NASA's $800M gamble: two robots, one red planet, zero guarantees.
NOVA goes behind the scenes at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to offer a look at the construction and launch of two Martian exploratory rovers: "Spirit" and "Opportunity".
Editing
Builds launch tension like a thriller—then makes you wait months.
Production
Unprecedented JPL access before 'The Martian' made NASA cool again.
Direction
Mark Davis finds drama in spreadsheets and parachute deployment.
Director
Mark Davis
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The 'six minutes of terror' EDL sequence became NASA's most-watched web event until Curiosity's landing eight years later.
This doc dropped during the 'Mars craze' of 2003-2004, when Bush announced renewed lunar and Martian ambitions—making the rovers political symbols as much as scientific ones.
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