Aired on February 27th, 2013

Guests: John Batchelor, Dr. Samuel Kounaves, Dr. David Livingston: Topics: Curiosity drilling, Mars soil samples, search for organics. You are invited to comment, ask questions, and discuss the Space Show program/guest(s) on the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments, questions, and any discussion must be relevant and applicable to Space Show programming. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are not permitted without prior written consent from The Space Show (even if for personal use) & are a violation of the Space Show copyright. We do not permit the commercial use of any Space Show program or part thereof, nor do we permit Space Show programs to be edited, placed on YouTube, or other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted in news articles, papers, academic & research work but must be cited or referenced in the proper citation format. Contact Dr. Livingston for questions about our copyright and trademark policies which we do enforce. This program is archived on The Space Show website, podcasting, and blog sites with permission from John Batchelor. Please visit the John Batchelor Show website for more information about this fine program, www.johnbatchelorshow.com. During our 11 minute plus discussion with Dr. Kounaves, we discussed the recently completed first drilling effort by Curiosity on Mars. Dr. Kounaves brought us up to date with the search for organics on Mars, he talked about the finding of Martian gray soil under the surface and he explained the red oxidized dust color on the surface of Mars. We also talked about how the earlier rovers have built upon one another in advancing Martian exploration and science up to and including Curiosity. Our guest suggested we may have to drill deep down in the Martian soil, perhaps 600 feet or more to find organics. He noted that there are analogs for this here on Earth. Please post any comments/questions you might have on The Space Show blog. You can contact any of us through drspace@thespaceshow.com.