"[music]" ""Anything you dream is fiction"" ""and anything you accomplish is science."" ""The whole history of mankind is nothing but science fiction."" "[static]" "* Midnight with the stars and you * [instrumental music]" "[indistinct radio chatter]" ""It's one small step for man.."" ""One giant leap for mankind."" "[static]" "1-4-0-7." "Down 81 minus 0-0." "Damn it." "We're stranded in the usual middle of nowhere." "I can't believe this is happening." "[static]" "[static]" "The crew's split up." "Food's running low." "Maybe we've gone one step too far." "Why do we explore?" "Why expose ourselves to danger?" "I should blame childhood." "All those dreams, all those fantasies the books, the movies.." "All drumming it into our impressionable little heads." "I can still hear these distant voices that have inspired my life." "All I wanted was to get the answer to this ever elusive mystery." ""Are we alone?"" "I always thought we would find the truth there on this tiny far-off red glitter in the night sky." "[static]" "[indistinct radio chatter]" ""Landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth."" ""then Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre on the air.."" ""Professor Morse of the McMillan University"" ""reports observing a total of three explosions"" ""on the planet Mars between the hours"" ""of 7:45 p.m. and 9:20 p.m. Eastern Standard Time."" ""Professor Indelkoffer expressed the opinion" ""that the explosions on Mars are undoubtedly" ""nothing more than severe volcanic disturbances on the surface of the planet."" ""How far is Mars from the Earth?"" ""Approximately 40 million miles."" ""A red disk swimming in the blue sea with transverse stripes across the disk."" ""In your opinion what do these transverse stripes signify, professor?"" ""Not canals, I can assure you, Mr. Phillips" ""although that's the popular conjecture of those who imagine Mars to be inhabited."" "[instrumental music]" "Mars.." "The Red Planet." "My mysterious island, with not just one but two little moons." "Deimos and Phobos." "A world I have scrutinized and loved since I was a boy." "We've been staring up at this distant reddish orb since the dawn of humanity." "[instrumental music]" "Our primal fear of Mars grew wild when early telescopes revealed its engineered surface." "The strange waterways we saw fired up our imagination." "Some believed the Martians were waiting in the ruins of their fading world to launch an invasion of Earth." "Others said they were only staring at us.." "Waiting for their own peaceful extinction." ""We know now that in the early years" ""of the 20th century" ""this world was being watched closely by intelligences greater than man's."" "[rumbling] [indistinct radio chatter]" "We dispatched robots first." "Their report, desolation everywhere." "Just red dust." "Red from rust." "[instrumental music]" "A barren world, frozen in time." "Windswept." "Lifeless." "Or so it seems." "If anything is alive there, where is it hiding?" "Our quest to find life on Mars has begun with robots but it will take humans to make strides." "How do you prepare humans for that kind of exploration?" "You send them to the Arctic to get stranded while attempting to cross the Northwest Passage." "It's all here in this journal a record of our polar expedition to prepare for Mars." "It chronicles our attempt to get one step closer to another world." "[instrumental music]" "[music continues]" "[indistinct radio chatter]" "[instrumental music]" "For thousands of years, the Inuit and their ancestors have lived here, on both land and sea at the edge of ice and life." "[indistinct radio chatter]" "Some years ago, we established a NASA research outpost on Devon Island the largest uninhabited island in the world." "Mars-On-Earth, we call it." "[indistinct radio chatter]" "Each summer, when the island is free of snow we go there to prepare for Mars exploration." "We test spacesuits, robots, rovers, and strategies." "We learn how to explore Mars." "[indistinct radio chatter]" "This year, we have a special payload to deliver to Devon." "The HMP Okarian." "Our latest concept vehicle for getting around on Mars." "Our mission is no simple delivery but the first expedition of its kind." "For the next weeks, the Arctic will be our alien world." " Let's go." " I can't see.." "You think we can land this thing up there?" " On top of that?" " Yeah." "Landing, sure, but we're not gonna get it back up." "I don't know if I can do this." "I feel a little nervous." "[intense music]" "[indistinct radio chatter]" "Five metric tons of steel and Kevlar." "Spartan comfort." "Guzzles diesel." "The Okarian is designed for long-distance drives on Mars and we're gonna test it to the max taking it to Devon Island by driving across 