U of L To Host Mars Landing Broadcast

The University of Louisville will host a live broadcast of Sunday’s Mars Rover landing.The rover, named Phoenix, is scheduled to touch down shortly before 8 PM, but the Rauch planetarium will open to the public at 7 for snacks and a question and answer session with planetary scientists.“There are not many venues nationally that are going to be doing this in a long-term event like basis," says planetarium director Rachel Connelly. "So we are one of a handful across the country that are going to be showing it live in a large screen broadcast format.”Because of the distance between the Earth and Mars, the broadcast will be delayed by about ten minutes. The Phoenix rover will gather rock and ice samples in Mars’ polar region.