Meet the Astronaut (Part 1)

Hello, everyone! You are listening to the Red Shift - your connection to your piece of the sky. I'm your host, Emma Miller!

Hi! Hello everyone! Hel– “The Shifter List,” I like that name! How's it going? Hello. Hello, Kenji. Hi, Vamaka. Hello, hello. Hi, Stephanie. Hi, Keren. Hi, Owalkip. Hi, Manja. Hi, ShinyForce. Hello, Brighteyes. Hi, Rinjob. Hi, Tronity. Hi, Keyeser. Hello, RDadd. Hi, Illa. Welcome in, everybody! How is everyone doing this week? I hope you have all had a fantastic week so far. It is great to see you all.

I'm… really, really excited for what we have in store for you this week, and kind of next week as well. So there will be some really fun things that we're going to be doing and it is going to be a bit of a different show today than what we have been doing… pretty much since we started. So let’s kind of… Let me kind of get into what this is going to look like today and kind of next week.

So I was thinking a lot last week. If you remember, there was a… There was a CME drill last week, and there was a CME drill on Earth too, and it kind of impacted me quite a bit, thinking about the astronauts on Mars and how a lot of times when you think of people in space they're just names, right? They're people that are so far away from you that it's hard to… It's hard to think of them as people sometimes if you don't get a chance to talk directly to them.

So I was trying to think of a way that I could really showcase the amazing astronauts that are currently on the Mars Base - “They are my friends,” I like that GIF, Kenji. That's a fantastic one - and I just really wanted to show off the amazing people that are on Mars. So I was thinking to myself, how can I do that?

The astronauts are all very busy and of course we've heard now from all twelve of the astronauts on the planet itself, so I figured maybe I'd give them a week or two of not really having to write a letter to me and instead I could kind of write something about them, and kind of share who they are with all of you in a way that isn't just, you know, me reading their experience because I think it's important that you know them as people too.

So, I also know that we've grown quite a lot as a Shifter community and I know that some of you are newer to the community than others, and I know that means that some of you may have actually missed hearing from some of our astronauts who might have written a letter earlier and you might just not know them quite as well as others.

So with that being said, I figured that this is a really great opportunity for me to reintroduce you to all the astronauts who make up the colony now, especially since the arrival of Mission Four is on its way, and then we'll have a ton of new astronauts that are going to be on the planet, too.

But! I'm not just going to read you their biographies only. So I want to make sure that you get a chance to hear information about them and the biographies that the ISA have, kind of, collected from all of the astronauts and all the information that they've shared, sut I also want to make it fun. So instead of asking for the astronauts to write letters to me this week, I instead asked them to play a game with me that I'm going to get to share with all of you, and then you're all going to get a chance to share it with me later. It's very exciting. I'll give you time, don't worry. I'll give you time.

So, I'm going to tell you about each of the astronauts. I'm going to share with you the image from their biography - it's kind of, like, just a simple little image - and then I'm going to give you the information about them, about where they grew up, some infor— like, fun things that you may not know, and then after I share each of those, we are going to… play a game called Two Truths and a Lie.

Have you guys ever heard of Two Truths and a Lie? Have you ever played before? It is one of my favorite games on the planet to play with friends. I used to play it at camp all the time. Alright, so, if you've not played it though, let me tell you about it. Let me tell you about it.

So the way that Two Truths and a Lie works is that I'm going to share three statements that the astronauts sent me. Two of them are true, completely accurate, and the third is a lie. And you guys are going to have to guess which one is the lie. So I'm going to give you two truths and a lie. I'm not going to tell you which one is which, and you're gonna have to guess. I think you guys are going to be ready to do this, I think you guys are going to do great.

I'm going to go through three astronauts - we're going to do six astronauts today - I'm gonna share three astronauts with you first, and then I'm going to do our… I’m going to do our sponsor message in our weather, and then I'm going to do the second three astronauts. And then I'll share with you my two truths in a lie. It's all very exciting! I cannot wait to share. Are you all excited?