2000 kilometers of Arctic sea ice." "This has never been done before." "I guess you could call it the first Mars road trip on Earth." "[instrumental music]" "According to our calculations, a five-ton rover can be supported by thick sea ice but if we run into a crack it won't matter how thick the ice is the Okarian will turn into the yellow submarine." " Ready?" " Ready." "[engine starts]" "* Baby please don't go" "* Baby please don't go [indistinct chatter]" "* Baby please don't go back to New Orleans *" "* Baby please don't go" "Kugluktuk is our starting point." "Here, everything comes together for the first time." "Equipment, food, emergency supplies our sleds and fuel, lots of it and of course, our crew." "John Schutt the veteran of over 50 polar expeditions." "His job now keep us on track and alive." "Why didn't you want to talk to me?" "I just wanted to stay home in bed." "Actually, we wanna get out of town as soon as we can." "The weather's coming in here a little bit.." "Everything I know about surviving on ice" "I learned from John." "Jesse Weaver." "Jesse's only 18." "An ace rider and mechanic." "He must keep our machines running at all times." "Why do you wanna be so much on the ice?" "I'm just ready to get the Humvee there." "To get everything done said and done, and safely." "And I'm ready to see this thing go." "I'm ready to see it in action." "If it's fixable, Jesse will fix it." "Joe Amarualik." "Joe's an Inuk from Resolute Bay and a Canadian Ranger in the High Arctic." "A man of few words, but they're all important." "His job is to find us a safe path through the cracked and jumbled ice." "The ice keeps building up my lens." "Mark Carroll." "He's filmed in the most remote corners of our planet and that's what he's gotta do now keep filming no matter what happens." "His energy is impressive." "Jean-Christophe Jeauffre." "He has led many expeditions around the world making his first polar voyage with us." "A keen naturalist and adventurer." "He's here to tell our story." "So we're gonna leave in a few minutes." "How do you feel?" "Oh, this is a, a great moment." "Once this rover is on Devon we'll be able to use it with the other rover we have the Mars-1, and, and learn how to do Mars exploration." "To me, that's the most exciting thing." "As for me, my job, basically, is to get everyone in trouble." "[instrumental music]" "Our route, the infamous Northwest Passage." "The maze of seaways connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans that lured so many explorers to their doom." "We only have a few weeks to reach Devon before the sea ice breaks up." "[music continues]" "Everybody's ready?" "We keep looking at the camera, right?" "Yes." "[engine starts]" "Daddy will come back soon." "Saa, Joe's five-year-old son, has seen his dad go on the land many times." "Saa is already an expert on Mars." "Fingers crossed, he'll get there one day." "Inuit are born explorers." "[intense music]" "At 1 p.m., we officially entered the Northwest Passage." "Somewhere below us, in the dark Arctic abyss lie the crew and ships of John Franklin's doomed expedition." "One hundred and twenty-seven men and two powerful vessels disappeared here in 1846." "[indistinct chatter]" "They were looking for the Northwest Passage." "John grew up reading about the Northwest Passage." "He's about to find out what all the fuss was about." "[intense music]" "We have chosen to leave behind our normal lives with no regrets, and lots of hopes." "As we advance into the unknown it also dawns on me, more than ever before that the lives of my companions are in my hands." "I have their trust." "I must live up to it." "You know that saying about how failure isn't an option?" "In fact, failure is always an option." "[music continues]" "Midnight." "Almost as bright as day." "The sun won't set for months." "The Arctic is hypnotic." "Mars will be beautiful too." "But beyond dangerous, as in deadly." "[instrumental music]" "[dramatic music]" "8:30 a.m." "We're making better progress today but our fuel consumption is still too high." "On Mars, the expedition will stop many times to collect and analyze data." "At 11 a.m., we paused to study the sea ice." "Our planet's climate has been changing fast with big effects in the Arctic." "Our observations capture a snapshot in time of the thickness of the ice along the Northwest Passage." "The sea ice is for now no thinner than in past years but hold on its nature has changed.." "Dramatically." "It no longer contains the layers of old ice that used to survive several summers." "There's only new ice, ice that will be gone by the end of the summer." "Everywhere ice covers are in retreat." "This is gonna be a sample." "Here, polar bear populations are in dangerous decline." "As