The film follows Opportunity, the Mars Exploration Rover affectionately dubbed Oppy by her creators and scientists at NASA. Oppy was initially expected to live for only 90 days, but she ultimately explored Mars for nearly 15 years.
Without a basic knowledge of the intricate details behind the launching of roving vehicles into space, there may appear to be a certain level of detachment that comes from being too far removed from the idea that there is a possibility of life on other planets besides Earth. Director Ryan White’s moving documentary of the lifespan of Opportunity (Oppy) and his twin rover, Spirit, breaks down the elements of a time-driven machine and the emotional toll that it took on the employees of Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Labs who nurtured the rovers from infancy in 2003 through Opportunity’s self-imposed afterlife in 2018. While the sole purpose was to present evidence of sustainable water in the crevices of Mars’ soul via NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Program, both Opportunity and Spirit were part of a physical and emotional journey that tested the depths of worldly restraints and the moral compass of a group of human beings who had a vested interest in their life’s work.
Throughout the film, various Jet Propulsion employees, including Mark Adler (Mission Manager) and Kobie Boykins (Engineer), provide enlightening details of how a ninety-day mission turned into a complete cycle of scientific discovery that left them feeling both accomplished and defeated, as they sat in their earth zones contemplating whether or not their beautifully crafted rovers had become less motivated due to spacial factors which took a physical toll on their capacity to gather information for laboratory processing. While motivational music became a part of their trajectory, there soon came a time when the scientists had to question their own motivation for wanting the rovers to complete their missions. Was it self-gratification on the part of the humans or self-defiance on behalf of the rovers? When Spirit finally started to succumb to the intense scrutiny of life on Mars, it was Opportunity who lived up to his name by shutting down to rekindle his Spirit, then reawakening to prove to all the naysayers via a selfie that he was more than the sum of his arthritic parts, his shoulder injuries and the scientific order of his 15-year proposed demise.
At the end of the career-spanning heyday of the initial Mars rovers and thru the reallocation of the physical and emotional assets of their journeys, the employees of the Jet Propulsion labs were able to launch a new generation of space enthusiasts while welcoming Endeavor, who was deemed the grandchild of its predecessors, Spirit and Opportunity, into the family of Mars rovers. While there may be no hard scientific facts on how the human bond impacted the success of Oppy, the charismatic details of the 5000+ SOLS show how the amazing characteristics of human nature, applied with scientific discovery, can lead to life-changing history that is certain to promote continued interest in sustainability on other planets.
In Select Theaters Friday, November 4th, and streaming exclusively on Prime Video Wednesday, November 23rd