“Truth or Dare is funnier, but yeah, why not?” It's a little hard to do Truth or Dare with the astronauts because they're on a five minute delay, but maybe someday. [Emma laughs] Maybe someday…

So, let's hop in straight away to our first astronaut. So let me just queue up our image… So our first astronaut that I'm going to read to you about is Korey! So here is our image for Korey. If you've not seen this, this, of course, has information about his training and of course, his background. But let me read you what I have to share.

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Korey Leonard

First up, we have Korey Leonard! You might remember Korey from the letter he wrote in episode 11 where he talked about a repair mission for the fuel tanks he took with Maksym Sokolov. The mission turned out to be much more dangerous than intended - but Korey came out of it with a smile on his face. That being said, there is more to Korey than what you learned in his letter!

Korey was born in Memphis, Tennessee on December 12th. When he was in school, he played the trumpet in the school band. His parents would take him on trips to the coast so that he could practice surfing, one of his favorite pastimes.

Korey received his two degrees from the California Institute of Technology, a Bachelors of Science in Biology and a PHD in Aerospace Engineering. Yes, “cup o’ noodle,” exactly, Jon-Jon! His primary focus in his studies was Aerospace engineering– Or, in his studies of Aerospace engineering was gear - how people could maintain vehicles and equipment. He also worked with doctors and scientists to help design new instruments they may need for space colonization.

Korey was a member of the inaugural class at ISA Cusco, which is the advanced training location for those with an Engineering focus. After an accident during a training exercise, though, Korey’s pod was stranded in an abandoned mine with no form of communication. Korey, however, knew that a seismograph was being used to monitor his location and other information from the mine - and also knew that his fellow astronaut, Ida Serafin, was on the other side monitoring it. Korey and his fellow trainees began to ram an old ore-cart against the wall of the mine to create an SOS pattern on the seismograph. Lucky for him, Ida realized what he was trying to convey!

Now, I actually didn't know that story, but how awesome is it that, kind of, like, tables were turned with Ida when Ida needed help from Korey? Which is fantastic.

So that's a little bit about who Korey is. And with that, we're going to hop into Korey’s two truths and a lie. So these are what he sent me. I'm gonna read them to you first, and then I'm gonna post an image, and we're going to use that image to see which one we think is the lie.

So A - “I pulled off the first ever practical joke on Mars. I put a robotic fish into the water filled walls of the hab so that on occasion they would be seen and freak out my fellow astronauts on the base.”

B - “Shortly after I arrived on Mars, there was a breach in the hull of the hab. Luckily, I was nearby and was able to repair it quickly before too much damage was done.”

C - “While I was on the ship to Mars, I did some research into a better way for us to repair damage on treads of the rover tires. The tires have to adjust their flexibility to deal with the extreme temperature variation and I figured out how to cycle the adaptations to literally push out any foreign material and partially filled divots. The day I landed, I implemented my idea. We've been using it ever since.”

So that is your A, B and C. A - he pulled off the first practical joke on Mars, B - shortly after arriving on Mars, he repaired a breach in the hull of the hab, or C - while on the ship on Mars, he did research into finding a better way to repair damage on treads of– of rover tires.

So if you look on the image that I've shared, there's A, B and C, so you'll just click those emotes. That way I can see, most easiest, which one you think is the truth and which one is not! 

So again, you're voting for what you think is the lie. A, B, or C…?

Alright, I'm going to give you a few more seconds... Keep on guessing… A, B, or C?

Alright, I think we're going to call it there. So, you all decided that you think that A - "I pulled off the first of a practical joke on Mars” - is the lie, when in fact, it is the truth!

So, to– He did actually give us a little bit more background information with that one. So that one is actually a true fact - he was the first to pull off a Martian prank.

