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Was There Life On Mars? A UC Researcher Is Helping Find Out

Illustration/NASA-JPL
An artist's illustration of Perseverance on the Martian surface.

At some point this afternoon, the most advanced rover ever sent to Mars will touch down on the Red Planet to collect geologic samples in a quest to help answer one of humankind's greatest questions: Has there ever been life outside of Earth? 

Helping to answer that question will be University of Cincinnati Astrobiologist Andy Czaja, who is part of the team that advised NASA on where to land the rover. Final destination: the Jezero Crater, a dried-up river delta where scientists will use the rover to undertake the most sophisticated search for ancient life on Mars ever undertaken.

Joining Cincinnati Edition areCzajaandCincinnati ObservatoryAstronomer Dean Regas. 

Listen to Cincinnati Edition live at noon M-F. Audio for this segment will be uploaded after 4 p.m. ET.

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Michael Monks brings a broad range of experience to WVXU-FM as the host of Cincinnati Edition, Cincinnati Public Radio's weekday news and information talk show.