we gaze to another world" "I see our own planet struggling." "The ecology of Earth is shifting." "Did a similar shift happen to Mars?" "A global change that forced water to recede and turned an entire planet into a desert?" "If we want to find life on Mars we must go after its hidden waters." "On Earth, where there's water, there's life.." "Always." "Even here, beneath our sea ice, life is stirring on all sides." "This place can be so quiet." "Much like Mars." "Complete stillness can be eerie." "[static]" "Although now, there's no more signal.." "It's really finicky." "Bad news." "Our electrical system seems to be failing." "We're losing our ability to power on-board computers and instruments." "Yeah, so I've got 12 volts here." "Worse, we won't be able to shut down the Okarian's engine anymore, it might not restart." " Starting up." " Thin ice." "Thin ice." "Retreat." "Thin ice." "Retreat." "Okay, we're good." "We're getting an ice thickness, the current ice thickness, here." " 5.38 meters?" " Uh, uh, yup." " Excellent." " Which is wrong." "1.5, that's a lot." "Yeah, it's quite thick, so.." "[indistinct chattering]" "And here's the capper a massive storm is approaching." "We can't afford to stop." "The clock is ticking." "[music on radio]" "4 p.m. No choice now." "We must hunker down." "Waiting is the name of the game." "On Mars, we'll need to be patient too." "Dust storms can last for weeks and engulf the whole planet." "Still, uh, completely whiteout." "Complete whiteout, uh, we can't see anything around us except, uh, white and a few chunks of blue ice, uh, all around us." "Uh, and we're getting snow drifting in here a little bit." "But, uh, everything's okay, spirits are high and people are trying to catch up on some sleep and, uh, reading." "[classical music on radio]" "[music continues]" "The Martian winds raise the red dust." "It's fine-grained, abrasive and toxic." "Dust will grind into your spacesuit joints and eat away the hardware." "If inhaled, it will clog and burn the pores of your lungs." "The art of living on Mars will be the art of managing the dust." "[intense music]" "[indistinct radio chatter]" "This intense heat, they project in a parallel beam against any object they choose, by means of a polished parabolic mirror of unknown composition.." "That is my conjecture of the origin of the heat ray." "[indistinct chatter]" "Not even filming." "Just hold on to it." "It makes you not wanna be in prison, huh?" "Oh, yeah." "Aside from the fact that you might be some, you know six foot eight, you know, guy" "285 pound guy's boy toy." "What would be worse?" "This weather sucks." ""Cables have been received from English, French" ""and German scientific bodies offering assistance." ""Astronomers report continued gas outbursts at regular intervals on the planet Mars."" "[instrumental music]" "8:00 a.m." "The Okarian is holding up well." "She's a real trooper." "Our electrical system, not so much." "We have a dying alternator." "It's not fixable." "From here on, no more recharging of anything." "We'll push on for now, but I must resist that mindless urge to keep going no matter what." "What they call "Go fever."" "Too many before us have died from it." "For the first time, I'm thinking we might not make it to Devon before the ice breaks up." "But for now, I won't share these thoughts with the crew." "We'll have to go through that, that pass over there and then make it wider." "[intense music]" "5 p.m." "As we make our way deeper into the Arctic the feeling of roving on Mars grows stronger." "How far on Mars, how deep into the planet will our search for water and life take us?" "Where should we look first?" "I keep thinking about the giant scar across Mars' surface." "Its origin is still a mystery." "It was once lined with glaciers and contained lakes." "All long gone." "Whatever surface water Mars might have had has vanished." "But some mornings, her canyons fill with fog." "How do you get fog without water?" "Will we make our first contact with another life form beneath the Martian fog?" "[intense music]" "[beeping]" "Keep right." "Keep right." "Yeah, yeah." "[operatic singing]" "The Arctic is tough." "We lack sleep." "Our faces and hands are drying and wrinkled." "* Midnight with the stars and you *" "* Midnight and a rendezvous [indistinct chatter]" "* Your eyes.. *" "We wash and scrub with hard snow." "We melt fresh snow for drinking water." "Yeah, boiling water." "We move sideways to take up as little room in the rover as possible." "I sleep on the floor." " What is it, Jesse?" " Uh, cheeseburger?" "No, it's Tang." "The Mars rovers will be just as cramped but you won't be able to step outside for fresh air." " Jesse, you're going outside?" " Uh, yes, I am." "More snow?" "We're