So, “The sleeping pods have walls filled with water for protection against radiation, even the windows, which is why most– every now and then, you'll see my small robotic fish swimming in the window, except for Emi, who gets octopus tentacles,” and she's-- he’s thinking about doing a special one just for Tetyana, as well. [Emma chuckles]

So, the actual lie was B. “Shortly after arriving on Mars, there was a breach in the hall of a hab.” What Korey said was, “Fortunately, this is a lie, but I know I could fix it if it came to it. Luckily, the hall is pretty damn secure, so no worries there.” So… No worries there, that’s okay. That’s okay. Good guess, though, good guess. But yeah, the lie was B. The lie was B. He got you with that one! Korey will be so happy to know that he managed to trick you guys!

Alright, so we're going to head on to our second astronaut. Our second astronaut is Emi. Let me give you Emi’s image. Alright, here's Emmy. Alright, let me read up Emi’s message.

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Emi Serizawa

Next is, of course, Emi Serizawa. “The Magpie” shared a story in episode 13, in which she wove together different ideas from the crew about the potential alien usages for the fire opal that Maksym had found a few weeks prior. The story culminated in her revealing herself as the part Earthling, part Martian, “The Magpie” - complete with her own visual aids! Let’s find out more about her.

Emi was born on April 19th in Nara, the capital of the Nara prefecture in Japan. Emi loved spending her time reading any science fiction novels she could get her hands on - even if they were painfully inaccurate. She also was a big fan of snowboarding in Hakuba.

Emi had a Bachelors of both Arts and Sciences from Kyoto university and a Masters Degree from the University of Tokyo. She wasn’t one to pick a single discipline in her studies. Instead, she focused on eight different– on many different fields, ranging from media studies to astronomy. Her passion and skills eventually led her to join the Japan Aerospace Exploration agency and, not so long after, the ISA.

While in training for the ISA on Artemis Station, Emi took part in a 3D training course where trainees are sent through a corkscrewing, convoluted path in microgravity. Many trainees experience motion sickness and had to tap out of the training module. Emi not only completed the course, but broke the record for timed runs. She explained that snowboarding a halfpipe means being upside down and learning to orient herself rapidly. So her snowboarding background paid off for her ISA training!

And now, for her two truths and a lie. Two truths and a lie.

A - “I was the first person to ever Mars-board. Think like snowboarding, but with some metal that we shaped into a board so that I could try to dunesurf.” B - “One of my biggest guilty pleasures is the Americanized packaged ramen. So I brought a supply of the spice packets with me from Earth! I save them for very special occasions, since I know they will run out, but they definitely help by adding flavor to our veggies.” And C - “I have the entire series of the Sailor Moon manga with me on Mars. I read all twelve volumes twice on the flight here and have read them again five times since we've been on the planet.”

A, B, or C? Mars-boarding, was she the first person to ever Marsboard? Did she bring… Is Americanized packaged drama actually her guilty pleasure? Or did she bring the entire series of Sailor Moon manga with her to Mars? A, B, or C? Which one is the lie? Which one is the lie? A, B, or C? What are we thinking? What are we thinking? Oh, this one's pretty even, actually!

So far it's looking like we think that the spice packets are a lie. Oh! No! Okay, we're tying again…

Hmm, let’s see, let’s see…

I love the Sailor Moon GIF usages. Alright, I'm going to give you guys, probably… 30 more seconds to decide. Right now, we're tied, so if it ties, nobody wins. [Emma laughs]

Alright, it looks like B just pulled ahead…

Alright, so, you guys chose that B was the lie, for spice packets, but that is actually a truth! So Emi actually does have a guilty pleasure love of those silly Americanized packaged ramens and has actually brought some of those packages of the spices with her. She actually told me that she would have brought the standard ramen, but those are way too large to be carried anywhere, especially if you are on a ship, so the packets were really all they– they had the ability to bring.

Instead, the lie was A! She says that Mars-boarding— of  Mars-boarding - “It isn't true, but it would be so cool,” and she asks that we reach out to the ISA and see if there's any chance that they would allow her to try. So there it is! You were right, you were rights. “I thought fire was forbidden in space.” [Emma laughs] They're just little, like, salt packets.

