A tribute to Sir Arthur Clark this week on planetary radio. Radio. Welcome to Public Radio's travel show that takes you to the final frontier.

I'm Matt Kaplan.

Predicting the future is hard enough.

Arthur Clark not only did a good job predicting it, he helped create it.

Will mark last week's passing of this citizen of the future and of the galaxy, who never lost

his sense of wonder. You'll hear my last conversation with Sir Arthur, in which he covered

everything from life on Mars to the true origin of

Hobbets. Emily Lachto-Wala returns to Q&A later in the program and will wrap up

as always with Bruce Betts for a look around the solar system that Arthur took us to so many times.

Bill Nye will return next week.

Arthur C. Clark was a longtime supporter of the Planetary Society when the society asked him to record a message for the future

Martians, our children who will live there, he jumped at the chance. The result was just

one of his contributions to visions of Mars, the collection of stories, messages, and artwork that was originally sent to the Red Planet on a mission that failed.

That same collection is once again on board a Mars Lander.

Phoenix will reach the Martian Polar region in May of this year.

Here is the message Arthur provided almost exactly 15 years ago.

My name is Arthur Clark, and I'm speaking to you from the island of Sri Lanka,

once known as Salon in the Indian Ocean, Planet Earth.

It's spring in the year in 1993,

but I'm sending this message to the future.

I'm addressing men and women, perhaps some of you already born, who will hear these words

when they're living on the planet Mars.

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