now like family members." "All these different guys get along very well despite the fatigue and confined space." "Each one feels responsible for the other." "We wouldn't have it in any other way." "We're distracted by our jobs, by simple survival and Jean-Christophe's playlist but we can't help wondering what's happening back home.." "And what lies ahead." "I can only imagine our loneliness on Mars." "Two hundred million kilometers from home." "[wind howling] [instrumental music]" "6 a.m." "Lovely wake-up surprise." "We're losing power steering fluid." "To check the fluid level, we have to cut off the engine which might not restart." "Conundrum time." "Without power steering, we can't drive but if our engine doesn't restart we're dead in the water." "Well, I think we need to warm up first and continue in a bit." "Alright." "The power.." "If we're about to lose power steering" "I'd let it stop and rest." "Let it rest before you lose it completely, and you're..." "Yeah, so what, what resting will do to it?" "Well, I don't know." "Resting will give... give it a break." " And then what?" " And then, you know.." " And then what?" " And then keep going." "Is it gonna recover?" "It... it should." "I don't know what's doing this." "The fluid's fine, the belts are fine." "It doesn't make any sense to give it a break, Jesse." "We are gonna fix it or we're gonna have to keep on going." "I don't even know if that does anything..." "I'm about to take a break myself!" "Well, that's different, that's okay." "Okay." "That's why we're saying why don't you jump inside?" " Yeah." " Okay." "I'm hearing our mission clock tick away but I need to give Jesse some space." "We take a break then time for MECO." "The NASA-speak for Main Engine Cutoff." "[instrumental music]" "Hey, uh, the power steering fluid is in that box, right?" "Well, we may not need them to come back." "We can just join them there." " Are we low?" " I don't know." "Just give me something." "Well, I..." "I can go ahead and tell you" "I don't think we are 'cause I can see it." "We're good." "It's right on the line." "We're good." "Ready?" "[engine sputtering]" "[sighs]" "Okay?" "Transfer case doesn't matter, but.." "It doesn't matter." "[engine starts]" "[instrumental music]" "As we leave the Jamesons, we see fog." "The ice is already breaking up ahead." "But where?" "[instrumental music]" "[music continues]" "John is on the lookout for open water." "Joe is far ahead." "Maybe too far." "I don't like it." "[beeping]" "Heya, Joe, Joe!" "Can you slow down, and, uh, wait up for us there?" "We pretty much lost sight of you." "Slow down please." "Thin ice." "Thin ice." "Retreat." "Thin ice." "Thin ice." "Retreat." "Hey, John, I think the back is in slush." "Joe!" "Joe!" "Yeah, we're really stuck, Joe." "We're gonna need your help." "Come on back." "Come on back." "[engine revving]" "4:00 p.m." "Our worst nightmare." "We've run into a lead." "The Okarian is sinking." "Each time I add power, the rover sinks further in." "We're losing her." "[intense music]" " Have we made any progress?" " No." "Bring back the cable!" "More cable!" "More!" "More!" "Hey, John, upward with the winch." "I'm gonna go back a tiny bit, John." "Okay?" "Keep going?" "John, tell me what you're doing!" "It's going down." "It's going in." "[engine revving] [instrumental music]" "No, I'm not." "I'm..." "I'm going slow." "[intense music]" "[music continues]" "The battery voltage was drawn down to zero." "John, you're the man." "I got this." "We saved the Okarian." "It was a close call, too close for comfort but it could have been much worse." "When I saw nothing but sky through the windshield" "I thought we were going down for good." "I could see the Okarian settling on the seafloor alongside Franklin's sunken ships." "We pulled through this time but how many more leads lie before us?" "One minute, you're barreling along, unstoppable the next, you're in survival mode." "The fine line is crossed without warning." "I'm now confronting the most critical decision that any expedition leader faces." "To continue on or to stop before it's too late." "How many explorers have died because they chose wrong?" "Because they didn't abort their mission while it could still be saved?" "Here's where we stand." "We need a new alternator, new batteries a new power steering system and more time." "The passage is starting to break up." "Devon is out of reach for this year." "[instrumental music]" "17 April." "We arrived in Cambridge Bay at 2:00 p.m." "We couldn't reach Devon." "That hurts." "[chuckling]" "Plan B, the Okarian will be flown to Resolute Bay to get repaired and put in hypersleep until next spring." "Then, we'll wake her up for another assault on Devon Island." "We made it." "[music