Welcome back to planetary radio. Hello again everyone. I'm Matt Kaplan of the Planetary Society. Thanks for joining us on our second installment of planetary radio.

This week we'll find out how fast Bruce Betts can talk.

The regular host of our What's Up segment will spend a little more time than usual with us as he attempts

to describe all of the society's projects in record time.

If we're lucky, he'll still have a minute or two to tell us what's up in the night sky this week.

We'll end today's show with a special feature about robots that are smart enough to cooperate

with each other and possibly smart enough to build a Mars base. But first, is Mars dry as a bone or is it

hiding enough H-2-0 to fill an ocean? Here's Emily with more random space facts. I'll be right back.

Hi, I'm Emily Loch D'Owala, science and technology coordinator for the Planetary Society with random space facts.

Did you know that no human has yet visited Mars?

The trip to Mars will be far more difficult and hazardous than the trip to the moon,

but Mars is the most Earth-like of all other destinations in the solar system, making it a prime target for human exploration.

Its gravity, about one-third of Earth's, would be comfortable for human explorers.

Although Mars is a much colder place than the Earth with average temperatures of minus 60 degrees Celsius,

daytime temperatures near the equator often reach a balmy 5 degrees Celsius or 40 Fahrenheit.

What's more important, there is abundant evidence of a natural resource

that is critical to the survival of humans, water. Like Earth, Mars has permanent polar

caps containing water ice and recent observations by the Mars Odyssey spacecraft suggest

that plenty more water lies buried underground.

I'll tell you more about water on Mars in a few minutes.

Now, back to planetary radio.

Dr. Bruce Betts joins us as he does every week with his regular segment,

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