A Trip Around Mars - Part Two

Discovery

BBC

Science, Technology

4.3 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 29 April 2013

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Kevin Fong concludes his grand tour of the planet Mars, in search of water. Some of the most spectacular Martian landscapes were carved by vast and violent quantities of water in the planet’s past. The Tolkienesque terrain of Iani Chaos is one such place as is the great canyon Ares Valles.

Kevin also talks to scientists on the current Curiosity Mars rover mission about water in the deep history of Gale Crater and its central mountain Mount Sharp. The journey concludes with gullies on cliffs and craters, suggesting that water still gushes on the surface of Mars today. Could this mean that life exists on the Red Planet today?

(Image: Mars Express spacecraft in orbit around Mars Copyright: ESA- Illustration by Medialab)

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.
0:04.7	My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.
0:08.5	As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices.
0:18.0	What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars,
0:24.6	poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples.
0:29.7	If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds.
0:37.0	Thank you for downloading from the BBC.
0:40.0	The details of our complete range of podcasts and our terms of use go to BBCWorldServis.com slash
0:46.0	podcasts. You're listening to Discovery from the BBC and I'm Kevin Fong. This is the last
0:59.7	leg of our trip around the planet Mars and this time we're following the water,
1:05.6	visiting Martian landscapes where it may lie today and the dramatic terrains
1:11.3	that water created in the past.
1:14.0	Sky Green has started.
1:17.0	The final moments before touchdown of the robotic explorer Curiosity last year.
1:25.2	Stiglau, you remain strong.
1:28.7	Takeodot phenomenon.
1:29.9	You can hear the excitement and tension in the voices of the NASA technicians as the robot's
1:35.4	rocket jetpack brought it down towards the floor of a huge crater.
1:40.1	You, Jeff, is good.
1:41.2	Touchdown confirmed. We're safe on bars.
1:47.0	Curiosity's mission is to discover whether Mars was ever a place where life could have flourished. It's analyzing the ancient
1:54.9	rocks that form the base of the crater and climbing a towering mountain that rises
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.