The Very Large Array (VLA) is a collection of 27 radio antennas located at the NRAO site in Socorro, New Mexico. Each antenna in the array measures 82 feet in diameter and weighs about 230 tons. (Photo: Luke Jones / Flickr)

Are we really alone in the universe? A new effort to search for extraterrestrial life is underway.

NASA InSight’s first full “selfie” on Mars, taken Dec. 6, 2018, displays the lander’s solar panels and deck. On top of the deck are its science instruments, weather sensor booms and UHF antenna. (Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech)

From amazing new vistas of Mars to a little rover bouncing on a distant asteroid, an exploration of recent achievements in outer space with Adler Planetarium astronomer Lucianne Walkowicz.

Adler Planetarium astrophysicist Lucianne Walkowicz joins us from the eclipse epicenter in Carbondale. 

(NASA)

Adler Planetarium astronomer Lucianne Walkowicz will spend the next year figuring out how humans can get along while exploring one of the more curious planets in our solar system: Mars. 

An artist’s interpretation of what the surface of the exoplanet TRAPPIST-1f could look like. (NASA / JPL-Caltech)

NASA said earlier this week it had a major announcement coming Wednesday. What an announcement it turned out to be.

Pluto

Pluto finally got a visitor from Earth, 85 years after the dwarf planet’s discovery. Completing a nine-year, 3-billion-mile voyage, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft reached the former ninth planet of our solar system on Tuesday. We'll discuss the milestone flyby with astronomers from the Adler Planetarium.

An Adler Planetarium astronomer tells us whether earthlings may, at long last, be hearing from other intelligent life in the universe.