Exploring Mars - Dr. Fatima Ebrahimi & Dr. Kirsten Siebach - The Cosmic Companion Feb. 23, 2021
Channel: The Cosmic Companion - Science Comedy, Astronomy
Date: 23/02/2021

Hello and welcome back to Astronomy News with The Cosmic Companion. This week, continuing our fortnight of Mars, we have a pair of special guests, offering us a look at both the present, as well as the future, of Martian exploration. First, we welcome Martian geologist Dr. Kirstin Siebach back to the show. She will give us a first-person look at how the Perseverance rover will explore the landscape of Mars. We will also talk with Dr. Fatima Ebrahimi from the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. We will discuss her work designing a new plasma engine capable of bringing spacecraft and people to Mars and beyond. 

But first, we take a look at the arrival of NASA's Perseverance rover at Mars. This is the third mission to arrive at the Red Planet in the last two weeks. We also look at a new study showing microbes are able to survive – and thrive – within Martian soil. Finally, we will journey out to the TOI 451 star system, where three newly-discovered planets await our watchful gaze.