Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science

Inside the 2025 Mars Society Convention

Dec 10, 2025

Humphrey "Hoppy" Price, Chief Engineer for NASA's Robotic Mars Exploration Program, discusses groundbreaking advancements in Mars Sample Return missions and challenges with the Mars Ascent Vehicle. He highlights international collaboration for future missions. The conversation also touches on Robert Zubrin's urgent call to safeguard NASA's science programs amid budget cuts. Additionally, insights from experts reveal the potential of synthetic biology to support human life on Mars, paving the way for a new era of exploration.

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INSIGHT

Science Cuts Threaten NASA's Core

Robert Zubrin warned that large NASA science cuts threaten the symbolic and practical core of modern science.
He urged the Mars Society to mobilize congressional advocacy to stop the cuts and defend space science.

INSIGHT

Mars Sample Return Still Unresolved

Humphrey "Hoppy" Price explained Mars Sample Return remains a concept with funding and MAV mass as primary challenges.
JPL is exploring smaller MAVs, sky-crane delivery, and commercial carriers to lower cost and mass.

INSIGHT

Mars As A Moral And Practical Milestone

Dex Hunter-Torricke framed Mars as both a practical milestone and a moral project tied to fixing Earth.
He urged leaders to attend to multiple trends simultaneously and not abandon hope for a shared multi-planet future.

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The 2025 International Mars Society Convention convened at the University of Southern California this October for three days of passionate discussion about humanity’s future on the red planet. Speakers explored science, policy, technology, AI, synthetic biology, and the long-term path toward becoming a multi-planet species.

In this episode, Mat Kaplan, senior communications adviser at The Planetary Society, shares his conversations with speakers and guests at the Convention. We hear from Robert Zubrin, founder of The Mars Society, who delivered a fiery call to protect NASA’s science programs in the face of unprecedented budget cuts. Humphrey “Hoppy” Price, Chief Engineer for NASA’s Robotic Mars Exploration Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, updates us on the future of Mars Sample Return and new mission architectures. Keynote speaker Dex Hunter-Torricke, a longtime communications leader for SpaceX, Meta, and other major tech organizations, reflects on AI’s promise and peril, and why Mars remains a beacon of hope for humanity’s future.

Biologist and technologist Tiffany Vora, vice president for innovation partnerships at Explore Mars, and Erika DeBenedictis, biologist and founder of Pioneer Labs, reveal breakthroughs in synthetic biology and engineered microbes that could help future Martians survive. Steve Benner, chemist and founder of the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution (FfAME), revisits the Viking lander experiments and makes a provocative case that we may have found Martian life nearly 50 years ago.

Architect Melodie Yashar, CEO of AENARA and a pioneer in 3D-printed habitat research, shares progress in additive construction on Earth and Mars. James Burk, executive director of The Mars Society, discusses advocacy, analog research stations, and the organization’s expanding international footprint.

Finally, we meet Sasha, a 13-year-old presenter whose enthusiasm offers a bright glimpse of the next generation of explorers.

We wrap up the show with What’s Up with Bruce Betts, chief scientist at The Planetary Society, with a discussion of perchlorates in the Martian soil.

Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2025-mars-society-convention

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