Backdrop fallback

Ultimate Mars Challenge

Ultimate Mars Challenge

Share

Ultimate Mars Challenge

2012

0h 53m

8.2(2 votes)

Documentary

Overview

With access to the scientists and engineers responsible for the Curiosity rover's on-the-ground experiments, NOVA captures its landing on Mars

Links & Resources

Social & External

Production Companies

National Geographic

The people behind it

Cast & crew

1 featured cast member

Starring

Lance Lewman

Lance Lewman

Narrator

Creative team

Directed by: Gail Willumsen
Written by: Gail Willumsen
Produced by: Lisa Mirowitz
Jill Shinefirld

Similar Movies

Shuttle Discovery's Last Mission

Shuttle Discovery's Last Mission

With more than 27 years of service, the space shuttle Discovery has clocked more time in space than any other shuttle. She has flown more than 148 million miles, and has become one of the most storied spacecraft in American history. Join us as we celebrate her remarkable past and follow her final flight: to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. It's an emotionally charged mission full of logistical challenges. Discovery is a robust, but very fragile aircraft, and getting her to D.C. in one piece will require some innovative engineering.

One Small Step: The Story of the Space Chimps

One Small Step: The Story of the Space Chimps

One Small Step: The Story of the Space Chimps is the dramatic and moving real-life tale of the United States Air Force chimponauts and their NASA compatriots.

The Last Man on the Moon

The Last Man on the Moon

The 1960s was an extraordinary time for the United States. Unburdened by post-war reparations, Americans were preoccupied with other developments like NASA, the game-changing space programme that put Neil Armstrong on the moon. Yet it was astronauts like Eugene Cernan who paved the uneven, perilous path to lunar exploration. A test pilot who lived to court danger, he was recruited along with 14 other men in a secretive process that saw them become the closest of friends and adversaries. In this intensely competitive environment, Cernan was one of only three men who was sent twice to the moon, with his second trip also being NASA’s final lunar mission. As he looks back at what he loved and lost during the eight years in Houston, an incomparably eventful life emerges into view. Director Mark Craig crafts a quietly epic biography that combines the rare insight of the surviving former astronauts with archival footage and otherworldly moonscapes.

AzTechSat-1

AzTechSat-1

NASA film documenting the launch and commissioning of AzTechSat-1, a pioneering one-to-one communications satellite in space.

Lifequest Mars: Search For Life

A look into what the first manned mission to Mars will really look like, and the plans that NASA has of proceeding with such a mission and what the astronauts will do while on the Martian surface.

The Voyagers

The Voyagers

In the summer of 1977, NASA sent Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 on an epic journey into interstellar space. Together and alone, they will travel until the end of the universe. Each spacecraft carries a golden record album, a massive compilation of images and sounds embodying the best of Planet Earth. According to Carl Sagan, “[t]he spacecraft will be encountered and the record played only if there are advanced space-faring civilizations in interstellar space. But the launching of this bottle into the cosmic ocean says something very hopeful about life on this planet.” While working on the golden record, Sagan met and fell madly in love with his future wife Annie Druyan. The record became their love letter to humankind and to each other. In the summer of 2010, I began my own hopeful voyage into the unknown. This film is a love letter to my fellow traveler. - Penny Lane

Apollo 17: The Untold Story of the Last Men on the Moon

Apollo 17: The Untold Story of the Last Men on the Moon

The remarkable story of the determination and courage of a generation. A tribute to three brave astronauts and the thousands of men and women behind them during the final days of NASA's Apollo program.

Apollo 17, on the Shoulders of Giants

Apollo 17, on the Shoulders of Giants

A documentary about the Apollo 17 mission to the Taurus-Littrow on the moon, the final lunar landing mission in the Apollo program, December 1972. Produced by A-V Corporation for NASA. The film was distributed both as an ephemeral film (shown to an audience via a 16mm film projector), and was also shown on TV (and was shown on both public and commercial stations per a search of vintage newspapers).

