“On a Mission” is a new eight-episode podcast series from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory that follows the InSight mission as the robotic explorer journeys to Mars. “InSight” it’s NASA’s latest spacecraft headed to Mars, scheduled to arrive there on November 26. As always, it’s a dicey affair, with less than half of previous missions having safely reached their destinations. “When things go beautifully it looks easy, but it’s really not easy,” Sue Smrekar, deputy principal investigator for mission, warns. “Any kind of exploration is just not easy or guaranteed — ever.” That’s also what makes a mission exciting.
The first two episodes are available now at NASA, the InSight website, SoundCloud and Apple Podcasts.