Up close and personal with the Mars 2020 rover this week on planetary radio.

Welcome, I'm at Kaplan of of the Planetary Society, with more of the human adventure across our

solar system and beyond. A very special show this week as we go inside the giant clean

room at the Jet Propulsion Lab to stand before the Mars

2020 rover.

You'll hear from some of the engineers who have built it, from the leader of JPL and

from our own Emily Lockwalao who joined me in the high bay,

which is another name for that clean room.

Wait till you hear the enthusiasm and confidence these experts have in this emissary to the red planet

that will be joined there in early 2021

by spacecraft arriving from the European Space Agency, China,

and the United Arab Emirates.

I hope you'll also stick around for another fun what's up segment with Bruce Betts.

The Downlink is back.

Here are just a few of the great space stories you'll find in the latest

edition. Though its next Mars mission will probably be delayed beyond this year, India has

confirmed plans to send another robotic lander and rover to the moon.

The country's space agency officially announced the Chandrian 3 mission, which would likely launch no earlier than 2021.

China's heavy-lift Long March 5 rockets successfully

returned a flight for the first time

since a launch failure in July 2017.

That keeps two Chinese missions on track.

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