On a Mission | Season 4: Mars Rovers .
Season 4 Preview: Mars Rovers
In the fourth season of “On a Mission” we’ll be transported to the Red Planet with all five of NASA’s Mars rovers. .
Episode one launches with Jennifer Trosper in the driver’s seat. As she looks in the rearview mirror at twenty-five years of exploring with NASA’s Mars rovers, she reveals how their progression has kept pace with milestones in her life. .
NASA’s first rover on Mars was a cute little bundle of robotic joy. Many thought it was likely to fail. Instead, Sojourner revolutionized how we explore Mars, and marked the start of 25 years of Mars rover adventures. .
After two failed missions to Mars, NASA tried to double its odds for success by sending twin rovers to the Red Planet. Part one of the story of Spirit and Opportunity takes us from their birth to their launch from Earth. .
Born together, the Spirit and Opportunity twin rovers followed divergent paths after they landed on opposite sides of Mars. Opportunity’s journey was marked by good fortune, while Spirit’s was troubled from the start. .
The Curiosity rover is a big nerd at heart, fitted with a science lab to take in the planet Mars. Get the inside scoop on the mission’s many discoveries and dramas after a decade on the Red Planet. .
The Perseverance rover holds many promises: to look for evidence of life on Mars, to collect rock samples meant to be sent to Earth one day, and to test technology that could be used in a future human Mars mission. .
Bob Balaram and Teddy Tzanetos share stories of how the Mars helicopter came to be, and transport us on Ingenuity’s flights through dusty Martian skies. .
Buckle up for a Mars tour with rover driver Vandi Verma, and learn how NASA’s rovers have evolved to better explore this alien world. .
Before a rover can make tracks on Mars, it first has to rocket off Earth, speed through space, and then alight gently on the planet’s surface. Al Chen and Swati Mohan guide us through the many stages of a rover’s flight to Mars. .
How does a rover keep driving on a planet with no gas stations? Shonte Tucker, Sabah Bux and Rob Manning power us through the ways Mars rovers keep going. .
Aaron Yazzie and others explain how, by scooping dirt and drilling rocks, rovers are digging deeper into the mysteries of Mars. .
In this season 4 finale, Gentry Lee and Rob Manning reveal how surprises, hidden flaws, and uncertainties have always been a part of rovers and the exploration of Mars. .