[00:02.27]The most recent probe to be sent
[00:04.29]was the Mars Odyssey launched in April 2001,
[00:07.98]which is due to orbit the planet
[00:09.52]and provide communications
[00:10.96]for future explorations.
[00:13.62]Another period of great interest in the planet
[00:15.95]was caused by the finding of a small piece
[00:18.18]of rock from Mars in Antarctica.
[00:21.31]In 1996, the American space agency NASA
[00:24.48]declared that there had been life on mars
[00:27.22]in the form of tiny bacteria.
[00:29.77]The claim was later dismissed
[00:31.12]by other scientists,
[00:32.67]but another study in 2001 confirmed
[00:35.30]that the rock did contain chains of crystals
[00:38.27]that could only be made by living things.
[00:41.30]This has made people think again
[00:43.08]about whether there is life on the planet now,
[00:46.08]though not in the form of Martians
[00:48.23]with big heads!
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