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!