How a trip to the Arctic could help us find life on other planets

FromMars Technica

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How a trip to the Arctic could help us find life on other planets

FromMars Technica

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Length:

31 minutes

Released:

Apr 25, 2023

Format:

Podcast episode

Description

Mars Technica is produced by Los Alamos National Laboratory. Cover art by Joey Montoya.

Released:

Apr 25, 2023

Format:

Podcast episode

Titles in the series (16)

Could Jezero Crater hold the keys to unlocking an ancient and hidden past when life existed on the Martian surface? As NASA’s Perseverance rover heads to Mars to find out, we take you on board the spacecraft to learn more about some of its incredible exploratory technology from the scientists who created it. Come journey with us on an exciting podcast by Los Alamos National Laboratory.

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Was there life on Mars?: The Perseverance rover will dig into the Red Planet’s past to find out if ancient life once existed on the Martian surface — but to fully understand what we want to learn, we have to look back at what we already know. by Mars Technica
14 min listen
Searching for signs of life on Mars: The dusty Mars of today looked a lot different in the deep past. NASA’s Perseverance rover is headed for a spot that scientists believe was a river delta. There, its instruments will search for signs that life could have once existed. by Mars Technica
18 min listen
Plutonium power: To have the power needed to explore the sub-zero temperatures of Mars, the rover uses a nuclear battery that uses heat from the natural radioactive decay of plutonium-238 to generate electricity as fuel. by Mars Technica
18 min listen
The eye on the rover: At the end of the long-necked mast on top of the rover sits something that looks like a head with one wide eye. That’s SuperCam. The suite of instruments will zap rocks and examine their chemical and mineral makeup. by Mars Technica
14 min listen
A day in the life of a Mars rover: Learn how the team will operate the rover from millions of miles away, discover some theories about where possible Martian life could have gone, and listen to caution about why we shouldn’t jump to any conclusions about life on the Red Planet — not yet. by Mars Technica
14 min listen
What rocks may reveal about Martian life: Before we can dive into answering questions about life on Mars, we have to answer some questions about life on Earth — and rocks throughout the American Southwest have a lot to add to the conversation. by Mars Technica
10 min listen
Bonus: SuperCam talks!: NASA’s Perseverance rover is zooming toward Mars on its 300-million-mile journey. A few weeks ago, as it traveled at more than 24,000 miles per hour, something really cool happened. by Mars Technica
3 min listen
First sounds from Mars: The sounds of Mars had never before been heard — until SuperCam. Audio of its laser zapping rock targets and wind swirling in the Martian atmosphere offer key pieces of information in the search for signs of ancient life on Mars. by Mars Technica
6 min listen
Mars needs women: ChemCam and the future of space missions: An extraordinary instrument aboard Curiosity has been investigating the chemical building blocks of life and making exciting discoveries about Mars' habitability — with an extraordinary team at the helm. by Mars Technica
18 min listen
Perseverance has landed: Our second season launches...with a landing! With NASA’s Perseverance rover now safely on Mars, LANL scientist Roger Wiens recaps about what's happened so far — and talks about what comes next. by Mars Technica
7 min listen
Flash floods on Mars!: The first published results from the Perseverance mission offer intriguing insight into what the climate may have been like on the Red Planet. Once upon a time, there were flash floods on Mars. by Mars Technica
7 min listen
Surprising first audio from Ingenuity on Mars: NASA’s tiny Ingenuity helicopter unfolded itself from beneath the Perseverance rover’s belly, powered up with solar energy, and took to the Martian skies. SuperCam’s microphone captured surprising audio from its flights. by Mars Technica
6 min listen
One year on Mars!: One year ago, Perseverance touched down on Mars. Sam Clegg (institutional principal investigator on SuperCam) and Nina Lanza (SuperCam co-investigator) relive the thrill of the landing, recap the rover's remarkable discoveries, and talk about exciting finds they hope are in the mission's future. by Mars Technica
12 min listen
How a trip to the Arctic could help us find life on other planets: A team of researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory recently returned from the Haughton Impact Crater in northern Canada, where they tested technology that could one day be used to search for life on other planets. Today on Mars Technica, we’re talking with Nina Lanza, a planetary scientist at Los Alamos, and Lisa Danielson, director of the Center for Space and Earth Science at Los Alamos, about their expedition to the Arctic. by Mars Technica
31 min listen
Mars: 10 years of incredible discoveries: When the Curiosity rover landed on Mars in the Gale Crater 10 years ago, its mission — to determine whether the Red Planet was ever habitable to microbial life — was expected to last just a few years. More than a decade later, the rover is still going — and so is its collecting and delivery of fascinating scientific data. In this episode, Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists Nina Lanza and Sam Clegg talk about the major discoveries made by the LANL-developed ChemCam instrument on the rover. by Mars Technica
13 min listen
What does a Martian dust devil sound like?: When a dust devil — nearly 400 feet tall — passed directly over the Perseverance rover on Mars, a team of researchers on Earth recorded its sound. This eerie whooshing was captured for the first time ever thanks to the microphone on the SuperCam instrument developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory. by Mars Technica
12 min listen

