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CNN Live Sunday
Mars, Earth Nearing Close Encounter
Aired August 24, 2003 - 10:17 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: This week, a lot of eyes on Earth are aimed toward the heavens and they are seeing red.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Earth and its neighbor, the planet Mars are nearing their closest encounter, get this in nearly 60,000 years. If you miss it this time there's no getting it the second time around.
COLLINS: This is true.
VAUSE: Wednesday is the big day when the two will be at their closest point.
COLLINS: CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano -- whose last names happens to mean Martian in Spanish, just want to let you know that -- is here now to tell us more about this rare celestial happening. Hey, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Heidi.
So, you know, if little antennas start to pop out of my head, you know why.
We want to talk about this. This is a rare event. Although, on Wednesday is when its absolute closest, it's been getting bigger and bigger in the sky for the past several weeks and will be pretty big in the sky for the next several weeks.
We took some video or requested some video from one of our affiliates. This is an hour west of Atlanta, in Belricka (ph), Georgia, where an astronomy club got together and they set up a bunch of telescopes and they checked this out.
This is with the help of a zoom lens. But you can see how vivid that picture is of Mars, closer than it's been certainly in our lifetime. And you'll be able to see it with the naked eye. So keep that in mind. Look south and east after sunset. That's the key. We'll repeat that.
There are some similarities to Earth. It's the fourth rock from the Sun. It's very close to the Earth. It's our neighbor. It has got a diameter about half the size of the Earth. It has a 24-hour day, 24.7 hours is what it takes to revolve, or to spin. And the amount of time it takes to go around the Sun is 21 months, because it's farther out, so it's going to take a little bit longer to go along the sun.
And the reason it's so close is because our orbits are not perfectly elliptical, so we're getting them close right now.
We have got some cool stuff to show you thanks to the folks at Keyhole.com. And this is exclusive to CNN. JPL, NASA and CalTech, helped us out with this. We thank them greatly.
These are some cool pictures. Behind me is what you see is obviously Mars, but it is a composite shot. We're going to be able to zoom in on some interesting aspects. If you have a telescope, you may be looking for some things of interest that are just big in the solar system.
First of all, it's red because the rocks are rusty. I know it sounds very simple, but that's pretty much it. It does have a small atmosphere. It does have weather, it has dust storms very often. So you can't always see things obviously this clearly.
This is Olympus Mons (ph). It's a volcano three times higher than Everest, at about 80,000 feet. It's the largest volcano in the solar system.
Valus Marinaris (ph) is another spot of interest not only for folks who just like to look at Mars, but for scientists. This thing is the equivalent of our Grand Canyon, although it was formed differently. It's got -- it is four miles deep. Can you believe that? And it's 2,500 miles across. So that's across the U.S. pretty much. That makes it five times the size of the Grand Canyon. It was not made by water, but rather by shifting plates. So that's the only difference between that and the Grand Canyon.
Now, what has scientists wondering a little bit are some other things that are on Mars, namely what look to be dry riverbeds.
This is where we kind of zoom in right here.
This looks to be kind of a dry riverbed, so that has scientists saying hey, maybe at one point there was some water on Mars. And maybe that's why we think there could be life, or could have been life on Mars; so, some cool shots for you.
Again, Mars, the Red Planet, when can you see it? If you haven't checked it out already and want to set your alarm clock for the best viewing or when it's going to be closest, it will be closest at 5:51 a.m. Eastern daylight time Wednesday, 34.6 million miles away.
Give you an idea, that is five times closer than it was just six months. It's closest since 57,617 B.C., so almost 60,000. It will be big and bright right on through September. So don't worry if you miss it on Wednesday. You don't want to get up that early, you certainly can check it out over the next couple weeks.
OK, weather is more my bag, so that's my limited knowledge on Mars. Here what I know a little better. Basically, if you have clear skies and you are away from city lights you will see this.
At Chatham (ph), Mass., just on elbow of Cape Cod, you will be able to see it looking south and east. Dayton, Ohio, you should have clear skies tonight I think. Springfield, Missouri, it will be warm. You should have clear skies tonight. Rapid City, South Dakota, maybe a thunderstorm around, wait for them to die down. And then Spokane, Washington, always a great spot to check out the stars.
All right, let's talk to an expert. That's about all I know on Mars. So, we're going to bring in an expert at this hour and talk a little bit more about Mars.
Robert Zubrin is the president of the Mars Society and the author "The Case For Mars," and he joins us this morning.
Good morning, Mr. Zubrin.
ROBERT ZUBRIN, PRES. MARS SOCIETY: Good morning.
MARCIANO: So why should folks be fired up at home about Mars being this close?
ZUBRIN: Well, Mars coming this close is an excellent opportunity for amateur astronomers to see Mars. With a good amateur telescope right now you can easily see the ice cap on the Martian north pole. It's also a great opportunity for professional astronomers. It's an excellent chance for us to send probes to Mars. In fact, there are five probes on their way to Mars right now.
MARCIANO: Well, I guess you could pose the argument, jokingly, that it would be just as easy for a Martian to skip over here as well.
