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Report from the Rovers

Close Encounters with Spirit & Opportunity .... And 7 of the top experts who sent them.

What the Mars Exploration Rovers found, the obstacles they overcame and why it matters so deeply ....

SPACE.com correspondent Dave Brody takes you inside the realm of the Mars Rovers as Starry Night goes to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Cornell University, command centers for Earth's science assault on Mars.

Wheels on Mars DVD is a wonderful resource to inspire and excite your students about space science. See scientists at work as they guide the Rovers across previously unexplored terrain, overcome obstacles, and succeed in conducting superb science from the surface of Mars.

Sequel to the 2005 Telly Award for Multimedia winning Eyes on Mars, this DVD comes complete with a teaching guide full of discussion questions, cross-curricular activities and correlations to national science standards.

Teaching Guide includes:

• Teaching Strategies
• Discussion Questions
• Across-the-Curriculum Activity Ideas
• Across-the-Curriculum Writing Suggestions
• Careers in Science
• Curriculum correlations for United States and Canada

DVD Features:

• Spirit Image Gallery
• Opportunity Image Gallery
• Chapter Index lets you navigate to nine different topics
1. Healthy Rovers
2. Meridiani Water
3. Blueberries
4. Bounce
5. Gusev Water
6. Driving Ms. Rover
7. Favorite Photos
8. The Human Team
9. Ships of Exploration
• Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Digital Stereo
• Music by Jonn Serrie and others
• Images, and animations and predictive simulations: NASA, ESA, Maas Digital, JPL, Cornell University, Malin Space Systems, Dana Berry / Skyworks Digital. Spaceship window element by Thomas O. Miller (atomicart.com) and Ron Miller.

Total Run Time: 98 minutes

Wheels on Mars follows the Spirit and Opportunity exploration teams as they await the landings of the two robotic spacecraft on Mars' surface. Students will meet some of the scientists involved in the project and will learn how the Rovers have been able to work for much longer time than had been expected.

Highlights include analysis and investigation of blueberries (unusual rock formations exposed by erosion and thought to be evidence of the action of flowing water), discussion of a rock named Bounce, because it seems to be out of place on Opportunity's Meridiani Plains landing site, having been ejected from an impact event several kilometers away, and the arduous trip (3 km) by Spirit to find evidence of water's presence in Mars' past.

The producers use one of the bonus sections to editorialize, as they assert that missions like these are obvious preludes to manned expoloration; students might benefit more from a discussion of the relative merits of manned vs. robotic exploration. The missions of Spirit and Opportunity make a powerful case for robotic exploration.

Teachers looking for a connection to current events may wish to assign students to find out about budget cuts in robotic missions that have been deemed necessary by the current administration to finance the stated goal of placing humans on the Martian surface.

- NSTA Recommends

Home DVD player and TV, or computer with DVD player.