission, a rover called the Rosalind Franklin that will search for signs of life on Mars. It’ll do so with the MOMA instrument. Recently, scientists from ESA and NASA embarked on an expedition to the Pilbara region in Australia to practice identifying biosignatures in rocks to prep them for their eventual interpretation of the data coming back. Teresa Fornaro, co-investigator on the MOMA instrument, joins Jake to talk about the instrument, the mission, and the expedition.

We talk MOMA, ExoMars, and Life on Mars

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An Exciting Space Future

WeMartians is celebrating its fourth anniversary this month, and I couldn’t be more happy with the way this project has turned out. What began as a hobby has transformed in to a thriving community of thousands interested in Mars exploration.

I’ve got what feels like hundreds of ideas to make this show better, but I’ve always struggled balancing this hobby with my day job and the rest of my life. There’s not much else I can do without somehow getting more time! And so I’ve made some decisions to do just that.

I’ve left my day job. WeMartians is officially on the path of #GoingPro.

Learn more about the decision, what it means for the show, and how you can help at our blog post explainer!

Heading over the border today to pick up a package and so I’m taking the opportunity to mail the next batch of #GoingPro postcards and stickers to all the Americans who’ve joined! Gotta be fiscally responsible now! pic.twitter.com/oV2XbFFl3R — WeMartians Podcast (@We_Martians) December 16, 2019

How you can help

You can help support me as I transition to a new career.

We’ve got some new Patreon goals for the next four patron milestones – all bonus content for YOU, including video tours of the new studio to audio documentaries. UPDATE – Goal 1 has been reached! You can see the new studio tour here or below! A limited offer until January 3rd for new Patrons at the $5 level or higher – get a handwritten postcard and a pack of stickers! A special sale in the WeMartians shop – free shipping on orders of two or more items! UPDATE – New Shirt Design Available! SpaceX Super Heavy THIRTYSEVEN

Thanks to all the patrons who have come along so far, and to all the new ones ready to join the movement. Ad Ares!

New Shirt Design! THIRTYSEVEN

We’ve got a new shirt design out to mark our #GoingPro campaign. The much anticipated successor to our bestseller TWENTYSEVEN, THIRTYSEVEN features the business end of a Starship Super Heavy rocket. Pick it up now with the Rosalind Franklin shirt to take advantage of our free shipping promo using code GOINGPRO.

WeMartians theme music is “RetroFuture” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) and arranged by Jake Robins with Public Domain NASA audio and WeMartians interview samples. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/