This is planetary radio. Hello everyone I'm Matt Kaplan. He is one of the most famous science fiction writers of all time.

At 85, Arthur C. Clark still lives and works in his beloved Sri Lanka.

This week, Planetary Radio visits with Sir Arthur for a few precious minutes.

We'll also get a quick SETI at home update direct from Puerto Rico,

where the Project's Chief Scientist Dan Werthheimer

is looking for E.T. with the world's largest telescope.

Bruce Betts will be back with What's Up, along with a new trivia contest question.

First though, let's break the ice with Emily.

Europin ice, that is.

I'll be back with Sirala with questions and answers. A listener asked, if a spacecraft lands on Europa will the ice break?

We gave this question to Bob Popolardo, a planetary scientist at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

He acknowledged that here on Earth, walking on thin ice can be very dangerous but there are some places on earth

like the Arctic where it's very cold all winter long the Arctic ocean can become so

cold in winter that the ice freezes to several feet in thickness and people can drive

four wheel drive vehicles from island to island over the strong ice crust.

But with the arrival of summer, the ice thins and becomes unsafe for such heavy equipment.

But unlike the Earth, Europa has no dry land.

Its entire surface is covered with a 100 kilometer thick layer of water,

the outer part of which is frozen, with a liquid water ocean

under the icy crust. Could we break that crust by landing a spacecraft on it?

Stay tuned to planetary radio to find out. We are extremely honored to be joined on the telephone by Sir Arthur C Clark who is speaking to us or will be speaking to us from his home in Sri Lanka.

Sir Arthur, thanks very much for joining us on planetary radio.

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