LeVar Burton Video Is the Best Explanation of a Mars Mission Yet

The idea of going to Mars is exciting. The reality? Usually, outside of thrilling moments such as the seven seconds of terror that landed the Curiosity Rover on Mars and turned a mohawk-wearing mission controller into a social media superstar, not so much

Full marks to NASA, then, for this video introducing Maven. An unmanned probe whose name is a contraction of the rather dry title Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution missioN, Maven will scour our solar neighbor for clues to the story of its climate change, and hopefully find out why the Red Planet became a dead planet in the first place. Read more...