Mars

In Our Time: Science

BBC

History

4.5 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 11 January 2007

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the planet Mars. Named after the Roman god of war, Mars has been a source of continual fascination. It is one of our nearest neighbours in space, though it takes about a year to get there. It is very inhospitable with high winds racing across extremely cold deserts. But it is spectacular, with the highest volcano in the solar system and a giant chasm that dwarfs the Grand Canyon.For centuries there has been fierce debate about whether there is life on Mars and from the 19th century it was even thought there might be a system of canals on the planet. This insatiable curiosity has been fuelled by writers like HG Wells and CS Lewis and countless sci-fi films about little green men.So what do we know about Mars – its conditions, now and in the past? What is the evidence that there might be water and thus life on Mars? And when might we expect man to walk on its surface?With John Zarnecki, Professor of Space Science at the Open University and a team leader on the ExoMars mission; Colin Pillinger, Professor of Planetary Sciences at the Open University and leader of the Beagle 2 expedition to Mars; Monica Grady, Professor of Planetary and Space Sciences at the Open University and an expert on Martian meteorites.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Thanks for downloading the In Our Time podcast. For more details about In Our Time and for our terms of use, please go to BBC.co.uk.
0:09.0	I hope you enjoy the programme.
0:12.0	Hello, today we'll be discussing the red planet.
0:15.0	Mars has long been a source of fascination.
0:18.0	The fourth rock from the sun is one of our nearest neighbors in space,
0:21.0	though it takes about a year for us to get there.
0:24.0	It's rather inhospitable with ferocious winds
0:26.4	blasting across frigid deserts, but it is spectacular, with the highest volcano in the
0:31.1	solar system and a giant chasm that dwarfs the Grand Canyon.
0:35.2	And there's the life issue.
0:37.5	For centuries there's been a debate about whether there is life on Mars and from the 19th century
0:41.6	it was even thought there might be a civilized
0:43.4	system of canals on the planet. This curiosity has been fueled by writers like
0:47.7	H.G. Wells and S. Lewis and countless sigh fiction films. So what do we know
0:52.4	about Mars, its conditions now and in the past?
0:55.2	What's the evidence that there might be water and thus life on Mars? And when might we
1:00.1	expect to walk on its surface? With me to discuss the Red Planet are three members of the
1:04.9	Center for Earth, planetary space and astronomical research at the Open University. Colin
1:10.3	Pillinger, Professor of Planetary Sciences and Leader of the Beagle II Expedition to Mars.
1:15.0	Monica Grady, also Professor of Planetary and Space Sciences and an expert on Martian meteorites,
1:20.0	and John Zarneki, Professor of Space Science and a team leader on the XO Mars mission.
1:25.0	John Zineke, why do you think mankind has always been so fascinated with, has been so fascinated with Mars?
	...

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