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Two months ago, the Mars Phoenix Lander began drilling and collecting samples to learn more about what is contained below the Martian surface. Meanwhile, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been circling the planet to learn about Mars’s past. We’ll talk about what we’ve learned about Mars through these missions and what may come next as we explore what’s called the “most Earthlike planet”.

Guests

• Mal Cameron, Coordinator of the NASA Educator Resource Center at the Christa McAuliffe Planetarium in Concord
• Dr. Suzanne Young, research associate and adjunct professor of chemistry at Tufts University and member of the Phoenix Mars Mission

Fifty years ago political scientists came out with “The American Voter," their famous profile of those who voted in the 1952 and 1956 presidential elections. They concluded most voters cast their ballots primarily on party identification. Now that profile has been updated, and voters have changed less than you might think. We’ll look at America's voting patterns - what's changed, what hasn't and what it says about the state of the nation.

Guest

• Michael Lewis-Beck, coauthor of The American Voter Revisited and the F. Wendell Miller Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the University of Iowa

As New Hampshire grows we’re learning more about the hazards facing water quantity, quality and infrastructure and are exploring new ways to combat them. Hydrologists, environmentalist, inventors, and water groups are working hard on this effort, thinking up new technologies, new ideas and new plans so we’ll have enough clean potable water for our future. We conclude our series by exploring the future of our state’s drinking water and what some in the state are doing about it.

We'll also get an update on the storms that hit New Hampshire yesterday.

Guests

• Harry Stewart, Water Division Director at the Department of Environmental Services
• Brian Goetz, consultant for Weston and Sampson, a Portsmouth-based water treatment and wastewater design and consulting company and current president of New Hampshire’s Water Works Association

We'll also hear from

• Gregg Champlin, Deputy Public Information Officer for the New Hampshire Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management
• Dean Kamen, founder and owner of DEKA Research and Development Corporation in Manchester; he has invented a water purification device called the Slingshot that can take any kind of polluted water and transfer it to potable water by using minimal energy
• David Paris, Water Supply Administrator for Manchester Water Works Water Treatment Plant
• John Edgar, Community Development Director for the town of Meredith

New Hampshire is growing and that means new strains on our water supply. Some complain of soaring water prices along with old infrastructure and strict quality standards. Now some communities are looking to develop “water plans”. We explore how much water we have and use, who uses it and what some are doing to make sure we have enough water.

Guests

• Marilee Horn, water use specialist at United States Geological Survey in New Hampshire and lead author of a study on water use for the Seacoast region
• Derek Bennett, manager of the Water Use and Conservation Program for the Drinking Water and Groundwater Bureau of New Hampshire’s Department of Environmental Services
• Andrew Stone, Executive Director of the American Groundwater Trust in Concord

We'll also hear from

• Phil Bilodeau, Deputy Director of the General Services Department for the City of Concord
• Denise Hart, Board Member for Save Our Groundwater, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting water in the public trust

The beginnings of the war on insects coincides with the growth of immigration in our country. As America expanded, so did the need for food crops, so businesses, corporations and snake oil salesmen alike sold a host of substances to stop bugs. Arsenic, mercury, sulfuric acid, even whale oil was used on crops. Today's insecticides are far more advanced, but they're not without controversy. A new book explores the history of our war on bugs.

Guest

• Will Allen, Vermont based farmer, activist and author, whose new book is The War on Bugs