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Alexandr Titov

Alright, we're going to our third astronaut. We’re going to our third astronaut. Our third astronaut is… Alex.

Alright, so Alex is… here. Alright, let's introduce Alex.

Way back in Episode 5, we talked to Alex about his life and what led him to Mars. He told us about the telescope he was given by his older sister, the telescope he called his xenoscope - his way to see others, and a connection between him and a world beyond his own. 

Alex was born in Ryazan, Russia on August 14th. Throughout his childhood, he was known as Shura by his family and friends. He was an avid swimmer growing up. His favorite food was pelmeni, which is a Russian meat dumpling. 

Alex received a degree in Chemical Engineering from Novosibirsk State University. He used his degree to get a job out of college working at a mine in Yakut in Siberia. At one point during his time in Siberia, he became very ill. After he recovered, he felt that he had to do more– something more with his life. He was admitted into the Russian cosmonaut program and, eventually, transitioned into working for the ISA.

During his training for the ISA, Alex truly astounded his training– his trainers and peers. During an ice water test, Alex not only never pulled out his hand from the freezing water, but his heart rate never went above 60bpm. Researchers actually stopped the test because they were afraid of damaging his hand. In the end, it left Alex with the highest recorded pain threshold of any astronaut in the ISA, which is pretty cool. I didn't realize that was a thing and very, very exciting to know how high his pain threshold is. Which, if you can imagine, especially when he got his suit punctured and it caused arm pain, you know that he was probably brave-facing it, but it clearly had to have been quite a lot for him to have been, kind of, out of commission for the next week. Just wild to think about.

So, with that being said, we are going to… do his two truths and a lie!

Alright, so, Alex’s, two truths and lie.

A - “Since arriving to Mars, I've been working to improve my English. It is the primary language of all communication here, and I wish to become better. To do this, I have been watching late 1990s and early 2000s American movies. I have seen American Pie ten times now.” 

B - “I have been teaching the other astronauts how to play a Russian card game called Durak. So far, only Patricia has been able to beat me.”

And C - “Early on, while working on the solar arrays, I shortened the power and took out every circuit breaker in half the colony. Aurore hasn't forgiven me yet.”

And here is… this.

So is it that he is, A - watching early 2000s American movies in order to learn English, or - better, his English, B - teaching others to play the Russian card game Durak, or C - working on solar arrays, he shorted the power and took out every circuit breaker in half the colony, and Aurore hasn't forgiven him?

A, B or C, which one do you think is the lie? A, B or C? “Definitely Drak.” If I'm mispronouncing that as well, please do not hesitate to correct me. I have to learn myself. It's hard for Alex to teach me because, you know, the delay. [Emma laughs]

The Shifter Li– It's great that you have a GIF of me playing cards. That's exactly how I play.

Alright, are we thinking A, B or C? It looks like C is the very clear winner here in terms of what we think is the lie. We think that C, the power outage, is correct… Or, is the lie. So I'm going to go ahead and call it here.

The answer is… C! So, yes, C was the lie. He said, “Do you think I'm stupid? I would never be that foolish, even if Aurore would disagree.” So, yes, you correctly guessed what the lie was. Congratulations, very, very well done. That was, in fact, the lie.

So with that, we're going to pause for a second, and we're going to take a quick break for the sponsor message and the weather report, and then I will be right back with the last three and then my own, which is kind of… fun. Alright.

Commercial break 

The future for humanity is clear - the future is Mars. Multiplanetary, autonomous, redistributive and, of course, sustainable. This is the Mars of the ISA. Founded in 2022 by Gabriel Rebane, Afet Yildiz, Davi Santos, Daylinda Tudtud and Aliyah Dunbar, the Interplanetary Space Alliance has one goal - to make humanity a free, fair and multiplanetary species.

