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Welcome to Mars
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Program Overview
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NOVA
follows the day-to-day operations of the Mars Exploration Rover team as it
experiences hurdles, decisions, triumphs, and disappointments during its
explorations of the Red Planet.
The program:
recounts the scientists' first obstacle: maneuvering around an airbag
that blocks Spirit's direct descent off its lander. reports on Spirit's sudden silence just before it is about to make its
first measurement. follows team efforts to diagnose and repair the Spirit rover, and the
resulting discovery that the robot's flash memory is filled with too many old
files. chronicles Opportunity's landing, a period of six minutes during which
automated parachutes and airbags must all work perfectly to safely land the
rover. describes scientists' primary reasons for the missions: to find out
whether Mars ever had the liquid water required for life (as it is currently
understood) to exist. notes Opportunity's fortune in landing in a shallow crater just a few
feet from a bedrock outcropping with exposed layers of rock. documents how scientists used Opportunity's spectrometers to identify
minerals such as hematite and elements such as
sulfur, and used its microscopic imager to obtain close-up views of the rocks
and soil that revealed round objects the size of ball bearings that they
nicknamed "blueberries." reports on how scientists decided which rock to drill into with
Opportunity's Rock Abrasion Tool. outlines the challenges of working on martian time—because a Mars
day is 40 minutes longer than an Earth day, rover team members must shift their
schedules by 40 minutes each day. follows Spirit's explorations of Gusev Crater, noting that much of the
crater contained basalt, the most common type of lava. states how the evidence found by Opportunity—the round concretions,
the discovery of hematite and sulfate salts, and the surface
ripples—points to the first proof of liquid water on another planet.
Taping Rights: Can be used up to one year after the program is taped off the air.
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