Mars: A Horizon Guide

The intriguing possibility of life on Mars has fuelled man's quest to visit the Red Planet. Drawing on 45 years of Horizon archive, space expert Dr Kevin Fong presents a documentary on Earth's near neighbour. Man's extraordinary attempts to reach Mars have pushed technological boundaries past their limit and raised the tantalising prospect of establishing human colonies beyond our own planet. While the moon lies 240,000 miles away, Mars is at a distance of 50 million miles. Reaching the moon takes three days, but to land on Mars would take nearly eight months, and only two thirds of the missions to Mars have made it.

Related Links:
Mars: Dead or Alive
Welcome to Mars

Welcome to Mars

From the white-knuckle landings of the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity, through months of frustrating setbacks and elating discoveries, Welcome to Mars 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. Mission Control and its two robotic explorers face a daunting task to find proof that liquid water, the essential ingredient of life, once existed on Mars. This film presents a compelling inside story of triumph and technical ingenuity, full of scientific and human drama, with stunning images from an alien world.

Related Links
Mars Rising
Mars: Dead or Alive

Mars: Dead or Alive

Mars: Dead or Alive is a PBS documentary that 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". This film chronicles the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) project from design to touchdown.

Related Links:
Welcome to Mars
Mars Rising