 | | | Uncovering听the mysteries of Mars. | | | |
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On 27 August,听Mars will be closer to the Earth than it has been for nearly sixty thousand years. This series looks at man鈥檚 age-old fascination with our neighbouring world, and the scientific work investigating whether there has ever been life there. And, most tantalising of all - might humans one day set foot on the Red Planet?
| | |  | | | Will humans visit Mars in the near future? |
Programme One: Approaching Mars
Presented by Heather Couper
On 27 August, Mars will make a close approach to Earth, coming nearer to us than it has done for 59, 619 years. Across the globe, thousands of people will be looking out for it 鈥 just as they have done for centuries. In this programme, Heather Couper uncovers the history of mankind鈥檚 ongoing fascination with the planet Mars, and the incredible metamorphoses our beliefs about the red planet have gone through.
For ancient civilisations 鈥 the Egyptians, the Romans 鈥 this fiery red star was believed to be the home of a great god. Following the invention of the telescope, astronomers peered into the night sky and saw Mars as an Earth-like world, lush and full of life. In the nineteenth century, eccentric US businessman Percival Lowell became convinced Mars鈥 surface was criss-crossed by canals, the handiwork of a sophisticated civilisation desperately trying to channel water to the cities of their dying world. Lowell鈥檚 picture of Mars influenced many, including HG Wells 鈥 who in turn, through War of the Worlds, created an image of Mars as a place of threat which to this day remains part of our collective culture.
And working today is a generation of scientists determined to see a manned mission to Mars within their lifetimes. One of them is British Antarctic Survey microbiologist Charles Cockell, whose passion for Martian exploration even led him into a brief career in politics. In 1992, he stood against John Major in the general election, as the sole candidate for the Forward to Mars party 鈥 the first political party in history to represent the interests of another planet.
But in spite of the lobbying, we鈥檙e not there yet. The reason: Mars is inhospitable and very hard to get to! Heather hears about the challenges we face before we can see humans land on Mars, and wonders what 鈥 having made the arduous nine month, four hundred million mile journey - it might be like to take the first footsteps on the red planet.
 听Listen again to Programme 1 | |  | | |
Programme Two: Fourth Rock from the Sun
Presented by Heather Couper
Heather Couper charts the ups and downs of the scientific exploration of Mars, since the launch of the first NASA probe in 1965. Mars was still an unknown world, and there were hopes that on its surface there would be vegetation, or mosses and lichens at the very least. There were even a few people clinging onto nineteenth century stories of canals on Mars. But the photographs Mariner 4 sent back to Earth didn鈥檛 show canals, trees, or even moss. They showed a dry, dusty, crater-pocked desert, totally devoid of life. Our neighbouring planet had proved to be disappointingly inhospitable.
In spite of the letdown, more probes were sent, and as the technology and cameras got better, Mars regained some of its intrigue. There were signs of riverbeds, now dried up 鈥 but perhaps they once contained water. And where there鈥檚 water, there鈥檚 the possibility of life, particularly microscopic life-forms. In 1976, NASA sent the Viking lander to Mars carrying on board a series of experiments to test for life. Although the official line is that none was found, one of the lead scientists on the mission, Gil Levin, is, twenty five years on, still insistent that his experiment did find evidence of microbial life on Mars.
And today, the intrigue continues. More signs of water have been discovered 鈥 frozen in polar icecaps, the dried out lakebeds, and, tantalisingly, the marks of gullies formed in the last few billion years 鈥 recent enough for geologists to wonder whether there might still be liquid water on the planet. And so right now, there are no fewer than four unmanned missions heading to Mars, including the British Beagle 2 lander. Heather ponders our chances of finding microbes on Mars, and wonders what the impact would be if we really were to discover life on another world 鈥 to learn that we are not alone.
听Listen again to Programme 2 | | | | |
Programme Three: Everyday Life on Mars
Presented by Sue Armstrong
There are landscapes on Earth 鈥 the bleak high Arctic, the dusty deserts of Utah 鈥 where, if you let your imagination take a little leap, you could believe you were on Mars. And there are places where space scientists have done just that 鈥 donning space suits, testing remote-controlled robots, and living in a cylindrical, 8 metre wide, tin habitation module. Their aim is to find out what it would be like to live on Mars, and what sort of equipment, life support systems and living space would be needed to keep humans alive, sane, and able to do exploratory science for the three years a manned mission to Mars would take.
Sue Armstrong learns the stories of the people behind these Mars simulations, such as NASA scientist Dr Nigel Packham, one of a team of four who spent 91 days in a chamber testing out systems for recycling air, water and waste products. The crew became very close during their three month enclosure, and Nigel found that the hardest part of the whole experience was leaving the chamber at the end. Charles Cockell talks about what it鈥檚 like to have to wear a heavy mock space-suit made of tent canvas, a helmet made from the back of a waste-paper bin, and bulky, restrictive gloves - any time you want to go outside. In this final programme, Sue hears what it鈥檚 like conducting scientific experiments in 鈥淢artian conditions鈥, having minimal contact with the outside world, and spending your days enclosed with five other people inside a 鈥済iant tuna can鈥.
听Listen again to Programme 3 | | |
RELATED LINKS | | | Radio 4 - Small Dog on Mars
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