Let's talk about water and the prospects for water and that's what scientists are buzzing about. Has there been life Mars?
ZUBRIN: Well, we don't know if there's been life on Mars. There certainly has been water on Mars. We can see water erosion features on Mars. That makes Mars a suspect for life. If the theory is correct life evolves wherever it has liquid water, temperate climate, sufficient time, right chemicals, life should have appeared on Mars.
It has all the chemicals we have on Earth. It certainly had liquid water for longer than it took life to appear on Earth after there was liquid water here. That's why we really want to send human explorers to Mars to look for fossils of past life and drill down into the ground because about a kilometer down there's almost certainly liquid water where Martian life could still be.
If by looking that life we can examine their structure, we could find out if life elsewhere in the universe is of the same form as all life on Earth, or whether there could be alternate plans.
MARCIANO: I know it's farther away from the Earth than the Sun is. Maybe at the equator, do temperatures get above freezing at the equator? Could there be water on the surface of the Earth (sic) if the atmosphere maybe was a little bit thicker?
ZUBRIN: There could, at least in the daytime. In the daytime it gets to maybe 50 Fahrenheit on the equator. The nighttime it gets to like minus 130. So it's kind of like Minnesota. You stay inside at night.
But bacteria doesn't need to have it to be liquid water all the time. The transient availability of liquid water would be enough. There probably is permanent liquid water, though, underground just as there is on Earth.
MARCIANO: Will we be able to send astronauts to Mars? What are the challenges ahead?
ZUBRIN: The main challenge actually is political. From a technological point of view we are much better prepared today to send humans to Mars than we were to send men to the noon 1961 when Kennedy started the moon program, and we were there eight years later.
If president Bush were to give NASA a focus and a direction, we could have humans on Mars within 10 years. And frankly, that's what they need. We're actually right now spending at NASA 90 percent of Apollo levels of funding in real inflation adjusted dollars, but they're not accomplishing anywhere near as much because they don't have a goal. They're doing programs randomly. It's not a way to make progress.
MARCIANO: In your opinion, what's the mystery behind Mars, besides its color?
ZUBRIN: Well, of course, there is the mystery of whether there was life there in the past, but to me, the greatest mystery is what kind of life there is going to be in the future. Can humans make Mars a second home? Because if we can, that will be the first step towards humanity becoming a space ferrying species with the entire future open to us.
MARCIANO: I suppose you're pretty tired. You've been looking at this thing the past several nights and the week ahead, we thank you for joining us this morning.
ZUBRIN: Thank you for having me.
MARCIANO: Good times. Robert Zubrin, president of the Mars Society and author of "The Case For Mars", that's his book, you may want to check out.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired August 24, 2003 - 10:17 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: This week, a lot of eyes on Earth are aimed toward the heavens and they are seeing red.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Earth and its neighbor, the planet Mars are nearing their closest encounter, get this in nearly 60,000 years. If you miss it this time there's no getting it the second time around.
COLLINS: This is true.
VAUSE: Wednesday is the big day when the two will be at their closest point.
COLLINS: CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano -- whose last names happens to mean Martian in Spanish, just want to let you know that -- is here now to tell us more about this rare celestial happening. Hey, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Heidi.
So, you know, if little antennas start to pop out of my head, you know why.
We want to talk about this. This is a rare event. Although, on Wednesday is when its absolute closest, it's been getting bigger and bigger in the sky for the past several weeks and will be pretty big in the sky for the next several weeks.
We took some video or requested some video from one of our affiliates. This is an hour west of Atlanta, in Belricka (ph), Georgia, where an astronomy club got together and they set up a bunch of telescopes and they checked this out.
This is with the help of a zoom lens. But you can see how vivid that picture is of Mars, closer than it's been certainly in our lifetime. And you'll be able to see it with the naked eye. So keep that in mind. Look south and east after sunset. That's the key. We'll repeat that.
There are some similarities to Earth. It's the fourth rock from the Sun. It's very close to the Earth. It's our neighbor. It has got a diameter about half the size of the Earth. It has a 24-hour day, 24.7 hours is what it takes to revolve, or to spin. And the amount of time it takes to go around the Sun is 21 months, because it's farther out, so it's going to take a little bit longer to go along the sun.
And the reason it's so close is because our orbits are not perfectly elliptical, so we're getting them close right now.
We have got some cool stuff to show you thanks to the folks at Keyhole.com. And this is exclusive to CNN. JPL, NASA and CalTech, helped us out with this. We thank them greatly.
These are some cool pictures. Behind me is what you see is obviously Mars, but it is a composite shot. We're going to be able to zoom in on some interesting aspects. If you have a telescope, you may be looking for some things of interest that are just big in the solar system.
First of all, it's red because the rocks are rusty. I know it sounds very simple, but that's pretty much it. It does have a small atmosphere. It does have weather, it has dust storms very often. So you can't always see things obviously this clearly.
This is Olympus Mons (ph). It's a volcano three times higher than Everest, at about 80,000 feet. It's the largest volcano in the solar system.