Now you, too, can be a part of that mission.
From its inception, the ISA has sought to find candidates from every corner of the globe, every discipline and background. Whether you be an aspiring astrophysicist or an artist, there is a place for you in the Interplanetary Space Alliance.

Do you want to be a part of the future of humanity? Do you want to use your passions to make a mark on a new world, a red world? Join the Interplanetary Space Alliance today to begin your journey.

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Weather report 

And now for the weather!

The temperature is more middling this week, with highs of -10 degrees Celsius and lows of -90 degrees Celsius.

Winds gusting from about 3 meters/second to 20 meters/second, which is about 10-at 70, roughly 250 degrees east of north.

Atmospheric pressure is stable at 725 Pascal, and the opacity is up at a touch at about 0.5.

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And now, we are back to our bios!

Alright, we are in for our second set of three. How are you guys feeling so far? Are you guys feeling like you guys are warmed up? You're ready to pick out your– the lies now? I feel like you guys are.. You're getting a hang of it. They're doing a pretty good job at tricking you, though, which is kind of.. I mean, I'm pretty proud of them, honestly. I know Korey will be proud that he tricked you guys. So well, I mean. [Emma laughs]

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Bertram Ruf

Alright, we are going to hop right into our next one, our next bio, which is from Bertram Ruf. So here is Bertram.

Next, of course, is Dr. Bertram Ruf. Bertram shared with us in episode 8 what it is truly like to be a doctor on Mars while he was tending to an injury that Alex received after getting a small tear in his space suit. 

Bertram was born in Frankfurt, Germany on June 26th. His mother and father both worked at a school nearby his home while he was growing up. He would often spend his spare time volunteering and helping with odd tasks here or there to lighten the load on them both. 

Bertram received a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from Karolinska Institute and a Degree of Medicine from the University of Munich. He initially worked as a diagnostician in a hospital in Frankfurt in the ER. After an experience witnessing the effect of radiation on a patient, he began to focus on learning about the impacts of long term radiation on humans. This particular focus brought him into the sights of the ISA who knew how beneficial an understanding of long term radiation could be on the astronauts on Mars. 

When the astronaut candidates for Mission Three reported to ISA-Ladakh for medical work-ups, a twenty-nine year old presented with fever and a rash. The attending physician assumed they had picked something up on the passage through India and wanted to admit the patient for dehydration and test for… test for HLH. Bertram surprised even himself by strongly suggesting they isolate the patient and test for measles. Measles would have been a very rare diagnosis in someone that age, and putting a candidate in isolation meant throwing the whole program off by three days - but the test for measles did, in fact, come back positive.

If it hadn’t been for Bertram’s diagnostic instincts and the isolation room, the entire Mission Three candidate pool would have had to be quarantined for weeks. Which is pretty impressive. He is a very, very impressive doctor and diagnostician. For real, Rinjob, an MVP, for sure.

So, let's get into his two truths and a lie! Alright, so, A - his favorite pastime on the way to Mars consisted of borrowing other astronauts sci-fi books and highlighting all inconsistencies and scientific inaccuracies. B - even on Mars, he still asks Mission Control to send over the weekly New York Times crossword to him. Healthy mind, healthy Mars Colony. C - before leaving for Mars, he organized a low-dose radiation study to check the possibility of building up resistance to make life on Mars easier, and he believes are on the brink of a breakthrough.

A, B or C? Was his lie that he would highlight scientific inaccuracies in sci-fi books, was it B - him asking for the New York Times crossword puzzle, or C - that he created a low-dose radiation study, in which they were subjecting people on Earth to low doses of radiation to see if there was an impact? A, B or C? What are we thinking? If you don't have an idea, I would guess. What do we think? Which one do we think is the lie? A, B or C?

Looks like C is pulling ahead…

[Emma laughs] Rerouted, I like that GIF, that's fantastic. I bet Bertram would do that, too. [Emma laughs]

Alright, I'm going to give you another, let's say, 30 seconds to make your choice. It looks like C is the clear leader here.

