[.ca] Eyes on Mars

OK, but for the Mars layman only:
With the upcoming landings of the 2 Mars Exploration Rovers, I had high hopes that this DVD would provide every drop of information about the rovers I could absorb. Unfortunately, this was not the case. This DVD did have a couple nice features, including one with a decent history of Mars exploration and another with expert commentary about the various characteristics of the red planet: dust, water, etc. But I really wanted to see a lot of footage of the rovers going thru their paces during testing. I wanted to see the solar panels unfold; how the hazard avoidance system worked; how the camera color filters moved; etc. I also wanted more than just basic information about the entry, decent, and landing system - for example, there is a decent imager that measures horizontal speed. None of these details were covered. There is a truly wonderful animation available on the MER website (http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mer/gallery/video/) that shows launch, landing, and roving operations; but this 10 minute animation is rather poor quality in order to make it a reasonable download size. This animation *is* provided in pieces on the DVD along with a neat 'making of' feature, but the animation is not presented as a whole, which is unfortunate. All in all, this DVD would probably satisfy (perhaps even overload) the Mars layman, but it is too sparse and disjointed for a Mars enthusiast.

Mars on Earth:
As a parent and an educator and some one just generally interested in space exploration, this DVD captures the excitement about Mars as well as all the challenges involved in getting there. So many documentary type DVDs are boring-- but this is not. With Mars so much in the news these days, this DVD helps put it all in context-- far beyond the quick soundbites we see every night on TV. I recommend this for any parent, educator or space enthusiast.