Good morning. As Andy Burnham’s search for intelligent life to appoint to cabinet continues (more on that from Libby tomorrow), First Edition sets our sights further afield, to the search for life on another red planet.
It’s 50 years to the day since humankind’s first foray on Mars. On 20 July 1976, Viking 1 successfully touched down on the planet in a groundbreaking feat. At least, that’s how Nasa tells the story – technically, the Russians did it first in 1971, but contact with the Soviet Mars 3 was lost in seconds, and only a single fuzzy grey image transmitted back to Earth.
