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  • Shows Index
    • Aliens (1)
    • Amateur Astronomy (5)
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    • Astronomy (131)
      • Cosmology (22)
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    Past Shows
    • Questions Show: Avoiding the Heat Death, Orbiting Galaxies, and the Dangers of Space Radiation
    • Ep. 141: Volcanoes, Hot and Cold
    • Ep. 140: Entanglement
    • Questions Show: Galileoscope, Black Hole Time, and What Exactly is Energy?
    • Questions Show: Telescope Suggestions, Black Hole Energy, and Universal Time
    • Ep. 139: Energy Levels and Spectra
    • Questions: An Unlocked Moon, Energy Into Black Holes, and the Space Station's Orbit
    • Ep. 138: Quantum Mechanics
    • Questions Show: Hidden Fusion, the Speed of Neutrinos, and Hawking Radiation
    • Ep. 137: Large Scale Structure of the Universe
    • Questions Show: The Source of Atmospheres, the Vanishing Moon, and a Glow After Sunset
    • Ep. 136: Gamma Ray Astronomy
    • Questions Show: Dangerous Solar Flares, Higgs Boson Insights, and Light Speed Flashlights
    • Ep. 135: X-Ray Astronomy
    • Questions Show: NorthEast Astronomy Forum (NEAF)
    • Ep. 134: Ultraviolet Astronomy
    • Ep. 133: Optical Astronomy
    • Questions Show: Undoing Inflation, Searching for Water, and Seeing Everything a Black Hole's Ever Eaten
    • Ep. 132: Infrared Astronomy
    • Episode 131: Submillimeter Astronomy
    • Questions Show: Decelerating Black Holes, Earth-Sun Tidal Lock, and the Crushing Gravity of Dark Matter
    • Episode 130: Radio Astronomy
    • Questions Show: Multiple Big Bangs, Satellite Collisions and the Size of the Universe
    • Ep. 129: Interferometry
    • Questions Show: Shooting Lasers at the Moon and Losing Contact with Rovers
    • Ep. 128: Dust
    • Ep. 127: The US Space Shuttle
    • Ep. 126 From Skeptics Guide with Questions
    • Ep. 125: A Zoo of Extrasolar Planets
    • Questions Show: Moons and the Drake Equation, Stars in the Void, and Rings Around Stars
    • Ep. 124: Space Capsules, Part 1 – Vostok, Mercury and Gemini
    • Ep. 123: Homogeneity
    • Ep. 122: How Old is the Universe?
    • Questions Show: Stellar Roche Limits, Seeing Black Holes, and Water on Mars
    • Ep. 121: Spacesuits
    • Ep. 120: The Christmas Star
    • Questions Show: Different Fields of Astronomy, Our Sibling Stars, and Hidden Lagrange Points
    • Ep. 119: Robots in Space
    • Questions Show: Distance in Space, Changing Earth's Orbit, and Different Sized Stars
    • Ep. 118: Sky Surveys
    • Ep. 117: Time
    • Ep. 116: Molecules in Space
    • Ep. 115: The Moon, Part 3: Return to the Moon
    • Questions Show: Spiral Arms, Seismic Waves on the Sun, and our Favorite Gear
    • Ep. 114: The Moon, Part 2 – Exploration of the Moon
    • Questions Show: Ice in Space, Expansion of the Universe, and Death from the Skies
    • Ep. 113: The Moon, Part 1
    • Questions Show: Orbit of the Planets, Green Stars, and Oort Cloud Contamination
    • Ep. 112: Death From the Skies, Interview with Phil Plait
    • Questions Show: Relativity, Relativity and More Relativity
    • Ep. 111: Nebulae
    • Questions Show: Galactic Dust, the Speed of Photons, and the Big Bang Calculations
    • Ep. 110: The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
    • Questions Show: Alignment with the Galactic Plane, Destruction from Venus, and the Death of the Solar System
    • Ep. 109: The Life of Other Stars
    • Questions Show – Running Out of Gravitons and Hitting the Brakes at Light Speed
    • Ep. 108: The Life of the Sun
    • Questions Show – light speed, Andromeda galaxy, dark matter and black holes
    • Ep. 107: Nucleosynthesis: Elements from Stars
    • Questions Show – Black Hole Surfaces, Magnetic Field Strengths, and the Speed of Gravitons
    • Ep. 106: The Search for the Theory of Everything
    • Student Questions Show: Leelanau School
    • Ep. 105: The Strong and Weak Nuclear Forces
    • Ep 104: Science Fiction at Dragon*Con with Plait and Grazier
    • Ep. 103: Electromagnetism
    • Ep 102: Gravity
    • Ep. 101: Advanced Propulsion Systems
    • Ep. 100: Rockets
    • Ep. 99: The Milky Way
    • Ep. 98: Quasars
    • Ep. 97: Galaxies
    • Ep. 96: Humans to Mars, Part 3 – Terraforming Mars
    • Student Questions: Collinsville High School
    • Ep. 95: Humans to Mars, Part 2 – Colonists
    • Ep 94: Humans to Mars, Part 1 – Scientists
    • Ep. 93: Missions to Mars, Part 2
    • Ep. 92: Missions to Mars, Part 1
    • Ep. 91: The Search for Water on Mars
    • Ep. 90: The Scientific Method
    • Ep. 89: Adaptive Optics
    • Ep. 88: The Hubble Space Telescope
    • Ep. 87: The End of the Universe Part 2: The End of Everything
    • Ep. 86: The End of the Universe Part 1: The End of the Solar System
    • Ep. 85: Detectors
    • Ep. 84: Getting Around the Solar System
    • Ep. 83: Wave Particle Duality
    • Ep. 82: Space Junk
    • Ep. 81: Questions on the Shape, Size and Centre of the Universe
    • Ep. 80: Craters
    • Ep. 79: How Big is the Universe?
    • Ep. 78: What is the Shape of the Universe?
    • Ep. 77: Where is the Centre of the Universe?
    • Ep. 76: Lagrange Points
    • Student Questions: Curtis High School
    • Ep. 75: Stellar Populations
    • Ep. 74: Antimatter
    • Ep. 73: Questions Show #8
    • Ep. 72: Cosmic Rays
    • Ep. 71: Gravitational Waves
    • Ep. 70: How To Win a Nobel Prize
    • Student Questions: Farmersburg
    • Ep. 69: The Large Hadron Collider and the Search for the Higgs-Boson
    • Ep. 68: Globular Clusters
    • Ep. 67: Building a Career in Astronomy
    • Ep. 66: How Amateurs Can Contribute to Astronomy
    • Ep. 65: The End of Our Tour Through the Solar System
    • Ep. 64: Pluto and the Icy Outer Solar System
    • Ep. 63: Neptune
    • Ep. 62: Uranus
    • Ep. 61: Saturn's Moons
    • Ep. 60: Questions Show #7
    • Ep. 59: Saturn
    • Ep. 58: Inflation
    • Ep. 57: Jupiter's Moons
    • Ep. 56: Jupiter
    • Ep. 55: The Asteroid Belt
    • Ep. 54: Questions Show #6
    • Ep. 53: Astronomy in Science Fiction
    • Special Episode: Panspermia
    • Ep. 52: Mars
    • Ep. 51: Earth
    • Ep. 50: Venus
    • Ep. 49: Mercury
    • Ep. 48: Tidal Forces Across the Universe
    • Ep. 47: Tidal Forces
    • Ep. 46: Stellar Nurseries
    • Ep. 45: The Important Numbers in the Universe
    • Listener Survey
    • Ep. 44: Einstein's Theory of General Relativity
    • Ep. 43: Questions Show #5
    • Ep. 42: Magnetism Everywhere
    • Ep. 41: The Rise of the Supertelescopes
    • Ep. 40: American Astronomical Society Meeting, May 2007
    • Ep. 39: Astrology and UFOs
    • Ep. 38: Neutron Stars and their Exotic Cousins
    • Ep. 37: Gravitational Lensing
    • Ep. 36: Gamma-Ray Bursts
    • Ep. 35: Questions Show #4
    • Ep. 34: Discovering Another Earth
    • Ep. 33: Choosing and Using a Telescope
    • Ep. 32: The Search for Neutrinos
    • Ep. 31: String Theory, Time Travel, White Holes, Warp Speed, Multiple Dimensions, and Before the Big Bang
    • Ep. 30: The Sun, Spots and All
    • Ep. 29: Asteroids Make Bad Neighbors
    • Ep. 28: What is the universe expanding into?
    • Ep. 27: Questions Show #3
    • Ep. 26: The Largest Structures in the Universe
    • Ep. 25: The Story of Galaxy Evolution
    • Ep. 24: The Fermi Paradox: Where Are All the Aliens?
    • Ep. 23: Counting Aliens With the Drake Equation


