I got my grubby paws on “Roving Mars” last night and it really holds up well on the small screen. If you have not seen it, the feature chronicles the design, launch, and successful landings of NASA’s robotic Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. Have you ever wondered how engineers plan and design these missions and are able to get them done on time? “Roving Mars” has the answers. The movie is filled with amazing footage and animation of the mission that will make you feel like you are part of Mission Control .

Watching this is inspiring, in fact, when I saw this in the theater I went through an astronomy phase — reading books, trips to planetarium, watching lots of Nova. The same was true for my niece who still won’t go to asleep unless her desktop planetarium is on. When a child chooses science over Sponge Bob you know that they did something right.

The DVD has two excellent features that making the DVD even better then the original release. Firstly their is a 25-minute “making of” featurette that provides additional educational detail about Mars, along with additional behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with key personnel at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Secondly and almost more importantly you get a beautifully remastered version of the Disney classic “Mars and Beyond”.

Originally aired December 4, 1957 on “Disneyland”, “Mars and Beyond” is a lushly animated look at space travel and the idea of life on other planets. The episode has plenty of Ward Kimball’s sense of humor, but mixes it well with a serious educational look at space travel with a landing on Mars as the climax. Combine that with narration by Paul Frees and you have what can only be described as a Disney Masterpiece. This episode was previously released once on DVD in 2004 as part of the Walt Disney Treasures line.

DVD Features:
* Available Subtitles: Spanish, French
* Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
* Both anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1) and full screen (1.33:1) on one disc
* “Bonus movie: Mars and Beyond”, Walt Disney’s 1957 investigation into the mysteries of the universe and space travel
* “Mars: Past, Present and Future”: Personal reflections on Mars from the filmmakers, JPL Rover team members, and students from the “Imagine Mars” program