1.   Much wackiness ensues en route to the red planet.

2.   And this guy barely seems capable of eating a Mars bar, much less landing on the red planet.

3.   As space agency administrators were crunching Mars exploration budgets this past summer, a group of civilian volunteers were practicing for a manned mission to the red planet.

4.   A group of best-buddy astronauts and their families are there to say goodbye to the comrades heading off to a red planet research station.

5.   A mission to Mars failed mysteriously just moments before arriving at its destination to begin exploring the red planet.

6.   Built under her direction are two craft now speeding toward a December rendezvous with the red planet to help see if it harbors life.

7.   But at a time when unmanned probes to the red planet have failed disastrously, the date for an astronaut visit to Mars may be receding.

8.   But, Kerridge argues, the only persuasive way to detect such microbes is by launching robotic probes to the red planet.

9.   Even so, Martians may very well be real and living comfortably in secluded parts of the red planet, scientists are beginning to suspect.

10.   For example, the Science Theme turns your Recycle Bin into a beaker of green fluid, and the My Computer icon becomes a glowing red planet.