Mad About Mars

Big Picture Science

Long before Orson Welles provoked a panic with his 1938 radio broadcast of a Martian invasion in War of the Worlds, we were fascinated with the possibility of life on the Red Planet. We may be a step closer to finding it after the Perseverance rover turned up tantalizing evidence of possible ancient life in the form of mineral deposits in a Martian rock. But to be sure, we need to test that rock sample in a lab here on Earth, and the NASA Mars Sample Return Mission has been suspended. Still, our passion for our favorite inhabited world has not diminished. From the latest possible biosignature, to the supposed canals on Mars, to how the early 20th century Martian craze influenced vaudeville, we consider the many ways we are Mad About Mars.

Guests:

Janice Bishop – Senior research scientist at the SETI Institute.

Adam Frank – Astrophysicist at the University of Rochester

David Baron – Author of “The Martians: The True Story of an Alien Craze that Captured Turn of the Century America”

Featuring music by Dewey Dellay and Jun Miyake

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