Slovakia Today, English Language Current Affairs Programme from Slovak Radio

Although scientists have found no clear signs that there is any life on Mars at the present time, the possibility that there was life on the red planet in the ancient past continues to intrigue researchers. It is this possibility, in fact, that was the deciding factor in choosing a landing spot for the latest in a series of robotic rovers that NASA has sent to the planet, and the most sophisticated robot ever sent into space – the Perseverance rover, which successfully landed on the surface of Mars just last week after a seven-month journey. Jonathan spoke with Dr Jiří Šilha, a researcher in the Division of Astronomy and Astrophysics at Bratislava's Comenius University, about this historic mission and what scientists hope to learn from it. What is it like for a 55-year-old Chinese native to be living and working in Slovakia? Jonathan speaks with Paul Yung, a native of southern China, who is married to a Slovak woman and has lived in Bratislava for the past 23 years.