BRAVE Brian Anderson is hoping to be the first person to answer David Bowie's question about whether there really is life on Mars.

For the 40-year-old NASA astronaut will be one of a nine-man crew scheduled to attempt the first landing on the red planet in 2012.

And, in keeping with his almost science-fiction tale, the father-of three from Colorado expects to spend some time of his 28-month orbit cryogenically frozen.

Children at Watchfield Primary School got to hear the astronaut's amazing tale first hand when he spoke to them at a special assembly.

Incredibly Brian has never been in space and has been waiting for his first mission for almost 20 years. The journey to Mars alone is expected to take around 14 months.

He was part of a team bound for space in 1989 to develop and test the controversial Star Wars Space-based missile programme when the Challenger shuttle blew up and the project was abandoned.

Brian said: "This will be a 28-month round trip and a lot of work still has to be done. What I do know is that a shuttle will take us to a space station and from there our research will be conducted. Personally I don't think it's that unusual it's more a question of being mentally and physically fit.

"We will have to build vehicles, but essentially our mission will be to examine bacteria and the make up of the planet and see if there are any life forms we've already found moisture up there.

"This mission really doesn't bother me. People have forgotten about all the things they have got from space like Velcro and medical solutions this will not be a joyride this is for the benefit of mankind.

"Just think of the benefits of being cryogenically frozen people who have cancer could be put to sleep and then woken when a cure is found the benefits of exploration are infinite."

On Monday hundreds of children sat dumbfounded as Brian told them what life as an astronaut was like.

The silence during the special assembly was only broken with occasional cries of "oooh" and "ah" as the children learned about what might lurk light years away. And afterwards scores rushed up to him to grab his autograph.

Brian has been working at the Royal Military College in Shrivenham in his current capacity as a war planner and decided to visit the school as a surprise.

When not spending time as an astronaut Brian, who is based in Houston, Texas, is a United States Air Force commander specialising in space weapons. Most of his time is now consumed with the impending war against Iraq.