continues]" "Do Humvees dream of diesel sheep?" "[instrumental music]" "5 May." "The Okarian's had her beauty sleep." "We begin anew at the eastern end of the Northwest Passage in Resolute Bay." "Persistence." "That's what exploration takes." "It's not about smooth sailing." "It's about venturing into the unknown pushing the limits of where you can go and what you can do to meet with what's out there." "I know where our small step is taking us." "It's getting us ready for the greatest adventure of all time." "To us, the Northwest Passage is not just a link between two oceans." "It's a passage between two worlds." "[instrumental music]" "Our crew is reunited." "We're thrilled." "But it's our last chance to reach Devon." " Be safe." " We're on our way." "[instrumental music]" "[music continues]" "6 May. 1:00 a.m." "The Okarian entered Eleanor Valley." "We hope to reach the coast by tomorrow." "Okay, Jesse, here we go." "Hey, Jesse, uh, we're hearing a fairly substantial knocking noise." "Uh, it looks, it sounds like it's sorta coming from the right front." "Seems like one of the components that holds the track on, uh, came loose there." "Okay, I guess we're gonna have to stop." "Is everybody safe now?" "Hey, Bill?" "Hey, Bill, this is Pascal." "We have a situation here with the, uh, Humvee." "Everybody's safe, we've had a.." "A, uh, damaged rear right gear hub." "[wind whistling]" "[indistinct chatter]" "Let's, uh, let's jack it up." "Take off the track and look at what's going on here." "This happened in Africa to me once." "We were doing 50 miles an hour down the road, south to Khartoum and looked at the side view mirror and the wheel is three feet out" "from where it should be." "We'll see." "We'll see." "We'll see, we'll see, we'll see." "We need Joe's sled too, huh?" "Yeah, we need.." "Yeah." "Yeah." "Yeah." "This is not an easy fix." "If it's.." "If it's fixable." "We need to dig all the snow away so we have a solid surface to.." "Sure." "So okay, guys." "We're gonna... we're gonna stay here we're gonna stay put." "We need the sled with the spare, um.." " Track." " Track." "And the inflatable jacks as well." "Hey, uh, call AAA." "This whole piece will get in there but there's a keeper.." "You can see where the keeper is supposed to be right there?" " Yeah, it's shot." " And.." "Yeah, it's come out." "[indistinct]" "Houston, we've had a problem." "The critical part connecting the drive train to its matching track has ruptured." "The hub is normally so robust that we have no spare for it." "A replacement part has to be flown up to Resolute Bay from down south." "We're 70 kilometers from Resolute Bay but Joe knows the way well." "He'll head back there alone to wait for the part." "This is going to take days." "Crap." "[instrumental music]" "[wind howling]" "Uh, so, let me introduce you to our cook." "This is our cook." "His name is Jesse." "And, uh, the chief of expedition uh, Pascal is looking for the comte which a very good French cheese." "There, sausage, cheese, everything you need to be happy." "John seems preoccupied." "I know him well." "That's not like him." "Something is wrong, but I can't get it out of him." "A bit of sunshine here." "[instrumental music]" "Camera roll." "Alright, Pascal." "So, where we at?" "On Mars, you might be stuck in a place uh, by dust storm for several days." "And that's what happened to us uh, on the first two days of our trip here." "Or you might be stuck somewhere because of a mechanical problem." "This is what happened to us here for three days." "Mars is really a complicated and exciting place to explore." "But to us, because we are here on Earth." "Mars is the closest planet where we might find some answers about the origins of life and the possibilities of alien life." "It has been a very humbling series of discoveries." "We are trying to understand why we even exist." "As usual, when left to themselves my thoughts turn to Mars and our search for life there." "To discover signs of ancient life on Mars would be fascinating." "But the Holy Grail would be to find live organisms." "For that, we must find liquid water first." "Maybe where the planet is still warm?" "How about its volcanoes?" "They're not extinct." "Just dormant." "[instrumental music]" "It's almost midnight." "Our slow, cold sunset looks like those captured on Mars by the robots." "* In New York this morning" "* It's about half past nine *" "It's been five days now." "Joe is still weathering the storm in Resolute Bay." "John has been spending more time alone." "But he opened up to me this morning." "To my surprise, he said it's time to cut our losses and to turn back." "Put an end to an undoable journey." "I was shocked." "John's words carry the weight of years of experience survival and