Planetfest ’21: To Mars and Back Again
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science
The Planetary Society
4.8 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 17 February 2021
⏱️ 43 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Planetary Society’s Planetfest ’21 celebrated Mars and the newest visitors to the Red Planet. Mat Kaplan shares some of his Planetfest conversation with Andy Weir, author of The Martian. We also sit down with the leader of the United Arab Emirates’ Hope mission that entered Mars orbit a few days ago. Planetary Society contributing editor Andrew Jones provides an update on China’s Tianwen-1 spacecraft that arrived within hours of Hope. We’ll also join preparations for the landing of NASA’s Mars 2020 rover Perseverance as we hear a media briefing from mission leaders. There’s more to discover at https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/planetfest-andy-weir-omran-sharaf-andrew-jones
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | A Taste of Planet Fest, this week on Planetary Radio. |
| 0:08.8 | Welcome. |
| 0:09.8 | I'm at Kaplan of the Planetary Society with more of the human adventure across our solar |
| 0:14.6 | system and beyond. |
| 0:16.9 | Planet Fest 21, to Mars and Back, was a huge success. |
| 0:21.9 | It was our first planet fest since the Curiosity Rover arrived at Mars in 2012 and the first |
| 0:28.0 | one to go virtual. |
| 0:29.8 | But it lacked in big crowds, it more than made up for in enthusiasm and terrific content. |
| 0:35.9 | I've got a small but exciting sample for you on this week's show, which I'm working |
| 0:40.6 | on mere hours after the close of Planet Fest on the evening of Sunday, February 14. |
| 0:46.8 | You'll hear Emirates Mars Mission Director Amran Sharath, China Space Program expert |
| 0:52.1 | Andrew Jones, and our old friend Andy Weir, author of The Martian. |
| 0:57.0 | We begin with a few inspiring moments from a NASA media briefing held on Tuesday, February |
| 1:02.2 | 16, just two days before the Mars 2020 Rover Perseverance plunges through its seven minutes |
| 1:09.5 | of terror to the surface of the Red Planet. |
| 1:13.0 | If you hear this in time, I invite you to join Bill Meyers Perseverance Landing Party |
| 1:18.0 | on Thursday, February 18, beginning at 11.30 a.m. Pacific. |
| 1:23.1 | It's free and available to all at planetary.org. |
| 1:28.2 | We told you last week that the United Arab Emirates Hope Orbiter had successfully reached |
| 1:32.8 | Mars. |
| 1:33.8 | The current edition of the downlink, our weekly newsletter, adds the arrival of China's |
| 1:38.3 | Chan Wen One Orbiter and Rover. |
... |
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