Ep. 91: The Search for Water on Mars

  • June 2nd, 2008
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Welcome to Astronomy Cast, the most popular astronomy-related podcast. Just look at what listeners have to say about it:

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A view underneath NASA\'s Mars Phoenix Lander. Image credit: NASA/JPL
With the successful touchdown of the Phoenix Lander, NASA is continuing its quest to find evidence of past and present water on Mars. This week we discuss the geologic history of Mars, and explain why NASA thinks the story of water on Mars is so important. And how this ties into the search for life on the Red Planet.

Episode 91: The Search for Water on Mars

  • NASA Mars Exploration page on Mars Geology
  • NASA page comparing Mars and Earth in size, volcanism, magnetic fields, and water reserves
  • NASA scientific and technical page comparing Mars and Earth
  • University of Arizona's "Mars 101" Phoenix mission page 
  • Monterey Institute page physical data of Mars
  • Volcanic activity on Mars
  • Olympus Mons
  • Universe Today article:  Rising Temperatures Could Shut Down Plate Techtonics
  • Evidence for erosion and outflow channels on Mars
  • Mars Epochs
  • Determining the age of surface features on Mars
  • Star Stryder post: "Comparative Planetology," about lava flows in New Mexico and comparing them to features on Mars
  • Technical paper:  THEMIS on Mars Odyssey spacecraft finds caves on Mars
  • Mars dust storms
  • Hematite on Mars
  • Mars polar ice caps
  • Universe Today article about microbes found in deep water 
  • Malin Space Science Systems article about life on Mars




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