Mars is both closer and farther away than it seems—Dr. Paul Sutter explains

Produced and directed by Corey Eisenstein. Click here for transcript. (video link)

Welcome to the second episode of “Edge of Knowledge,” our science explainer series starring astrophysicist Paul Sutter. In part one, Paul took us on a journey to the edges of our galaxy and talked about dark matter, the strange stuff that appears to make up the majority of the Milky Way’s total mass—even though we can’t observe it or interact with it in any meaningful way. It’s odd, it’s counterintuitive, and yet it’s real. Dark matter is one of the current great unknowns of modern astrophysics.

This time, we’re focusing our science vision somewhat closer to home. A lot closer to home, in fact: we’re taking a look at our planetary next door neighbor, Mars.