One Small Step, One Small Town: Neil Armstrong

One Small Step, One Small Town: Neil Armstrong

WBGU-TV celebrates the 50th anniversary of the moon landing (July 2019) with a special collection of interviews from the friends and family of Neil Armstrong, the first astronaut to step on the moon. Through never-before-seen footage and home movies, interviewees share memories of growing up in Northwest Ohio. The documentary also includes as a look at the momentous 1969 Homecoming Celebration.

When We Left Earth

When We Left Earth

Commemorating the space agency's 50th anniversary, follow John Glenn's Mercury mission to orbit the earth, Neil Armstrong's first historic steps on the moon, unprecedented spacewalks to repair the Hubble stories, and more!

Space Station: We Have A Problem

Space Station: We Have A Problem

One of humanity’s greatest achievements, the International Space Station is a $150 billion science laboratory hurtling around Earth at 17,000mph, its thin metal walls shielding astronauts from the most hostile environment humans have ever endured. Microgravity, the vacuum of space, extremes of temperature, micrometeorites - life here is perilous. To mark 25 years of continuous habitation onboard, Space Station We Have a Problem reveals how astronauts are only a technical glitch or software error away from disaster. From malfunctioning spacesuits and docking disasters, critical leaks and even the entire space station backflipping out of control, this is life and death played out in low earth orbit, coupled with the bravery and brilliance that each time, saves the day.

Cosmic Voyage

Cosmic Voyage

The Academy Award® nominee Cosmic Voyage combines live action with state-of-the-art computer-generated imagery to pinpoint where humans fit in our ever-expanding universe. Highlighting this journey is a "cosmic zoom" based on the powers of 10, extending from the Earth to the largest observable structures in the universe, and then back to the subnuclear realm.

In the Shadow of the Moon

In the Shadow of the Moon

Archival material from the original NASA film footage – much of it seen for the first time – plus interviews with the surviving astronauts, including Jim Lovell, Dave Scott, John Young, Gene Cernan, Mike Collins, Buzz Aldrin, Alan Bean, Edgar Mitchell, Charlie Duke and Harrison Schmitt.

Madame Mars: Women and the Quest for Worlds Beyond

Madame Mars: Women and the Quest for Worlds Beyond

As a new space age dawns, have women come far enough to go farther than they ever have before? This film tells the story of the role women have played in the exploration of Mars.

New Horizons

New Horizons

A brief visualisation of NASA’s historic spacecrafts Mariner, Pioneer, Voyager, and Dawn, exploring the solar system, culminating in the New Horizons mission.

Apollo 15: In the Mountains of the Moon

Apollo 15: In the Mountains of the Moon

NASA documentary of the flight of Apollo 15. Details the launch, lunar landing, and return to earth of the spacecraft and crew. NASA Film HQ-217

Looking for Life on Mars

Looking for Life on Mars

NASA launches its most ambitious hunt for traces of life on Mars, landing a car-sized rover in a rocky, ancient river delta. The rover will stow samples for possible return to Earth and test technology that may pave the way for human travel to Mars.

The Alien Perspective

The Alien Perspective

Discover the UFO phenomenon like never before, with insights from NASA, CNES, Oxford, compelling firsthand witnesses, and even the possible viewpoint of extraterrestrial visitors.

Miniverse

Miniverse

What if you could get behind the wheel and race through space? We scale down the Solar System to the continental United States and place the planets along the way to better appreciate the immense scale of the Universe. See space as never before, with Mars looming over the Freedom Tower and Jupiter towering above the Lincoln Memorial. Join former astronaut Chris Hadfield - a YouTube sensation for his performance of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” aboard the International Space Station - and his interstellar hitchhikers Michio Kaku and astronomers Derrick Pitts and Laura Danly. It’s a joyride from coast to coast - and from the sun to Pluto.

Apollo 13: The Complete Story: The Astronauts' Perspectives

Apollo 13: The Complete Story: The Astronauts' Perspectives

Hear what the astronauts of Apollo 13 had to say in this collection of interviews. Featuring Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, Fred Haise.

Recommended Movies

Good Night Oppy

Good Night Oppy

The inspirational true story of Opportunity, a rover that was sent to Mars for a 90-day mission but ended up surviving for 15 years. Follow Opportunity’s groundbreaking journey on Mars and the remarkable bond forged between a robot and her humans millions of miles away.