Alright, I'm going to give you five more seconds, get your final votes back in…

Alright, it looks like C is our winner, which is good, because, in fact, C is the lie!

So, what Bertram said is, “There are a lot of theories about the impact of a low-dose radiation study, but I don't believe that there is enough evidence to believe that this kind of study is worth it. It's a very hard place to medically defend doing a study like this where you subject people to low doses of radiation as opposed to using pre-existing cases of low radiation, like the people who live– The residents of Ramsar, Iran, where residents are exposed to near-Mars levels of radiation all the time.” You can study people who are already receiving low doses of radiation without having to add additional radiation into people. Ramsar, Iran, yes. Spelled perfectly, just like that, Stephanie, “Is that how you write it?” Yes! Yes. Which is a real place, obviously, that does have latent levels of radiation similar to the low amount of radiation that you would receive on a place like Mars, and so it is a place that you could learn the lingering effects of, or study the lingering effects of radiation as opposed to putting more radiation into people.

Great job! Congratulations!  You all did it!  Okay, that was great! We're going to move on to our second to last astronaut. And that astronaut is Tetyana. Let's get into Tetyana! Alright, here's Tatiana's image. Alright!

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Tetyana Zelenko

This is Tetyana Zelenko. We heard from Tetyana in episode nine of the Red Shift. Tetyana discussed the work it took to bring Ida back to health after her major scare in the rover. She also noted the first onset of the C. difficile outbreak that halted work on the Red Planet.

Tetyana was born in Ukraine, in the city of Chervonohrad. Please correct me if I've mispronounced it, I'm sorry. Her birthday is November 3rd. When she was growing up, Tetyana trained as a gymnast. She excelled in acrobatics, owing to her quick reflexes and her small stature. She had dreamed of competing in the olympics when she got older, but after a badly broken wrist as a result of a botched trick, she decided her– to change her aspirations. 

Luckily, her injury actually helped her to pick where her future would be - in the study of medicine. She got her Bachelor's degree from the Catholic University of Leuven and her Doctorate in Medicine from Karolinska Institute in Sweden. After she graduated, she became a flight physician with the European Space Agency. While she was working in the ESA, she was tapped by the ISA to come train on the Mars program.

During her training, Tetyana and her peers were put through a rigorous obstacle course. All ISA recruits knew about this particular course and all dreaded it. About halfway through the course, at the two meter wall, Tetyana decided to try something different. She cut across the fence to the finish line. Called out, she asked where in the instructions it had said that the astronauts had to do everything on the course? After reviewing– Or, after reviews of the briefing, the trainers conceded but told her she had to go through the obstacles. Tetyana started over and still ranked nineteenth overall in all astronaut finishes. It wasn’t that she couldn’t do it, she just didn’t see the point. Which I think is hilarious!

I love Tetyana. I feel like Tetyana’s someone who would just tell you how it is, you know, like, she's the type of doctor you want who won't beat around the bush. I think she probably does a very good job with her bedside manner. But I also feel like Tetyana would be like… Very fast to just tell you the truth, you know? She did go from ESA to ISA, exactly.

Alright, so we're going to go into her two truths and a lie! Let's get into her two truths and a lie. Alright, so!

A - “For the past couple of weeks, I have been secretly conducting an authorized study on the effects of eleven individuals being contained in a limited amount of space for a prolonged period of time with what might be the most unbearable variable of all - a Korey Leonard.”

B - “While at ISA-Ladakh, I heard about another recruit who had gone through the program ahead of me called Bertram Ruf. I kept hearing stories about how much he had excelled at the program, much to my annoyance. When I joined Mission Three and found out we'd be coworkers, I was prepared to dislike him, thinking him a show-off, but he actually turned out to be one of the most reasonable members of the Mars crew.”

C - ”I was bullied into playing this game by my fellow astronauts under the threat of being read Emi’s story from a few weeks back every time I enter the hab.”

