The most powerful people in the world want to send humans to Mars. Getting there will be extremely difficult. Staying there will be even harder.

This episode was made in collaboration with Vox’s Future Perfect. It was produced by Avishay Artsy, edited by Jolie Myers, fact checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Patrick Boyd, and hosted by Sean Rameswaram.

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During the Mars Society in the Southern Utah desert participants pretend they are on Mars to study the environment and collect data. Photo by Paul Harris/Getty Images.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices