This is CBS Island the World Hotel Mars, Episode N.

I'm John Batson, my colleague and co-hosts and co-pilot, David Livingston, of the space show,

Dr. Space himself.

And we're looking right now at the planet Mars.

Why?

Because Mars has, right now, the object of NASA's desire, the European

space agency's desire, everyone interested in getting off this planet and establishing an

Earth-Mars system. That is, sample of Mars itself. There's nothing like the facts to explore the future.

And I welcome David Southwood, David John Southwood, space scientist,

senior research investigator at the Imperial College London.

Professor, a very good evening to you.

Thank you.

The Mars sample return mission was a great

disappointment last year and the year before because NASA stepped in and said too expensive, we can't

afford it. And it was postponed or put on ice. However, recently there was a conference

looking at alternative ways to fetch the samples that

exist.

There are three pieces to this.

There's the collecting of the samples.

That would be perseverance, the rover on Mars.

There is the rendezvous with the samples and taking them off of the ground. They're waiting for somebody

to show up and pick them up and return them to a collection point which has a propulsion system,

...