So is it A, that she's conducting a study on the astronauts and the impact of the worst variable, a Korey Leonard? Was it B, that she knew about Bertram and initially disliked him before they knew each other and has grown to like him more? Or was it C, that she was bullied into playing the game by her fellow astronauts under threat of having to listen to the story from Emi? A, B, or C?

What do we think - A, B or C...? A, B or C...?

It looks like C is getting– Ooh, okay, A is coming up pretty quick! You guys get to make the choice. I mean, it looks like A or C is going to be the one that we want. So what do we think? Do you think that she's actually conducting a secret study on the impacts of one of the other astronauts on the rest of the astronauts, or do you think that she was bullied into playing the game? Which one do you think is the lie?

Hmm, what do we think? Alright, I'm going to give you ten more seconds. It's so close. A or C?

Looks like you guys are pretty set in your answers.

Alright, with that, it looks like you guys have picked C. So C is actually the truth! So she was actually bullied into playing the game by her fellow astronauts who are playing the game under threat of being read Emi’s story, which I just thought was really funny.

The actual lie is A - Korey does have a penchant for striking nerves, from what Tetyana says, but she is not conducting a secret authorized study. Perhaps she's doing a not-so-secret, not authorized study on the impacts of Korey Leonard, but the lie is, in fact, that she is– She– That it's not an authorized study. Kenji, “Not say, I told you so, but...” Good job if you voted for that one, though.

Alright, with that, we have our final, our finals astronaut. Our final astronaut this week is Hanzou. So here is Hanzou's image. Here's Hanzou’s image.

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Hanzou Mori

So our final astronaut, like I said, is Hanzou Mori. You might remember him from his creation of the very first zen garden on Mars, or his work on the Mars base during the recent C. Difficile outbreak. He shared his experience running “too many sidequests” in episode 10 of the Red Shift!

Hanzou was born in Kimitsu, Japan on November 21st. His dream growing up was to become a video game developer. His parents, on the other hand, wanted him to go into something more practical. Initially, he had thought about looking into another type of science, or mathematics, but his friend brought him on to help with a statistical analysis project that involved plant growth, and then he discovered a new passion. One that might have even outweighed his love for video games.

He received a Bachelors of Science in Botany from the University of British Columbia and a Masters of Science from the University of California at Berkeley, also in Botany. After his graduation, he was offered a role at the ISA facility in Ladakh, working in the high altitude botany lab. Later, he was chosen to head to Mars as one of the first two botanists on the surface of the Red Planet.

At Flight School in Sydney, the ISA has an air-bearing floor that is essentially the largest air hockey table in the world. Trainees practice moving mass in ‘low G’, using just their fingertips to move large pallets. Hanzou convinced the other trainees to play a game they called billiards, where they marked ‘pockets’ and blocked each others ‘shots’. Hanzou was, of course, the best at this.

Alright, so, with that, we can get into our two truths and a lie. Alright, this is the very last one. Let's see how you all do…

So, A - “The biggest Mars Rule violation I'm guilty of is… Walking around with my shoes off when John Alves is asleep. Only every once in a while. John says that it's incredibly dangerous, and if we were ever caught unaware, we'd be sorry if we didn't have shoes on.”

B - “I've always been a very resilient child, rarely ever catching a cold. My mother always taught me that eating more veggies would be my ticket to always staying healthy, and I always believed her.”

Or C - “Although they are wildly inaccurate, I love those mobile alchemy games. Combining a daffodil with fire to create a Martian Fire Orchid? That's what life is all about.”

So A, B or C? Here's the image.

Was it A - walking shoeless - as his lie? Was it B, that he's always been a very resilient child? Or was it C, that he loves those mobile alchemy games? Which one do we think is the lie? A, B or C?

His biggest Mars Rule violation of– is walking around without shoes, B - that he's always been a very resilient child, or C - that he loves his mobile alchemy games. What are we feeling?

It looks like A is very rapidly taking the lead… A, B or C? What do we think? Which one is a lie...?

