Four volunteers, including a Springfield-based E.R. doctor, are on a 1-year mission living on a simulation of Mars. Today we discuss the challenges that these four volunteers will face to help NASA prepare for its real-life mission to Mars. 

Are you a science fiction fan? Today on Focus, host Jim Meadows talks with New York Times best-selling author Kim Stanley Robinson.

Guest: Steven Squyres, Professor of Astronomy at Cornell University.

Twin robotic explorers Spirit and Opportunity have added a great deal to our understanding of Mars. Among other things, they have found substantial evidence that at one time, there was water on the surface of the planet. Today on Focus, Cornell University astronomer Steven Squyres talks us through what we know so far and the big question... was there ever life on the Red Planet?

Guest: Andrew Mishkin.

Sojourner's diminutive size didn't stop it from captivating millions of people when it beamed back the first-ever photos from the red terrain of Mars. But the Pathfinder mission's story goes far back beyond that first contact. NASA engineer Andrew Mishkin joins us today on Focus to give us the details on the massive effort made by the world's best minds to land an artificial intelligence on the surface of Mars.

Guest: Ken Croswell.

Mars is one of the brightest and most beautiful planets—and it may also hold the key to the question of whether life exists elsewhere in the universe. Today on Focus we're joined by astronomer and writer Ken Croswell. His new book Magnificent Mars talks about the geology, topography, and atmosphere of the planet, as well as the spacecraft due to land on its surface within the next few weeks. What do we hope to learn from these latest missions to the Red Planet? This morning, Croswell will be answering that question—and more.