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This week marked the end of the Mars500 experiment, a 520-day simulation of a trip to the red planet that sealed six men inside windowless modules in a Russian laboratory. The crew dealt with fake emergencies and communications blackouts, and finally suited up to "land" on a fake Martian landscape. NPR's Nell Greenfieldboyce reports.

Jerry West is literally the symbol of the National Basketball Association; his silhouette is the NBA's logo. Host Scott Simon talks to the former player about his life both on and off the court, documented in his new memoir, West by West: My Charmed, Tormented Life.

It's not just any party cup; it's the king of the keggers. Born in the '70s, the ubiquitous red cup is the official drinking vessel at barbecues, fairs and college parties across America.

When Jerusalem fell in 70 A.D., hundreds of Jews journeyed through the desert to a place called Masada. They called it home until the Romans came and a bloody battle left behind only a few survivors. Alice Hoffman tells her own version of the story in her new novel, The Dovekeepers.

This past week, All Things Considered has been sharing stories about the Darkhorse Battalion — that's the Marine unit that suffered the highest casualty rate of any Marine unit during the 10-year Afghan war. NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman wraps up the series today, as he tells weekends on All Things Considered guest host Laura Sullivan about some of the people he met — both on the battlefield and on the home front.

An economist's career was shaped by the food shortages of the 1970s. The rice crisis of 2008, and continuing high food prices around the world, brought him out of semi-retirement. Today, he's busier than ever.

Taylor Howell told his high school football coach that if he wasn't blind he would love to play football. The coach told him he'd have to come up with a better excuse than that. The sophomore now plays center on the junior varsity team.

Republicans in Maine recently decided to remove the option for voters to register on the day they cast their ballot, citing the stress on municipal clerks and concerns about the potential for voter fraud. Democrats responded by launching a people's veto campaign. Voters in the state are being asked to restore same-day registration.

A recent report by the research project found that one in three Americans raised in the middle class fall out of it as adults. Host Audie Cornish speaks with Erin Currier of the Pew Charitable Trusts' Economic Mobility Project about pressures on the American middle class.

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega's critics call him a dictator. His supporters say he's a revolutionary populist. As NPR's Jason Beaubien reports, Ortega is defying both a constitutional two-term limit on presidents and a ban on serving consecutive terms to run for an unprecedented third term. The election is Sunday.