Movie: "Roving Mars"

Exploring Earth's Nearest Planetary Neighbor

Documentary filmmaker George Butler ("Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure," "Pumping Iron") and lead scientist Steve Squyres of the IMAX film, "Roving Mars," will be online Thursday, Jan. 26, at 2 p.m. ET to discuss the mission of the Mars Exploration Rovers (Spirit and Opportunity) which were launched in 2003.

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Not only were thousands of Martian images beamed back to Earth but there was something else up there: traces of ice within the rocks of the Red planet. Water once ran on the surface. Is there life on Mars? Was there once?

"Roving Mars" world premieres in Washington on Thursday, Jan. 26.

A transcript follows.

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Burbank, Calif.: What were your reactions while reviewing all the footage of Mars? What surprised you the most of what you saw?

George Butler and Steve Squyres: GB: Just the clarity of the images was quite extraordinary and there had been a minor dispute earlier because people involved with the film did not believe IMAX images could be transmitted through space but it all worked out in the end. Very pleased with the images.

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Boston, Mass.: So how much of the film is actual footage from Mars? I feel like I haven't seen much of that before. Does Mars just look like a desert?

George Butler and Steve Squyres: SS: Almost all of the footage that you see with the vehicles on Mars is from real images from Mars. This is the first movie ever shot on another planet.

Mars is a beautiful, desolate, alien place and all of that comes across in the film.

GB: I'm always struck by beauty of Mars. It is a desert but it's a beautiful desert.

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Alexandria, Va.: Is the mars rover still working and sending info back to NASA? Will there be a Roving Mars 2?

George Butler and Steve Squyres: SS: Both rovers are alive and well today and are sending back data every day.

GB: We would be delighted to do a four or five minute trailer when the rovers stop working, just to bring the audience up to date.

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Washington, D.C.: Mr. Butler and Mr. Squyres:

I saw a recent screening of "Roving Mars," and, overall, enjoyed the film and thought it was excellent, informative, and fascinating. In fact, it was so good that that leads to a criticism: Several of us thought the film could be ... longer! As it is now, it's about 40 minutes, which flies by. We thought the film could easily be an hour and 15 minutes long. Part of the film needing to be longer is to include some more actual pictures of Mars instead of the computer-generated pictures. We thought it would have been more beneficial to have included more real pictures of Mars. As it is now, most of what's included is reproduced. Why didn't you include more of the actual pictures that were taken by the rovers? Thanks.

George Butler and Steve Squyres: SS: The images that you see, even the images that have the rover in the scene, are based very accurately on real data. There's nothing fake about it.

GB: I've always believed that when a movie is as long as it should be it's not quite as good as a film that leaves an audience wanting more. I'm delighted to hear people wanting more of the film.

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Anonymous: What does IMAX bring to the viewer experience that can't be felt via more traditional media? And will the 3D imagery be a part of the IMAX experience?

George Butler and Steve Squyres: SS: I've been looking at images of Mars on my computer screen for two years now, ever since we landed. When I saw the film I felt like I was seeing our images for the first time. The IMAX format is able to capture the grandeur of the Martian scenery in a way that no traditional medium can.

GB: I'm sick of seeing pirates pirating films. No one will ever pirate an IMAX, a least on an IMAX screen.

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Washington, D.C.: President Bush stated a while back that we should proceed to eventually send humans to Mars. Do you think that will happen?

George Butler and Steve Squyres: SS: Yes. Absolutely.

GB: I certainly hope so. And in fact, we hope some child who sees this film will one day go to Mars as a result of this movie.

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Washington, D.C.: There's a short film showing a simulation of the rover's landing -- I saw it at the Mars exhibit at NGS and I think it's showing at the Air & Space Museum. Is that related to this movie? Love the part where the landing module turns into a big ball and bounces to a landing. Somebody is a genius for coming up with that solution.

George Butler and Steve Squyres: SS: That video was made by the same digital animator who provided the animation in the IMAX film. That video was made before we landed on Mars. The film shows the landings as they actually happened on Mars, at IMAX resolution.

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Durham, N.H.: For Dr. Squyres:

What would you consider the most interesting discovery the rovers have made in the geology of Mars? In that, what is the biggest question the rovers have raised since exploring the planet?

George Butler and Steve Squyres: SS: I think the most interesting discovery is the powerful evidence that there was once water below and occasionally at the surface of Mars. The most important question raised is could that environment have supported life?

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LaGrange Park, Ill.: How and who makes decisions regarding continued operational costs versus redirecting funds back where they came or were originally intended? When does it become a point-of-diminishing-return for Spirit and Opportunity in an obviously money-tight space exploration budgetary world?

George Butler and Steve Squyres: SS: The decisions are made at NASA headquarters and NASA's indicated a desire to keep funding both rovers as long as they keep moving and keep making new discoveries.

GB: Personally I hope the rovers are funded and keep going. It's a wonderful thing for the earth to have.

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Alexandria, Va.: I recently turned 50 years old. Assuming an average life span and no unforseen accidents along the way, will I live to see a man walk on Mars? This is 2006. Clarke & Kubrick had us on Jupiter and beyond the infinite five years ago.

George Butler and Steve Squyres: SS: I just turned 50 myself a couple of weeks ago and I had the same question. I very much hope to live to see it.

GB: I'm 62. I'm planning to see man on Mars. That has to do with longevity.

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Cundy's Harbor Maine: How far have the rovers traveled once they landed and is travel always done by remote control?

George Butler and Steve Squyres: SS: Travel is always done by remote control and each rover has traveled a little more than four miles.

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Chevy Chase, D.C.: Mr. Butler & Mr. Squyres:

I am curious about the quality of the pictures that came back from Mars. I thought the IMAX requires special cameras and film (large format). Were the explorers so equipped?

George Butler and Steve Squyres: SS: The rovers are equipped with digital cameras that take small images that we then stitch together to make large IMAX panoramas.

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North Hollywood, Calif.: What were your personal impression of Arnold Schwarzenegger while flilming "Pumping Iron", and what do you thnk of him now?

George Butler and Steve Squyres: GB: In 1976 I predicted he would one day be governor of California and he has fulfilled that mission. I think he's doing very well at the moment.

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