The John Batchelor Show “Hotel Mars,” Wednesday, 4-18-12

The John Batchelor Show “Hotel Mars,” Wednesday, 4-18-12

John Batchelor, Dr. Chris Impey, Dr. David Livingston

http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1755-BWB-2012-04-18.mp3

Guests:  John Batchelor, Dr. Chris Impey, Dr. David Livingston.  Topics:  The origins of our Moon, life on Mars, Earth analogs to Mars.  You are invited to comment, ask questions, and discuss the Space Show program/guest(s) on the Space Show blog, https://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments, questions, and any discussion must be relevant and applicable to Space Show programming. Transcripts of Space Show programs are not permitted without prior written consent from The Space Show (even if for personal use) & are a violation of the Space Show copyright. This program is archived on The Space Show website, podcasting, and blog sites with permission from John Batchelor. Please visit the John Batchelor Show website for more information about this fine program, www.johnbatchelorshow.com. The topics in this 11 minute segment focused on the origins of our Moon and finding microbial life on Mars.  We talked about the lunar impact theory and why it is still preferable to competing theories for the origins of our Moon.  After exploring the lunar origin theories, we focused on finding microbial life on Mars and talked about Earth analogs including asteroid craters, the Antarctic dry valleys, methane plus a few others.  Toward the end of the segment, John asked Chris about our technology for finding life, comparing what robots of today and the near future can do versus what humans can do at this time.  Chris provided a most interesting response, including a brief analysis of the cost benefits of each type of mission.  If you have questions or comments, please post them on The Space Show blog.  If you would like to send an email to either Mr. Batchelor or Dr. Impey, do so through me at drspace@thespaceshow.com and I will forward it for you.