Space scientist and astrobiologist Erika DeBenedictis joins WIRED to answer the internet’s burning questions about The Red Planet. How long does the trip to Mars take with current technology? Why is it red? How realistic was the movie ‘The Martian?’ How long would it take to effectively terraform Mars to sustain human life? Does Mars have seasons? Did the conditions for life exist on Mars at one time? What lies just below the surface? Answers to these questions and more await on Mars Support.
0:00 Mars Support
0:16 Explaining why Mars is red (without sorcery)
0:44 Why did Elon Musk say “You can only depart to Mars once every two years”?
1:39 How realistic were the crop growing scenes in ‘The Martian?’
2:43 Terraforming Mars
3:25 Scientific inaccuracies in ‘The Martian’
3:50 How long is the trip to Mars? What about the return leg?
5:03 Mountains on Mars
6:07 Does Mars have seasons?
6:43 Why is everyone obsessed with colonizing Mars?
7:17 Didn’t we find water on Mars a while back?
7:53 What kind of batteries do the Mars rovers use?
9:01 Take deep breaths
10:17 How much would you weigh on Mars?
10:54 How fast would you die on Mars without a spaceship?
11:37 How old is Mars?
12:18 If the conditions for life existed on Mars at one time, why is there no evidence of life?
14:56 Have we learned anything new about Mars after landing there with a rover?
16:01 Staying fit in microgravity
16:50 What type of material is the surface of Mars primarily made of?
18:33 Nice place you’ve got here
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@theoldar
September 22, 2026 at 7:46 pm
This was great, but her full time job is selling Mars colonization. Thus her bizarre statement on terraforming Mars in our lifetimes.
@chrisjohnston5401
September 22, 2026 at 7:47 pm
For a scientist it’s very odd that you refer to temperature in fahrenheit.
@jaredbutler957
September 22, 2026 at 7:48 pm
Erica DeBenedictus is an excellent name
@nijego
September 22, 2026 at 7:50 pm
I hate it so much when you have a very specialized expert you can ask so many possible question and most of them are just questions you could literally ask your highschool science teacher and get a correct answer.
Like bro I don’t need an Astrobiologist to explain to me why the mars rovers batteries last so long, I CAN SEE THE SOLAR PANELS ON THE PICTURES. I need her to explain stuff about her job that a regular astronomer can’t
@scarecrow8004
September 22, 2026 at 7:51 pm
” Occupying Mars ” … just ain’t gonna happen. When I look at movies like Ghost of Mars and Total Recall, my thought is always, how did they get all of those huge buildings and trains and … stuff … there? There is no energy or infrastructure there to take raw materials and make all of that stuff and it would be incredibly expensive to transport all of the stuff you would need there. Yeah, a half dozen people being transported to Mars with enough oxygen and water to do some scientific research is certainly doable, especially if you launch a bunch of rockets with all of their supplies ahead and behind them. Perhaps in some far distant future when we have perfected Fusion power and transporter technology, we can start trying to colonize, but, it just ain’t gonna happen in any of my lifetimes or near-term reincarnations.
@alias1719
September 22, 2026 at 7:54 pm
No need for plants to create the atmosphere. Just re-start the oxygen generator buildings that are scattered around the surface of Barsoom.
@bryankilvinski
September 22, 2026 at 7:58 pm
3:10 but Mars does not have a magnetosphere
@vmizzell
September 22, 2026 at 8:10 pm
Within the next two thousand years we will have found habitable exoplanets. (“Earth type Worlds”, or “class M planets” on Star Trek.) We will still not have the technology for terraforming. Couldn’t we focus on FEASIBLE technologies instead of whatever Elon Musk is promoting in order to aggrandize himself?
@AlipashaSadri
September 22, 2026 at 8:12 pm
Why would you get an astrobiologist to answer spacecraft design questions? The big rovers can’t be powered via solar panels; they have MMRTGs (nuclear thermoelectric generators).
@rhetorical1488
September 22, 2026 at 8:20 pm
Sooooo Who else has seen Terraformars and knows how this ends. XD
@usucktoo
September 22, 2026 at 8:33 pm
What does negative 100 or 200 F mean?
@stuffedchest
September 22, 2026 at 8:36 pm
I have a question here… Is it possible or at least feasable to try to produce some type of “space termite” with the moon regolite and the mars rusted soil to produce some kind of propulsion method, energy production capabilities, or used to transform chemicaly the perchlorate found in Mars?
Thanks!
@ronaldocost4
September 22, 2026 at 9:13 pm
Yes, in principle it’s feasible, but more as experimental biotech and chemical engineering than as a literal “termite”.
But that is basically how space exploration works. Nothing is possible until it is.
@taylorsublett5710
September 22, 2026 at 8:46 pm
Isn’t perchlorate toxic to plants as well? Even if you could get enough water to Mars (BIG if), wouldn’t they also die in the toxic soil? Not to mention just getting freeze dried pretty quick
@WilliamCarterII
September 22, 2026 at 8:46 pm
Mars will ever be terraformed lmao. Its not industrially, or physically possible
@drwoody8632
September 22, 2026 at 8:46 pm
God took 6 days to make everything i bet we humans can transform mars in 5 days.
@neeni4
September 22, 2026 at 8:47 pm
Terraforming? My brain can’t get past ‘the dirt is toxic’ part.
@steveg6199
September 22, 2026 at 8:47 pm
Wonder if Erika is in some way related to Brennan Lee Mulligan. 🤔
@OrisOsiris1
September 22, 2026 at 8:49 pm
if we drop a colony of bacteria, tardigrades, extremophiles and other hardy creature on Mars, will they survive and thrive?
@bastianventura
September 22, 2026 at 8:52 pm
Whenever I play terraforming mars it takes around an hour
@grantadamson3478
September 22, 2026 at 9:01 pm
@3:10 you are dreaming girl. @17:48 you basically say nothing can grow in the regolith.
@sharondesfor5151
September 22, 2026 at 9:01 pm
I would watch the uncut version of this, if Wired wants to consider that option. Or a nicely edited long version.
@oldi184
September 22, 2026 at 9:02 pm
Thanks for not using the Celsius scale. 😂
Only the whole scientific world is using it. Except America, and we all know that ONLY America matters.
@speelbergo
September 22, 2026 at 9:08 pm
You just said they had toxins in the soil and then without any proof or explanation you also said that you think they can terraform it in our lifetime?
I’d like to see your credentials ma’am
And how much is Elon Musk paying you?
@TheWasi
September 22, 2026 at 9:14 pm
I love this nerd combo, a Mars logo on the laptop, one on the table, and a Mars globe.
@AntonioParraTellez-bo6wn
September 22, 2026 at 9:14 pm
No one will ever live on Mars. So much money wasted. Erradicate hunger first!