More missions have been sent to Mars than to any other planet, and roughly half have failed. We look at why Mars holds such a grip on us: the evidence that it was once warm and wet, the search for signs it may have hosted life, and the genuinely brutal obstacles standing between us and a human landing.

You'll come away understanding what happened to the Martian atmosphere, what the rovers have actually found, and why radiation, not distance, may be the hardest problem to solve.

Talking Science is sponsored by Kinsoft. Visit www.kinsoft.com.au

Further reading: NASA Mars exploration program; ESA Mars Express mission pages; Perseverance and Curiosity mission science summaries.