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This one-hour program, Is There Life on Mars?, is
divided into six chapters. Choose any chapter below and
select QuickTime or Windows Media Player to begin
viewing the video. If you experience difficulty viewing,
it may be due to high demand. We regret this and suggest
you try back at another time.
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Program Transcript
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watch chapter 1 in
QuickTime
Windows Media:
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Looking For Life
In the wake of several failed missions to Mars, NASA
dispatches the aptly named Phoenix to see if soil
conditions on the Red Planet might have allowed for the
development of life—the holy grail of Mars
exploration.
running time 8:02
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watch chapter 2 in
QuickTime
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Water World?
NASA sends two rovers, Spirit and
Opportunity, to Mars to search for signs of
water, in the distant past or currently. Why water?
Because life as we know it could not exist without it.
running time 7:30
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watch chapter 3 in
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A Broiling Early Mars
A rover's broken wheel makes an accidental discovery of
great import: The soil beneath it is 90 percent silica.
The glass-like silica could only have formed in enormous
heat. Did Mars once have hot springs like those on
Earth?
running time 7:49
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watch chapter 4 in
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End of an Atmosphere
Evidence builds that Mars suffered a cataclysmic early
collision by an asteroid that destroyed its atmosphere.
But could life still have formed? Some experts have
grown doubtful; others remain doggedly optimistic.
running time 10:09
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watch chapter 5 in
QuickTime
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The Rise of Phoenix
Landing successfully in the planet's arctic north in May
2008, Phoenix takes up the hunt for evidence of
water. Before the frigid martian winter shuts it down,
the robot geologist makes a stunning discovery.
running time 7:19
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watch chapter 6 in
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The Hunt Goes On
Phoenix shows that at least the region where it
landed once had conditions suitable for life. But did
organisms of any sort ever live there? Experts are
putting their hopes in the next NASA robot, the
car-sized Mars Science Laboratory.
running time 8:13
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© | Created
November 2008
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