Aspiring Martians

This week on Aspiring Martians, we're back with another installment of Inside the Habitat, our ongoing series exploring the remarkable places around the world where researchers are preparing humans for life on the Moon and Mars.
And this month, we're heading somewhere a little unexpected: Grand Forks, North Dakota.
Joining me is Dr. Pablo de León, an aerospace engineer, spacesuit designer, Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor, and director of the Human Spaceflight Laboratory at the University of North Dakota.
Pablo has spent more than three decades working in human spaceflight, helping develop technologies that could one day support astronauts living and working on other worlds.
His passion for space exploration began on a farm in Argentina, where he grew up during the Apollo era and watched humanity take its first steps on the Moon. That childhood fascination eventually carried him to NASA's Kennedy Space Center and, later, the University of North Dakota, where he helped establish an extraordinary research facility.
The Integrated Lunar/Martian Analog Habitat, or ILMAH, is a five-module facility designed to simulate some of the practical, technological, and psychological challenges of living on another planet.
But what makes ILMAH particularly interesting is how its different systems work together.
The habitat features living quarters, research facilities, plant production, exercise equipment, a pressurized exploration rover, and experimental spacesuits equipped with suitports that allow astronauts to enter and exit through the back while reducing the risk of carrying hazardous planetary dust into their living environment.
And throughout it all, researchers are asking questions that extend far beyond the technology itself.
How do people cope with prolonged isolation? What happens when astronauts lose their normal day-night cues? Why do some crew members gravitate toward the greenhouse? How much freedom should astronauts have over their daily schedules? And how can we design planetary habitats around the people who will actually live in them?
We also explore how ILMAH grew from a single experimental module into an integrated research facility, the important role students have played in building it, and some fascinating new research into processing human waste into something useful for future planetary settlements.
Because if humanity hopes to establish a permanent presence on the Moon or Mars, we'll need to learn how to make the most of every resource available.
And according to Pablo, that includes absolutely everything.
Even the things we'd normally prefer to flush away.
From spacesuit engineering and hands-on education to crew psychology, planetary sustainability, and the importance of designing for human needs, this conversation offers a fascinating look at what it really takes to turn a distant destination into somewhere people can call home.
~
A huge thank you to Pablo for taking the time to join me today and for sharing his incredible work developing the Integrated Lunar/Martian Analog Habitat at the University of North Dakota, along with his insights into the challenges of preparing humans to live and work on other worlds. If you'd like to learn more about ILMAH and follow the fascinating work being done there, you can find them on Instagram at @und_ilmah.
And of course, thank you to Nick Thorburn for the stellar theme music, Ceci Giglio for the incredible graphics, Jero Squartini for the amazing animations, to RDan, Leila, Inka, and Carl for admining the Facebook group, and to my family for supporting this project.

Houston, we have a litter box problem.
We’re figuring out how to send people to Mars. But can we bring our cats?
For National Cat Day, Everyday Mars explores life on the Red Planet with humanity’s most independent, occasionally affectionate, and almost certainly most judgmental companions.
After Dogs on Mars with Dr. Clive Wynne and Pets on Mars with Dr. Jamie Foster, it’s finally the cats’ turn.
Joining me is Dr. Mikel Delgado, a cat behavior expert, researcher, certified applied animal behaviorist, and author of Play With Your Cat! She earned her psychology PhD at UC Berkeley, researched feline behavior at UC Davis, and co-founded Feline Minds.
Together, we ask what cats need to thrive—and whether a Martian settlement could provide it. How do you train a cat for space travel? Handle kitty litter in zero gravity? Feed an obligate carnivore on Mars? And would bringing cats along be fair to them?
We explore domestication, training, feline affection, catios, allergies, kitty litter, enrichment, and Félicette, the first cat to successfully travel into space.
Along the way, we ask whether future generations could meet an entirely new population of Martian cats.
Because surviving on Mars is one thing. Convincing a cat to choose its multimillion-dollar habitat over the cardboard box it arrived in? That might be the real challenge.
~
Articles:
"Early Taming of the Cat in Cyprus": link

"Evidence for early cat taming in Egypt": link

"More evidence for cat taming at the Predynastic elite cemetery of Hierakonpolis (Upper Egypt)": link