wisdom." "On this mission, he's my anchor and my guide." "He's now recommending an abort." "If I decide to push on" "I'll be going against his best judgment." "My confidence is shaken." "For the first time, I feel the full weight of the expedition on my shoulders alone." "Anyway, hardlock is if you have tires and you need to.." " Yeah." " go through sand or snow but.." "Jesse regroups." "He knows that when the replacement part arrives he'll have his work cut out for him." "He's tired but happy." "Jean-Christophe, as often seems to be lost in his thoughts." "Maybe he's dreaming of Mars as I am." "We often chat in French not to exclude the rest of the crew but to exchange memories of our childhood." "Mark talks about his family a lot back home." "He knows he won't be back for his kid's birthday." "He still films non-stop even though we aren't going anywhere." "Okay, I just wanna take you out on a little tour of my igloo." "Here's the fuel sled." "John's sleeping over there." "That's the Humvee." "Here." "Come inside." "There's, uh, my sleeping bag." "Got a little snow on it." "And, uh, I finally, uh.." "Closed the chimney off with my GORE-TEX jacket." "It keeps me warm." "Kind of." "It's definitely blowing pretty good out here." "Though it's not as bad as it's been the last two days." "Let's go look at John's tent." "Okay." "John's tent." "He's doing okay." "You can see the snow is a little deep." "It's up to my knees." "[instrumental music]" "There's Pascal.." "And Jean-Christophe." "Whoo!" "[indistinct]" "This is all the camera gear." "It's doing okay." "Good gravy, it's cold." "It's probably, uh, I don't know, zero." "But with the wind chill man, it's just, uh, takes your breath away." "So that's about it." "Uh, gonna climb back in the Humvee and get some hot chocolate or something." "Alright." "[instrumental music]" "So when did you leave, uh, Resolute?" "At what time?" " 4:00 - 4:00?" "8:00 p.m." "Joe was back this evening with the part we need." "Yeah." "That's it." "How do you feel?" "Oh, relieved." "Extremely relieved." "The broken hub wouldn't come off." "It was frozen in place." "We turned our camping stove into a makeshift blowtorch." "Where are all my tools going to, man?" "Right, Joe today drove four hours uh, in this whiteout alone" "pulling on the snowmobile and... and sled." "Uh, this one part that we were needing to get replaced." "Uh, that was heroic." "Just for him to get... get to us in time this evening at... at 8:00 p.m." "Uh, Jesse, uh, piled all the training he got from AM General factory in Humvees and did a superb job replacing the part uh, with John's help." "John, of course, uh, was fantastic as usual and kept us alive for the past five days." "Uh, and, uh and you guys from the Jules Verne's team were fantastic too, you were very patient." "Just, uh, never a complaint." "So that's remarkable." "I'm just here to get everybody in trouble." "[instrumental music]" "7:00 p.m." "The Okarian is fully operational again." "We are good on food and fuel." "The weather forecast looks okay." "We are a go." "I know I'm going against John's recommendation." "But the way I see it we still have safe abort options ahead." "[beeping]" "[instrumental music]" "[beeping]" "11:00 p.m." "We've reached Eleanor Lake." "There is life beneath us gasping for light under the faint midnight sun." "There were once frozen lakes on Mars." "Maybe like here, teeming with life." "I've spent years of my life studying spacecraft images of Mars trying to understand this alien planet." "Everywhere fire, water and ice have left their mark." "A water-rich planet, that might have been for a brief time, Earth's sister." "I dream of journeying to Mars not just through space, but through time." "[instrumental music]" ""The Martians were there"" ""in the canal, reflected in the water."" ""The Martians stared back up at them.." ""For a long, long silent time from the rippling water."" "[instrumental music]" "* Here" "* So far away" "* Another time and another place *" "* At the edge of breaking through *" "* Again" "* I found my sense of wonder ** [instrumental music]" "1:00 a.m." "The coast." "Sea ice looks daunting as if the raging ocean had frozen in mid surge." "Devon is in sight for the first time." "We are so near and yet so far." "We're going to go down here." "We're here right now." "We're gonna go down this way.." "Out to the sea here and then across the smooth ice this way." "[instrumental music]" "1:45 a.m." "We follow Joe very slowly." "Beneath the snow, the sea ice might be breaking up already." "[music continues]" "Seventeen." "Joe says the sea ice is on the verge of collapsing." "The time for slow is over." "We have to make a dash for Devon." "We're at the point of no return." "If anything stops