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If you picked up this month’s copy of National Geographic, you’ll see a composite photo of Mars, taken by India’s Mars Orbiter Mission Probe. It’s a sneak peak at what’s to come this month from National Geographic: an in-depth look at colonizing the red planet.

Inside this issue is a cover story titled “Elon Musk Want to Go to Mars.” The piece looks at the challenges of sending humans to Mars, the competing plans between the private space industry and NASA and how the two might work together to accomplish such a feat.

Joining us to talk about the piece is the author of that cover story, Joel Achenbach. Along with contributing to National Geographic, he’s a staff writer at the Washington Post.