"The dispersal of domestic cats from North Africa to Europe around 2,000 years ago": link

"Ancient Pets. The health, diet and diversity of cats, dogs and monkeys from the Red Sea port of Berenice (Egypt) in the 1st–2nd centuries AD": link

"Earliest ‘Domestic’ Cats in China Identified as Leopard Cat (Prionailurus bengalensis)": link

"Assessment of Clicker Training for Shelter Cats": link

"Social interaction, food, scent or toys? A formal assessment of domestic pet and shelter cat (Felis silvestris catus) preferences": link

"Dogs outperform cats both in their testability and relying on human pointing gestures: a comparative study": link

"A comparative study of the use of visual communicative signals in interactions between dogs (Canis familiaris) and humans and cats (Felis catus) and humans": link

"Domestic cats (Felis catus) discriminate their names from other words": link

"Carrier training cats reduces stress on transport to a veterinary practice": link

"Comparison of positive reinforcement training in cats: A pilot study": link

"Human-animal interaction: understanding the role of dog and cat interactions in emotional wellbeing": link

"The Impact of Cat Fostering on Older Adult Well-Being and Loneliness: A Feasibility Study": link

"Effects of Interactions with Cats in Domestic Environment on the Psychological and Physiological State of Their Owners: Associations among Cortisol, Oxytocin, Heart Rate Variability, and Emotions": link

"Attachment bonds between domestic cats and humans": link

"The Relationship Between Attachment to Pets and Mental Health and Wellbeing: A Systematic Review": link

"Experimental Analysis of Human-Cat Interactions During First Encounters": link

"The ethology of the human-cat relationship": link

"Evidence for Individual Differences in Behaviour and for Behavioural Syndromes in Adult Shelter Cats": link

"Providing Humans With Practical, Best Practice Handling Guidelines During Human-Cat Interactions Increases Cats’ Affiliative Behaviour and Reduces Aggression and Signs of Conflict": link

"Reduction of active Fel d1 from cats using an antiFel d1 egg IgY antibody": link

~
A huge thank you to Mikel for sharing what cats need to live happy, healthy lives—even on another planet. Thanks to Nick Thorburn for the theme music, Ceci Giglio for the graphics, Jero Squartini for the animations, RDan, Leila, Inka, and Carl for admining our Facebook group, and my family for supporting this project.

What if you spent your entire life preparing to become an astronaut, only to realize that reaching space might not change who you are?
This week on Aspiring Martians, I'm joined by Makiah Eustice, an aerospace engineer, U.S. Air Force officer, creative, and three-time analog astronaut whose journey toward space has taken her through military flight testing, engineering, research, and simulated missions to both Mars and the Moon.
After studying aerospace engineering at Texas A&M University, Makiah began building a career around her dream of becoming an astronaut. She founded the Aggie Astronaut Corps to help students find meaningful ways to prepare for spaceflight, became a Brooke Owens Fellow, and went on to serve in the U.S. Air Force, where her work included aircraft structures, flight testing, and space-program oversight.
More recently, she began a systems engineering fellowship with Blue Origin, supporting its Blue Ring spacecraft team.
But Makiah's story is about more than engineering.
Before she dreamed of becoming an astronaut, she was drawn to music, dance, storytelling, and the arts. And as her career has evolved, so has her understanding of what it means to pursue an extraordinary ambition without sacrificing the other parts of herself.
Her experiences as an analog astronaut have taken her to the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah, HI-SEAS in Hawaiʻi, and most recently Poland's LunAres habitat, where she served on the all-women Nivalis crew during the inaugural World's Biggest Analog.
In our conversation, we explore how Makiah found her way into aerospace engineering, why she created opportunities for aspiring astronauts when she couldn't find them herself, what she learned from living in simulated extraterrestrial environments, and how her understanding of success has changed along the way.
We also talk about leadership, mentorship, collaboration between future off-world communities, the importance of creativity, and the relationship between ambition and anxiety, a subject Makiah explored in her recent TEDx talk, Ambition, Anxiety, and the Outer Space in Between.
Because preparing to become an astronaut is one thing.
Learning to appreciate who you are while pursuing that dream might be just as important.
~
A huge thank you to Makiah for taking the time to join me today and for sharing her journey, curiosity, and perspective. And of course, thank you to Nick Thorburn for the stellar theme music, Ceci Giglio for the incredible graphics, Jero Squartini for the amazing animations, to RDan, Leila, Inka, and Carl for admining the Facebook group, and to my family for supporting this project.