A, B or C? Let’s see, let’s see… 

It looks like A is our winner. I'll give you guys, like, ten more seconds, see if anything changes. But it looks like A is the leader.

Alright, your final guess is that A - walking shoeless is a lie… But it is, in fact, the truth! So, walking around shoeless is something that John Alves is very, very sternly opposed to. You can, in the hab  areas, walk around without shoes on, from what Hanzou has said, and it's not a problem, but John Alves believes that you are putting yourself into a very bad position if you are doing that ever. So he'll do it every once in a while when they're sleeping, but won't otherwise.

So the actual lie is B! And so Hanzou said, “This is untrue! I was sick very often as a child. I found it a great excuse to stay home and play computer games. At some point, I did start to pay attention to what my mother had taught me, though, and it paid off when C. Difficile had its outbreaks on the planet. Thank you, Arugula.”

If you got them right, you can pat yourself on the back. I'm really proud of you guys for guessing correctly if you did, and if you didn't, that just means that the astronauts did a good job of trying to trick you! So great job, everyone! You all did fantastic with our game. That was awesome! I am very, very proud of you all!

And now I get to quiz you on me. So I have two truths and a lie to share with you from me, Emma Miller, which is pretty exciting! So let's see how you do. This is the bonus one. This is our bonus one. And let's be honest, I would say that this one is the most important one to me. So we'll see, we’ll see.

So, these are my two truths and a lie.

A - when I was growing up, I went to an after school program where I learned how to make simple, pixel based, side-scrolling computer games.

B - when I was a little kid, I went to a summer camp and my camp counselor brought a few of the other campers and I out to the lake in the middle of the night so that I could see Mars. It was a tiny little speck, but it was there.

Or is it C - I am terrible at figuring out security CAPTCHAs. They always take me a few times to figure out. Sometimes I wonder if they were just meant to mess with me…

Is it A - making side scrolling video games that after school? Is it B - seeing Mars when I was at summer camp as a kid? Or is it C - that I'm really bad at figuring out security CAPTCHAs? A, B or C, what are we thinking? “B is true,” hmm, how do you know B is true…?

“B is so specific.” That's true. I mean, if you were here for Red Shift episode one, maybe you got some information…

So what do we think is not true? Do we think A, B or C? Do you think…

It looks like… Okay, which one do you think is the lie? That I made side-scrolling video games when I was a kid at a school program? That I went to a summer camp which-, went to summer camp and saw Mars? Or C, that I'm terrible at figuring out security CAPTCHAs and it feels like they were just meant to mess with me?

What do we think? Alright, I'm going to give you ten more seconds.

Alright. Okay, iIt looks like C is the winner. It looks like so many of you just changed. Perfect.

So, you are correct, C is the lie. I am not an AI, like I told you. We've gone over this! I don't have trouble with CAPTCHAs. No. No, no, I'm not sure what that one says. [Emma laughs]

So, with that, you guys– I would call you winners. You guys remembered from episode one what was the truth, which is super exciting! Congratulations! You all did fantastic. Some of you. And you know what, I appreciate it.

Now, with that being said, that brings us to the end of our episode. So, before I let you all go, I want to kick off the episode next week by showcasing our Shifters. So, next week, I want to kick off the episode by playing Two Truths and a Lie again. This time, however, I want it to be with all of you. So, over the next few days, please send me - on this account, Emma Miller - a direct message with your two truths and a lie and I will pick a couple of my favorites and I will share them at the top of next week's episode. And I'll have all the other Shifters guess which is your two truths and a lie. So at the end of the episode, send me the message and then… And then I will potentially pick a couple and share them at the top of the episode! Sounds good?

Hopefully you guys are excited about that. I– I really just want to introduce more… I want the Shifters to get to know each other. So send me a direct message here, on this account, and I will pick a couple to share. 

With that being said, we are going to end the episode here, and I am going to see you all next week, so make sure that you get in those two truths and a lie to me and I will see you guys then!

Alright, everyone! Bye!