Valus Marinaris (ph) is another spot of interest not only for folks who just like to look at Mars, but for scientists. This thing is the equivalent of our Grand Canyon, although it was formed differently. It's got -- it is four miles deep. Can you believe that? And it's 2,500 miles across. So that's across the U.S. pretty much. That makes it five times the size of the Grand Canyon. It was not made by water, but rather by shifting plates. So that's the only difference between that and the Grand Canyon.
Now, what has scientists wondering a little bit are some other things that are on Mars, namely what look to be dry riverbeds.
This is where we kind of zoom in right here.
This looks to be kind of a dry riverbed, so that has scientists saying hey, maybe at one point there was some water on Mars. And maybe that's why we think there could be life, or could have been life on Mars; so, some cool shots for you.
Again, Mars, the Red Planet, when can you see it? If you haven't checked it out already and want to set your alarm clock for the best viewing or when it's going to be closest, it will be closest at 5:51 a.m. Eastern daylight time Wednesday, 34.6 million miles away.
Give you an idea, that is five times closer than it was just six months. It's closest since 57,617 B.C., so almost 60,000. It will be big and bright right on through September. So don't worry if you miss it on Wednesday. You don't want to get up that early, you certainly can check it out over the next couple weeks.
OK, weather is more my bag, so that's my limited knowledge on Mars. Here what I know a little better. Basically, if you have clear skies and you are away from city lights you will see this.
At Chatham (ph), Mass., just on elbow of Cape Cod, you will be able to see it looking south and east. Dayton, Ohio, you should have clear skies tonight I think. Springfield, Missouri, it will be warm. You should have clear skies tonight. Rapid City, South Dakota, maybe a thunderstorm around, wait for them to die down. And then Spokane, Washington, always a great spot to check out the stars.
All right, let's talk to an expert. That's about all I know on Mars. So, we're going to bring in an expert at this hour and talk a little bit more about Mars.
Robert Zubrin is the president of the Mars Society and the author "The Case For Mars," and he joins us this morning.
Good morning, Mr. Zubrin.
ROBERT ZUBRIN, PRES. MARS SOCIETY: Good morning.
MARCIANO: So why should folks be fired up at home about Mars being this close?
ZUBRIN: Well, Mars coming this close is an excellent opportunity for amateur astronomers to see Mars. With a good amateur telescope right now you can easily see the ice cap on the Martian north pole. It's also a great opportunity for professional astronomers. It's an excellent chance for us to send probes to Mars. In fact, there are five probes on their way to Mars right now.
MARCIANO: Well, I guess you could pose the argument, jokingly, that it would be just as easy for a Martian to skip over here as well.
Let's talk about water and the prospects for water and that's what scientists are buzzing about. Has there been life Mars?
ZUBRIN: Well, we don't know if there's been life on Mars. There certainly has been water on Mars. We can see water erosion features on Mars. That makes Mars a suspect for life. If the theory is correct life evolves wherever it has liquid water, temperate climate, sufficient time, right chemicals, life should have appeared on Mars.
It has all the chemicals we have on Earth. It certainly had liquid water for longer than it took life to appear on Earth after there was liquid water here. That's why we really want to send human explorers to Mars to look for fossils of past life and drill down into the ground because about a kilometer down there's almost certainly liquid water where Martian life could still be.
If by looking that life we can examine their structure, we could find out if life elsewhere in the universe is of the same form as all life on Earth, or whether there could be alternate plans.
MARCIANO: I know it's farther away from the Earth than the Sun is. Maybe at the equator, do temperatures get above freezing at the equator? Could there be water on the surface of the Earth (sic) if the atmosphere maybe was a little bit thicker?
ZUBRIN: There could, at least in the daytime. In the daytime it gets to maybe 50 Fahrenheit on the equator. The nighttime it gets to like minus 130. So it's kind of like Minnesota. You stay inside at night.
But bacteria doesn't need to have it to be liquid water all the time. The transient availability of liquid water would be enough. There probably is permanent liquid water, though, underground just as there is on Earth.
MARCIANO: Will we be able to send astronauts to Mars? What are the challenges ahead?
ZUBRIN: The main challenge actually is political. From a technological point of view we are much better prepared today to send humans to Mars than we were to send men to the noon 1961 when Kennedy started the moon program, and we were there eight years later.
If president Bush were to give NASA a focus and a direction, we could have humans on Mars within 10 years. And frankly, that's what they need. We're actually right now spending at NASA 90 percent of Apollo levels of funding in real inflation adjusted dollars, but they're not accomplishing anywhere near as much because they don't have a goal. They're doing programs randomly. It's not a way to make progress.
MARCIANO: In your opinion, what's the mystery behind Mars, besides its color?
ZUBRIN: Well, of course, there is the mystery of whether there was life there in the past, but to me, the greatest mystery is what kind of life there is going to be in the future. Can humans make Mars a second home? Because if we can, that will be the first step towards humanity becoming a space ferrying species with the entire future open to us.
MARCIANO: I suppose you're pretty tired. You've been looking at this thing the past several nights and the week ahead, we thank you for joining us this morning.
ZUBRIN: Thank you for having me.
MARCIANO: Good times. Robert Zubrin, president of the Mars Society and author of "The Case For Mars", that's his book, you may want to check out.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
