Destination Mars

Today on Far Future Horizons we present a Discovery Channel documentary produced in 1996 titled Destination Mars, about the possibility of human missions to the red planet.

Ever since ancient astronomers noticed its strange movements in the night sky, Mars has always been our exploration goal.

This film looks at how scientists have begun to unravel the mysteries of the Red Planet and are planning to send humans there.

Destination Mars charts Mars' exploration history and shows how scientists are finding their own version of Mars on Earth so they can prepare the first explorers.

Mars holds the key to the biggest question we can ask - are we alone in the universe? A human mission to Mars may be the only way to answer this question.

Picking up where NASA’s research left off, Discovery Channel examines the feasibility of making this epic journey. Using a hand-picked crew of men and women, Discovery Channel’s production unit creates a simulated Mars mission, from the rigorous physical training, through launch, through the dangers of interplanetary travel, to the tricky landing on the Martian surface. Discovery Channel crews were granted extensive access by NASA to mission control, spaceships simulators and space station prototypes. The result is the most realistic depiction possible of a human mission to Mars, short of actually blasting off on a rocket. Astronauts appearing in the program are Buzz Aldrin, Eugene Cernan, Tom Jones, Story Musgrave, and Norman Thagard.

Destination Mars is available on VHS Tape and DVD as part of The Red PlanetCollection from Amazon.com. 

Destination Mars

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