Review of "Ultimate Mars Challenge," a NOVA DVD

 Review of

Ultimate Mars Challenge, a NOVA DVD

Five out of five stars

Incredible talent succeeds

 Mars has fascinated humans since that moving red spot in the sky was first identified. Telescopes opened up new avenues for exploration but also led to wild and unsubstantiated claims when there was the report of lines on the surface. This led to speculation that there was life on Mars that was advanced. This led to some of the most entertaining and unrealistic stories about the existence of that life. 

Mariner IV dispelled many of those myths as it revealed a cratered surface and an atmosphere that was much lighter than expected. While the searchers for life were disappointed, additional probes to Mars were planned and launched, eventually probes with instruments sensitive for life signs were landed.  In 2012, the most sophisticated probe yet, called Curiosity, landed on the surface and sent back a message, “Arrived alive and well.”

 This video takes the viewer into the details of how Curiosity was constructed, some of what it was designed to do as well as how it was landed on the planet. Far heavier and complex than previous probes, it could not be parachuted and could not be protected by encasing it in balloons. 

 The landing solution was ingenious, involving a parachute, guiding rockets and ultimately a sky crane mechanism. Truly fascinating stuff. This is engineering ingenuity at the highest level, and you do not blame the members of the ground crew for crying when the spacecraft informs them of a safe landing. This video should be shown to all science classes as an example of what science and technology is capable of doing.


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