We dig the Red Planet! And so does Curiosity. After a successful landing, and a round of high-fives at NASA, the latest rover to land on Mars is on the move, shovel in mechanical hand.

Discover how the Mars Science Laboratory will hunt for the building blocks of life, and just what the heck a lipid is. Plus, how to distinguish Martians from Earthlings, and the tricks Mars has played on us in the past (canals, anyone?).

Also, want to visit Mars firsthand? We can point you to the sign-up sheet for a manned mission. The catch: the ticket is one-way.

Guests:

•  John Grotzinger – Geologist, California Institute of Technology, and project scientist, NASA Mars Science Laboratory mission

•  Jennifer Heldmann – Research scientist at NASA Ames Research Center

•  David Blake – Principal Investigator of CheMin, a mineralogical instrument that is included in the analytical laboratory of the Mars Science Laboratory mission

•  Rachel Harris – Astrobiology student at the NASA Astrobiology Institute

•  Stuart Schlisserman – Physician in Palo Alto, California

•  Felisa Wolfe-Simon – NASA astrobiology research fellow, Lawrence Berkeley National Labs

•  Bas Lansdorp – Founder, Mars One

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