Remembering Space Exploration Past & Celebrating The Future

Before the end of the next decade, NASA astronauts will again explore the surface of the moon. And this time, we're going to stay, building outposts and paving the way for eventual journeys to Mars and beyond. There are echoes of the iconic images of the past, but it won't be your grandfather's moon shot. Image [above]: NASA's new crew exploration vehicle in lunar orbit - artist's concept.

It's the story of Spirit and Opportunity, from their initial development (with lots of cool footage of the rovers being put together and tested!) to their mission so far.

Most impressively, however, it was a fitting tribute to the engineers rather than some sort of attempt to classify the mission in historic or nationalistic terms. Instead of bringing in a second tier Hollywood celebrity the movie was narrated by Dr. Squyres, the genuinely excited mission lead everyone took note of during the televised landings.