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Mars exploration has followed a long and bumpy interplanetary road. There have been 38 separate missions to Mars, and more than half have failed. The latest mission — the Phoenix lander — marks the 39th journey. Here, highlights of these Earthly attempts to film, circle and touch the cold Red Planet.

NPR debuts its newest feature: a blog. The new editorial offering promises a look at outstanding stories, and issues that never make it to air. NPR producer -- and new blogger -- JJ Sutherland talks about Mixed Signals.

Ed Gordon talks with comedian Nick Adams about his new book Making Friends with Black People — a humorous how-to take on bridging racial divides.

The auction process for Knight Ridder, one of the largest newspaper chains in the country, starts Thursday. The company announced last fall that it was putting itself up for sale. The move is an effort to satisfy shareholders, who want better returns on their investment in the company.

Rock guitar has been trending louder, faster and more flamboyant. An exception is guitarist and singer David Gilmour. He hasn't put out a studio recording in 12 years, since Pink Floyd's The Division Bell. The drought ends this week with Gilmour's solo album, On an Island.

Ask 19-year-old Lizandra Nevarez where she's from and she'll say a village in Durango, Mexico -- even though she was born and raised in Chicago. Her mother and grandmother were born in Durango. Not long ago, she went back.

Slobodan Milosevic, the former Serb leader who orchestrated the Balkan wars of the 1990s and was on trial for war crimes, was found dead in his prison cell near The Hague. Milosevic, 64, apparently died of natural causes.

U.S. and Iraqi forces launch what the American military is calling the largest air assault against Iraqi insurgents since the end of "major combat operations" in 2003. The offensive, in an area northeast of Samarra, has been dubbed Operation Swarmer.

President Bush is scheduled to make speeches reaffirming his administration's belief in the practice of pre-emptive war. In 2002, Father Richard John Neuhaus, president of the Institute on Religion and Public Life, talked with NPR about the doctrine. He revisits the topic with Michele Norris.

Michelle Kwan's withdrawal from the Winter Olympics opens the door to Emily Hughes, 17, the younger sister of 2002 gold medalist Sarah Hughes. Renee Montagne talks to USA Today columnist Christine Brennan about the U.S. figure skating team's prospects in Turin.

A report from investigators in the House, due for release Wednesday, is expected to fault all levels of government in the response to Hurricane Katrina. Authors of the report, "A Failure of Initiative," outline 90 serious flaws in the response -- ranging from ineffective leadership at the Department of Homeland Security to inadequate state and local plans for evacuation to a "fog of war" at the White House.

You don't need a DNA test to learn more about your family -- hoping to learn more about her own family's roots, Farai Chideya sat down with her grandmother and a tape recorder... What she discovered was a rich legacy.

As presidential candidates deliver their messages across the nation, the author of "Born in the U.S.A." and "The Rising" is traveling the country delivering one of his own. The touring rocker talks about mixing music and politics.

The Southern band remains guitar-heavy, but its new album features some of Drive-By Truckers' best songwriting so far — particularly in Patterson Hood's songs. On Brighter Than Creation's Dark the band tells stories about strugglers, musicians, and soldiers.

"Most people know me as Mo Farah, but it's not my name — or, it's not the reality," Olympic gold medalist Mo Farah said, in a clip from an upcoming documentary.

The band Animal Collective performs a transfixing, unpredictable concert at MASS MoCA.

Just in time for the change of the season, music commentator Miles Hoffman considers the lingering reputation of Igor Stravinsky's ballet The Rite of Spring as the shocker that altered the art world. The work has been called "one of the most daring creations of the modern musical mind."

Madonna's new single, "4 Minutes," is an airtight, spit-polished production loaded with current stars, designed to send the message that Madonna still matters. Music critic Tom Moon reviews the pop icon's latest album, Hard Candy.

The 1949 musical is getting its first Broadway remount, and its creative team says the story — about culture, life in wartime and the impact of American power abroad — resonates as profoundly as ever.

R.E.M. isn't exactly religious, but spiritual themes do creep into its music. Singer Michael Stipe says he comes from a "place of faith," and that generations of men in the Stipe family have been Methodist ministers. Widely billed as R.E.M.'s best album in ages, Accelerate takes inspiration from religious issues.

Lizzie Goodman from Blender magazine discusses new releases from Gnarls Barkley, The Raconteurs, The B-52's, and Madonna.

Half of the mostly defunct band The Moldy Peaches, Green has put out his fifth solo full-length CD. The album's genre-jumping and stream-of-consciousness lyrics make the title, a term for disarray, seem apt. But the songs are melodic and imaginative.

The coalfields of the Appalachian Mountains have long hidden some of the country's greatest natural resources. For residents of the regions, they've also inspired a uniquely American strain of music. A new two-CD collection presents 48 songs about coal mining.

In his short but brilliant career, he pioneered a new standard of rapid-fire virtuosity on the electric bass and helped bridge the jazz and pop music of his day. Close collaborators offer a retrospective on Jaco Pastorius.

Singer-songwriter Josh Ritter talks about his new album, The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter, and performs his song "To the Dogs or Whoever."