The Mars Generation

The Mars Generation

Aspiring teenage astronauts reveal that a journey to Mars is closer than you think.

MARS: Inside SpaceX

MARS: Inside SpaceX

The inside story of SpaceX's plan to get humanity to Mars, providing an unprecedented glimpse into one of the world's most revolutionary companies. A behind-the-scenes journey with Elon Musk and his engineers as they persevere amidst both disheartening setbacks and huge triumphs to advance the space industry faster than we ever thought possible.

Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds

Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds

This remarkable journey across our planet and universe explores how meteorites, shooting stars, and deep impacts have awoken our wonder about other realms—and make us rethink our destinies.

National Geographic: Journey to the Edge of the Universe

National Geographic: Journey to the Edge of the Universe

In one single, epic camera move we journey from Earth's surface to the outermost reaches of the universe on a grand tour of the cosmos, to explore newborn stars, distant planets, black holes and beyond.

To Be Takei

To Be Takei

Over seven decades, actor and activist George Takei journeyed from a World War II internment camp to the helm of the Starship Enterprise, and then to the daily news feeds of five million Facebook fans. Join George and his husband, Brad, on a wacky and profound trek for life, liberty, and love.

Avatar: The Deep Dive - A Special Edition of 20/20

An inside look at one of the most anticipated movie sequels ever with James Cameron and cast.

My Mom Jayne

My Mom Jayne

Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.

A Toxic Love Story

A Toxic Love Story

A string of threatening emails escalates into a revenge plot involving a newly married US marshal and his ex-girlfriend.

The Captains

The Captains

The Captains is a feature-length documentary film written and directed by William Shatner. The film follows Shatner as he interviews the other actors who have portrayed starship captains in the Star Trek franchise.

Public Speaking

Public Speaking

Martin Scorsese’s portrait of writer and social commentator Fran Lebowitz, celebrated for her sharp wit and observations on modern life. Filmed at New York’s Waverly Inn and intercut with archival footage and interviews, the documentary captures Lebowitz’s distinctive worldview through her spontaneous monologues and public appearances.

S4: The Bob Lazar Story

S4: The Bob Lazar Story

Over 35 years after Bob Lazar's revelations, this documentary exposes secrets of a facility the government still denies. Featuring Lazar's testimony, recreations, and new evidence, it reopens a case that continues to spark global curiosity

Directed by John Ford

Directed by John Ford

A documentary about the life and films of director John Ford.

Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Hawkeye

Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Hawkeye

Join the likes of Jeremy Renner, Hailee Steinfeld, Florence Pugh, and Vincent D’Onofrio as they reveal how Marvel Studios’ “Hawkeye” was conceived and created. Witness firsthand what it took to pull off the show’s pulse-pounding action set pieces, and discover how iconic characters from the pages of Marvel Comics such as Kate Bishop were adapted and brought to life for the six-episode series.

Interstellar: Nolan's Odyssey

Interstellar: Nolan's Odyssey

A look behind the lens of Christopher Nolan's space epic.

Ghosts of the Abyss

Ghosts of the Abyss

With a team of the world's foremost historic and marine experts as well as friend Bill Paxton, James Cameron embarks on an unscripted adventure back to the wreck of the Titanic where nearly 1,500 souls lost their lives almost a century ago.

In the Shadow of the Moon

In the Shadow of the Moon

Archival material from the original NASA film footage – much of it seen for the first time – plus interviews with the surviving astronauts, including Jim Lovell, Dave Scott, John Young, Gene Cernan, Mike Collins, Buzz Aldrin, Alan Bean, Edgar Mitchell, Charlie Duke and Harrison Schmitt.

The Secret

The Secret

Interviews with leading authors, philosophers and scientists, with an in-depth discussion of the Law of Attraction. The audience is shown how they can learn and use 'The Secret' in their everyday lives.

Boys State

Boys State

This raucous journey into the heart of democracy captures an unusual rite of passage: 1,100 teenage boys from across Texas coming together to build a representative government from the ground up.

I Am Heath Ledger

I Am Heath Ledger

The life and career of an actor, artist, and icon. His own journey through his own camera.