How to Land on Mars, this week on planetary radio. Hi everyone, welcome to Public Radio's travel show that takes you to the final

frontier.

I'm Matt Kaplan. We return to our regular format this week, mostly.

We've provided a lot of coverage of the Phoenix Mission to Mars in the last three weeks.

Most of it has been science- oriented. This time we've got a gift for the

engineers out there that we just couldn't resist. It's Rob Manning of the jet

propulsion lab, possibly the world's foremost expert on entry, descent, and

landing at the Red Planet.

And if you think that's easy, prepare to have your mind blown.

Later on, we'll check in with Emily Lockwala for a quick Phoenix status report.

Not everything is going perfectly up there.

Finally, it'll be Bruce Betts with this week's What's Up in the night sky that happens to include a dull orange-red spot called

Mars. You'll also get another chance to win a planetary radio t-shirt. I gotta admit

there are one or two other things going on in the solar system.

Oh, by the way, next week we'll be talking about Saturn's Moon Titan.

Space Shuttle Discovery astronauts have completed their third and final spacealk at the International Space Station.

They finished installing the Japanese Kaibo Lab.

They finished installing the Japanese Kaibo Lab, changed out a nitrogen tank, and inspected the troublesome bearings that keep the station's

gigantic solar panels pointed at the sun.

They should be back on the ground June 14.

We know you remember Deep Impact, the probe that blasted a hole in a comet.

The spacecraft hasn't changed, but the mission has. Now it is studying some of the planets

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