Alum Jon Rask Presents TedX talk in Bismarck, ND

Rask Delivers TEDx Talk

Jon Rask (MS 2001) gave the presentation, “North Dakota Culture …on the Moon and Mars?” at the TEDx Bismarck event on August 16, 2018 at the North Dakota State Museum in Bismarck, ND. Rask shared the idea that North Dakotans, and other rural-dwelling, cold-climate-adapted agrarian peoples who are ancestors of immigrants that made one-way trips from the old world to the new world, possess unique qualities that may be ideally suited for future human missions to Mars. In his talk Rask discussed how the challenges of North Dakota winters and the day to day living in isolated and confined rural agriculture communities may be analogous to the future experiences of colonies on the Red Planet. Rask also featured the prototype inflatable spacesuit and habitat technologies currently under development at the University of North Dakota, and discussed how the ice and water-carved glacial terrains of eastern North Dakota are comparable to the glacial terrains on Mars.

You can listen to the talk here.