Mars is going to need scientists, doctors, engineers and astronauts.
It is also going to need people who know how to fix things.
This week on Aspiring Martians, I’m joined by Matthias Beach, a U.S. Air Force Space Command veteran, builder, researcher and analog astronaut whose work sits firmly on the hands-on side of human space exploration.
Matthias became the Master Builder for the Space Analog for the Moon and Mars, or SAM, at Biosphere 2 in Arizona, where he helped transform aging infrastructure into a high-fidelity research environment for future Moon and Mars missions. His work has included electrical systems, habitat construction, hydroponics, reduced-gravity equipment and SAM’s indoor Mars Yard.
Then he went from building the habitat to living inside it.
In October 2025, Matthias spent two weeks alone inside SAM as part of a bioregenerative life-support experiment. For the first week, his only roommates were 144 dwarf pea plants, which researchers were studying to better understand how plants might help regulate carbon dioxide and oxygen inside future off-world habitats.
We talk about his unconventional path back into the space world, rebuilding his life, preparing the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station, pressure suits, reduced gravity, habitat failures, isolation, improvised problem solving, and why Matthias believes analog missions should be realistic enough that something occasionally goes wrong.
Because on Mars, eventually something will.
And somebody is going to have to fix it.
~
A huge thank you to Matthias for taking the time to join me today and for sharing his journey, his work, and his perspective on what it actually takes to prepare people for living and working beyond Earth. And of course, thank you to Nick Thorburn for the stellar theme music, Ceci Giglio for the incredible graphics, Jero Squartini for the amazing animations, to RDan, Leila, Inka, and Carl for admining the Facebook group, and to my family for supporting this project.

What if students did not have to wait until they became scientists, engineers, or astronauts to find out what working on Mars might actually feel like?
This month on Inside the Habitat, we travel to eastern Slovakia to explore Cosmic Region / Kozmický región, the country’s first dedicated analog habitat for simulated missions to the Moon and Mars.
Located at the Rožňava Observatory, COSMIC REGION officially opened in 2025. Its two connected geodesic domes contain science and living spaces, an airlock, limited hygiene facilities, environmental monitoring, and everything crews need to begin experiencing some of the operational constraints of living away from Earth.
But what makes COSMIC REGION especially interesting is its emphasis on education.
Its first full independent mission, MarsonautiSK, put four student analog astronauts inside the habitat for seven days while another student team operated Mission Control. They conducted research, worked through communication delays, performed simulated EVAs, managed limited resources, and dealt with unexpected mission challenges.
Our guide is Dr. Michaela Musilová, a Slovak astrobiologist, explorer, educator, and one of the most experienced analog mission commanders in the world.
Michaela previously served as Director of HI-SEAS in Hawaiʻi, has organized more than 40 simulated lunar and Martian missions, and has personally commanded nearly 40 analog missions across a wide range of extreme environments.
We talk about how COSMIC REGION was built, what Michaela brought home from decades of analog experience, the lessons learned from its first mission, the importance of designing simulations around actual human beings, and why giving students meaningful roles now could help build the space workforce of the future.
Because sometimes the first step toward Mars is not launching a rocket.
It is giving someone the chance to believe they belong there.
~
Inside HI-SEAS with Dr. Kim Binsted: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/inside-hi-seas-with-dr-kim-binsted/id1777937758?i=1000770728211
Michaela's website: https://www.michaelamusilova.com/
Cosmic Region: https://www.gos.sk/kozmicky-region-cosmic-region
~
A huge thank you to Michaela for taking the time to join me today and for sharing her extraordinary journey, her perspective, and all the work she’s doing to help make space exploration feel accessible to the next generation. If you’d like to follow along with what she’s doing, you can find her on Instagram at @astro_michaela and, most importantly, support the incredible work she continues to do.
And of course, thank you to Nick Thorburn for the stellar theme music, Ceci Giglio for the incredible graphics, Jero Squartini for the amazing animations, to RDan, Leila, Inka, and Carl for admining the Facebook group, and to my family for supporting this project!