A big new year of space exploration with Emily Lachto-walla this week on planetary Radio. Radio. Welcome to Public Radio's travel show that takes you to the final frontier.

I'm Matt Kaplan of the Planetary Society. I hope your 2011 is off to a great start.

No one knows exactly what's in store, but I can promise you the next 12 months are full

of promise and wonder among the planets and stars. Emily would agree

she'll take us on a quick tour of what's in store including new missions to

Mars, an extended stay at our solar system's second biggest asteroid, and much more.

Later, Bruce Betts will join us with the year's first tour of the night sky.

We've also got a special contest in store, one that the Wikipedia is not likely to help you

with much, and we'll wrap up with a special treat from John Boswell's Symphony of Science.

I'm getting to hope I'll get to see the last launch of space shuttle discovery after all.

We learned just before New Year's Eve that NASA engineers have discovered more small cracks in the beams than ensure the integrity of the big external tank.

The agency believes it will take no more than two or three days to repair them,

but you have to wonder how close to that first

available launch date of feb three the shuttle will be ready to go. Now I would

never hope the launch would be delayed till the end of February or beginning of March just

because that's when I have to be back in Florida but I think I'll bring my press pass

along just in case. Bill Nye is up first on this special edition of Planrad. Hey Bill Nye is up first on this special edition of Planrad.

Hey, Bill Nye, the planetary guy here, executive director of the Planetary Society.

Happy New Year 2011.

This year, I hope a conflict is resolved. And the conflict I'm talking

about is this discovery in Mono Lake in California and North America on Earth, where these bacteria have apparently, apparently

replaced the phosphorus, the hand railing on the spiral staircase of their DNA with arsenic,

...