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NOVA - Mars, Dead or Alive

starring: Stacy Keach; Peter Thomas (VI); Don Wescott
directed by: Nova

: NOVA - Mars, Dead or Alive
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Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9781593751128
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, NTSC
ISBN: 1593751125
Label: WGBH Boston
Manufacturer: WGBH Boston
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: WGBH Boston
Region Code: 1
Release Date: March 30, 2004
Running Time: 60 minutes
Sales Rank: 61902
Studio: WGBH Boston
Theatrical Release Date: 2004



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Editorial Review:

Description:
Inside NASA’s risky field trip to the Red Planet.

Two-thirds of all spacecraft previously launched to Mars never reached their destination. Now, in a pioneering and risky mission, twin rovers named Spirit and Opportunity hurtle toward Mars at 12,000 miles per hour, with Spirit scheduled to touch down first. In the final 'six minutes of terror' a parachute will open, giant protective airbags will inflate around the lander, and retrorockets will fire for a few seconds before Spirit is cut loose, bouncing its way to what everyone hopes will be a safe landing. To survive, Spirit will have to function perfectly. It will also have to be lucky, since there's no way of knowing when a sharp rock or a gust of wind will ruin your day on Mars. Only then will Spirit be able to roll off the lander and begin its mission as a robot geologist, searching for clues that can tell us whether this harsh and barren planet was ever a place that could have supported life. Join NOVA for a tense and dramatic behind-the-scenes chronicle of the $820 million Mars Exploration Rover (MER) project, developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Beginning a year before launch, NOVA's cameras follow MER scientists and engineers through a gauntlet of potentially fatal problems such as shredding parachutes, punctured airbags, and short circuits, any one of which could scuttle the mission before the rovers ever reach the launchpad. Then, seven months after launch, re-join NOVA and the NASA team in mission control for the final nail-biting minutes of the journey, as Spirit successfully lands on Mars and begins sending back its first spectacular images of the Martian landscape.

Special DVD features include: bonus video segment featuring Donna Shirley of NASA; interview with Steve Squyres; Anatamony of a Rover activity; materials and activities for educators; a link to the NOVA Web site; scene selections; closed captions; and described video for the visually impaired.

On one DVD5 disc. Region coding: All regions. Audio: Dolby stereo. Screen format: Letterboxed.

Amazon.com:
The great PBS science series Nova scores another hit with Mars: Dead or Alive, capturing all the excitement surrounding the Mars rover landings of early 2004. Originally broadcast just as the first of the twin rovers ('Spirit' and 'Opportunity') was experiencing temporary communication problems with Earth-bound mission controllers, this riveting hour-long episode chronicles the risky $820 million Mars Exploration Rover (MER) project from design to touchdown, dramatically illustrating (through the use of detailed simulations and sophisticated computer animation) the considerable chances of failure--a nail-biting gamble considering that fully two-thirds of all previous Mars missions never reached their destination. Through rigorous testing and initial failure of the MER parachute system to the celebrated transmission of pristine photos from the 'Spirit' landing site, we see just how intensely complex and emotionally involving the missions are, especially for Cornell University astronomer and lead MER scientist Steve Squyres and his devoted team of colleagues at Pasadena's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Careers are on the line as technical problems accumulate, and one feels the same mixture of dread, anxiety, and elation that accompanied the historic return of Apollo 13. A bonus interview with Mars-mission pioneer Donna Shirley puts everything into resonant perspective, celebrating science and the MER missions as an essential human endeavor.

As with all Nova programs, the DVD includes a generous variety of study materials including an interview with Squyres, a detailed look at the anatomy of the Mars rovers, links to a companion website, and a 'math activity' feature allowing viewers to understand the aerodynamic variables of parachute design. If you're among those who feel that NASA and MER tax dollars are wasted, this DVD will probably change your opinion. --Jeff Shannon



Customer Reviews
Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - Excellent documentary
I rented this from the library for my son, who is interested in learning about the planets. I ended ... Read More


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - Superb and moving
I won't go into as much detail as others have, but I will say that as an armchair science lover, I was ... Read More


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - A behind-the-scenes look at one of the most successful missions to the Red Planet!!!
+++++

In August 2005, the lead or principal science investigator (or simply, the guy in charge) ... Read More


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - The science and engineering behind the Mars rovers
Mars Dead or Alive tells the story of the two rovers, the Spirit and the Opportunity, that landed on Mars in ... Read More


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Copyright ©2003, Mark Carey.