Noon Edition

That's it for this week. Thanks to our guests!

Shindell says looking at public opinion polls during early space exploration, trust in government went up.

The Perseverance rover is a culmination of all previous missions.

Horgan says Mars is fascinating because it's so close to being Earth-like. She says this is what drives NASA's exploration of the planet too.

Shindell says looking at images from the rover is very special and that much access is unique to this rover.

Schieber says working in-person for Curiosity was helpful. It built human connection and improved efficiency.

Horgan started working on the rover in 2013. Adjusting to COVID was huge change.

Horgan says there is a lot of international collaboration for the Perseverance rover.

Schieber says when thinking about costs for rovers and space exploration, you should look at costs for other things countries spend money on, like war.

Schieber says Curiosity was looking at microbes in rock to examine habitability.

But bringing samples back will be extremely difficult and has been discussed for the last 50 years.

Horgan says bringing rock samples back to analyze will be important because there are some things that can't be confirmed with out samples being examined in a lab.

He says this period shows more hope for international collaboration than early space exploration.

Shindell says a number of nations arrived at Mars last month.

Shindell says the period of exploration we are in with Mars is quite different than the early 2000s.

Schieber worked on the Curiosity rover. He says the two rovers used the same landing techniques.

She says the rover will look at what kind of life could have existed in the Jezero Crater.

Horgan says watching the rover land was an incredible feeling and huge relief to see it land safely.

Tweet us your questions or email them to news@indianapublicmedia.org.

guests- Briony Horgan, Purdue University associate professor of planetary science @PurdueUnivNews Matthew Shindell @airandspace Juergen Schieber, IU Professor, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences @IU_EAS