Hello.
This is 6 Minute English
from BBC Learning English.
I'm Neil.
And I'm Sam.
In this programme we'll be
discussing our closest neighbour
in the solar system - the
planet Mars.
Often called the 'Red Planet',
Mars has been in the news a
lot recently with three separate
missions being sent to explore
the planet's surface in 2021.
Our fascination with
the Red Planet
has given birth to
some interesting art over the
years.
This includes music,
such as David Bowie's 1973
hit, Life on Mars?, and countless
films, from 1938's, Mars Attacks!,
to the 2015 blockbuster,
The Martian.
But human interest in Mars
goes back much earlier.
Ancient civilisations, like the
Maya of central America observed
the planet's colour and recorded
its movements, just like modern
astronomers - scientists who
study the universe
and the stars,
planets and suns within it.
Yet despite this, many questions
remain unanswered.
What caused
the marks and scars on
the planet's surface?
And the biggest question of all:
is there life on Mars?
But before we go on, I have
another question which needs
answering, Sam.
The ancient
Romans were also interested
in Mars.
They even considered
the planet to be a god - but
god of what?
Was Mars
the Roman god of:
a) Love?
b) Fire? or c) War?
Well, Mars is the 'Red Planet',
so I guess the answer is
b) the Roman God of Fire.
OK, Sam.
We'll find out the
answer at the end
of the programme.
Whatever the Romans thought,
civilisations throughout
history have described looking
into the night sky and seeing
a bright, red light.
But where
does Mars' characteristic
colour come from?
Someone who can answer that
is Dr Michael Meyer.
As lead
scientist on NASA's Mars
Exploration Programme, he
spent years observing and
recording the Red Planet.
Listen to Dr Meyer in
conversation with BBC World
Service programme, The Forum.
Try to hear the explanation
he gives for Mars's
unusual colour.
One of the distinctive things
about Mars is that it's red
so you can see it and
identify it.
It looks red
because of rust - iron oxide
on the surface, which is red
and, interestingly that look
can change.
And we saw that
in 2018 when there was a
global dust storm - Mars,
instead of looking red
looked a little orange,
and that changing of colour
might have made the
civilisations watching Mars
maybe uneasy to see
something immutable in our
night sky changing colours.
Dr Meyer calls Mars's red
colour distinctive - easy to
recognise because it's different
from everything else.
But did
you hear why it's red in
the first place, Sam?
Yes - it's red
because of rust -
a reddish chemical substance
called iron oxide that occurs
when metals react with
water and air.
The colour of this rust can
change slightly, from red to
brown to orange, and Dr Meyer
thinks these changing colours
may have worried ancient
astronomers who believed Mars
was immutable, or
never changing.
Unlike ancient civilisations,
modern astronomers have sent
satellites to land on Mars
and explore its surface.
And although no human has
set foot on the Red Planet
so far, we know a lot
about conditions there.
So, in the words of
David Bowie: is there
life on Mars?
Well, that all depends on
finding water.
Water is life,
and as Dr Meyer told BBC
World Service's, The
Forum, with water
anything is possible.
And from all that we have
learned from astrobiology,
life is amazingly adaptable,
but it still needs water.
So that's why water
is the key.
So, finding liquid water
on Mars, whether or not
it's now or whether or
not it's in the past,
tells you that you
potentially have a
habitable environment,
some place that
could support life and
perhaps even Martian life.
Dr Meyer says that life is
amazingly adaptable - able
to change in order to survive
in new situations.
Finding liquid water could
make the Red Planet habitable -
good enough to live on.
And
with billionaire businessmen
like Elon Musk planning
manned missions to space,
who knows how long it could
be before we see
a human on Mars?
And who knows what they'd
find there!
Tiny worms?
Little green men?
Or maybe a Roman god...?
Ah yes, in your quiz question
you asked what Mars was the
Roman god of.
I guessed
b) the Roman God of Fire.
Which was the wrong answer,
I'm afraid.
In fact, the
Romans considered Mars their
God of War, and sacrificed
wild animals to him such
as wolves, bears and,
strangely, woodpeckers!
OK, Neil let's recap the
vocabulary from this
programme on the Red Planet,
Mars, starting with
astronomer - someone who
studies the stars, planets
and moons in our universe.
If something is distinctive,
it's easily recognisable
because it's different
from everything else.
Rust, or iron oxide, is
a red coloured chemical
that occurs when metals
react with water and air.
Immutable means
never changing.
Something which is adaptable
can easily change to deal
with new circumstances.
And finally, habitable means
good enough to live in.
That's all we have time for.
Bye for now!
Goodbye!