More Episodes from Mars Technica

Skip carousel

What does a Martian dust devil sound like?: When a dust devil — nearly 400 feet tall — passed directly over the Perseverance rover on Mars, a team of researchers on Earth recorded its sound. This eerie whooshing was captured for the first time ever thanks to the microphone on the SuperCam instrument developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory. by Mars Technica
12 min listen
Mars: 10 years of incredible discoveries: When the Curiosity rover landed on Mars in the Gale Crater 10 years ago, its mission — to determine whether the Red Planet was ever habitable to microbial life — was expected to last just a few years. More than a decade later, the rover is still going — and so is its collecting and delivery of fascinating scientific data. In this episode, Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists Nina Lanza and Sam Clegg talk about the major discoveries made by the LANL-developed ChemCam instrument on the rover. by Mars Technica
13 min listen
One year on Mars!: One year ago, Perseverance touched down on Mars. Sam Clegg (institutional principal investigator on SuperCam) and Nina Lanza (SuperCam co-investigator) relive the thrill of the landing, recap the rover's remarkable discoveries, and talk about exciting finds they hope are in the mission's future. by Mars Technica
12 min listen
Flash floods on Mars!: The first published results from the Perseverance mission offer intriguing insight into what the climate may have been like on the Red Planet. Once upon a time, there were flash floods on Mars. by Mars Technica
7 min listen
Surprising first audio from Ingenuity on Mars: NASA’s tiny Ingenuity helicopter unfolded itself from beneath the Perseverance rover’s belly, powered up with solar energy, and took to the Martian skies. SuperCam’s microphone captured surprising audio from its flights. by Mars Technica
6 min listen
First sounds from Mars: The sounds of Mars had never before been heard — until SuperCam. Audio of its laser zapping rock targets and wind swirling in the Martian atmosphere offer key pieces of information in the search for signs of ancient life on Mars. by Mars Technica
6 min listen
Perseverance has landed: Our second season launches...with a landing! With NASA’s Perseverance rover now safely on Mars, LANL scientist Roger Wiens recaps about what's happened so far — and talks about what comes next. by Mars Technica
7 min listen
Bonus: SuperCam talks!: NASA’s Perseverance rover is zooming toward Mars on its 300-million-mile journey. A few weeks ago, as it traveled at more than 24,000 miles per hour, something really cool happened. by Mars Technica
3 min listen
Mars needs women: ChemCam and the future of space missions: An extraordinary instrument aboard Curiosity has been investigating the chemical building blocks of life and making exciting discoveries about Mars' habitability — with an extraordinary team at the helm. by Mars Technica
18 min listen
What rocks may reveal about Martian life: Before we can dive into answering questions about life on Mars, we have to answer some questions about life on Earth — and rocks throughout the American Southwest have a lot to add to the conversation. by Mars Technica
10 min listen
A day in the life of a Mars rover: Learn how the team will operate the rover from millions of miles away, discover some theories about where possible Martian life could have gone, and listen to caution about why we shouldn’t jump to any conclusions about life on the Red Planet — not yet. by Mars Technica
14 min listen
Searching for signs of life on Mars: The dusty Mars of today looked a lot different in the deep past. NASA’s Perseverance rover is headed for a spot that scientists believe was a river delta. There, its instruments will search for signs that life could have once existed. by Mars Technica
18 min listen
Plutonium power: To have the power needed to explore the sub-zero temperatures of Mars, the rover uses a nuclear battery that uses heat from the natural radioactive decay of plutonium-238 to generate electricity as fuel. by Mars Technica
18 min listen
The eye on the rover: At the end of the long-necked mast on top of the rover sits something that looks like a head with one wide eye. That’s SuperCam. The suite of instruments will zap rocks and examine their chemical and mineral makeup. by Mars Technica
14 min listen
Was there life on Mars?: The Perseverance rover will dig into the Red Planet’s past to find out if ancient life once existed on the Martian surface — but to fully understand what we want to learn, we have to look back at what we already know. by Mars Technica
14 min listen

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How a trip to the Arctic could help us find life on other planets

How a trip to the Arctic could help us find life on other planets

Description

Titles in the series (16)

More Episodes from Mars Technica