Every 2 years or so Mars lines up nicely with the Earth. It takes only 2 minutes to communicate with the rovers. You can see the polar ice caps in a small telescope. And it's the best time to send your spacecraft to the Red Planet.  Oct 3rd: Moon & Mars conjunction, 1.1° separation. Oct 6th: Mars opposition. Dec 21st: Jupiter/Saturn conjunction, 0.1° separation! Feb 18th "Percy" lands on Mars' Jezero crater.

Every 2 years or so Mars lines up nicely with the Earth. It takes only 2 minutes to communicate with the rovers. You can see the polar ice caps in a small telescope. And it's the best time to send your spacecraft to the Red Planet. Oct 3rd: Moon & Mars conjunction, 1.1° separation. Oct 6th: Mars opposition. Dec 21st: Jupiter/Saturn conjunction, 0.1° separation! Feb 18th "Percy" lands on Mars' Jezero crater.

Every 2 years or so Mars lines up nicely with the Earth. It takes only 2 minutes to communicate with the rovers. You can see the polar ice caps in a small telescope. And it's the best time to send your spacecraft to the Red Planet.&nbsp; Oct 3rd: Moon &amp; Mars conjunction, 1.1° separation. Oct 6th: Mars opposition. Dec 21st: Jupiter/Saturn conjunction, 0.1° separation! Feb 18th "Percy" lands on Mars' Jezero crater.

Ep. 577: Mars in Opposition

This is the full live stream audio of the Astronomy Cast episodes. The first half hour is the regular episode, and the second half hour is a Q&A session with questions submitted by live viewers and email.

Science

Astronomy

This is the full live stream audio of the Astronomy Cast episodes. The first half hour is the regular episode, and the second half hour is a Q&amp;A session with questions submitted by live viewers and email.

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Ep. 577: Mars in Opposition

Ep. 577: Mars in Opposition