us, we won't have enough time to get any part flown up from the south again." "We'll have to abandon the Okarian to her fate as the ice eventually gives way." "On Mars, rovers will die in sand." "We're on final approach to Mars on Earth." "[instrumental music]" "[music continues]" "10:00 p.m." "In one instant, my dream of many years has come to an abrupt end." "Definitely not good." "Oh, merde." " No." "Hub and half shaft." " Huh?" "Hub and half shaft.." "Which one?" "Hub and half shaft.." "A hidden block of ice has ripped off the rear left track and destroyed the gear hub." "Our rover is history." "This expedition is a bust." "Keeping our crew safe is the only thing that matters now." "We have to abandon the Okarian and get everyone to shore." "The sea ice has begun to break up around us." "As we began to evacuate critical gear" "Jesse mentioned our camp on Devon." " We need a new gear hub." " Yeah." " And you have a half shaft?" " Yeah." "A glimmer of hope popped up in my mind." "The Okarian's only hope the Mars-1, our twin Humvee, is based on Devon at camp, 50 kilometers away." "If we could get to the Mars-1 maybe we could scavenge its rear left hub and graft it on to the Okarian." "A mechanical organ transplant." "We have to act now." "It's a long and risky journey." "We have two snowmobiles." "Only two of us can go." "Jesse is best trained to retrieve the part" "John has the experience of long snowmobile treks in Antarctica." "Godspeed." " Drive safely." " Oh, yeah." "Come back in one piece." "It's a gamble." "Splitting up is never good." "Especially if the team is already small." "[instrumental music]" "9:00 p.m." "John and Jesse have reached the island." "We try to remain in contact via sat phone." "There's been an accident." "It's John." "Riding through heavy snowfall with poor visibility he plunged over a precipice." "Jesse informs me that John's left leg is badly bruised." "He's in agonizing pain." "Damn it." "We're stranded in the usual middle of nowhere." "I can't believe this is happening." "The crew's split up, food's running low." "Maybe we've gone one step too far." "Jean-Christophe shared his concerns with me." "He feels that we're now walking a very fine line." "Everything could go wrong very quickly." "He's damn right." "He also said my decision reminded him of Shackleton's in Antarctica a century ago." "When his ship, the Endurance got locked in ice and sank, he split up his crew and went for help with a small party." "After an impossible journey, he returned as promised and saved them all." "One of the greatest feats in exploration history." "I'm no Shackleton, but he inspired us all." "Mars will also have its heroes." "[instrumental music]" "11:00 p.m." "We are not alone." "Alien life in an alien world." "Joe thinks he's been circling us for two days." "To this awe-inspiring creature, we are dinner." "Thankfully, we are not as appetizing as we think." "[instrumental music]" "Somehow, this beautiful ghostly encounter brings us luck." "[music continues]" "After three days, this is the most wonderful sight." "John and Jesse have successfully retrieved the critical geared hub from the Mars-1." "We greet them as heroes." "They truly are." "We got a good route in the land there." "[indistinct]" " Jesse, you made it." " Yeah, I made it." "Jesse shows us a picture he took of camp with the Mars-1." "On Mars, we'll definitely need not just one, but two rovers." "One to rescue the other." "Hello, Pascal, could you take the nut off the back of that ball joint behind you on the cooler?" "This time, we must continue at a walking pace." "Spare parts are out of the question." "We're almost out of fuel." "Soon we'll be tapping into our survival rations." "Just, just follow the track." "Okay, repeat that, John?" "Just follow the track." "You want... you want us to stay with the track?" "[instrumental music]" "We'll do the right track." "Obstruction on your left." "John and Jean-Christophe decided to walk in front of the rover as short-range scouts to locate buried obstacles." "There are many, too many." "[instrumental music]" "The Arctic's grip continues to close in on us." "It feels as if we're being played with." "The closer we get to shore, the more out of reach it seems." "We get stuck in snow, again and again." "[music continues]" "[music continues]" "[engine revving]" "[music continues]" "[music continues]" "[indistinct]" "Devon Island, I love you." "[indistinct chatter]" "Land sweet land." "[laughing]" "Alright." "At 11:30 p.m. on 16 May more than a year after first launching from Kugluktuk we've finally reached the shore of Devon Island." "And Mark who's filming." "Hi, Mark." "This is a bottle of Dom Perignon from Reims, France." " Well.." " Here we are on Devon." "To the Northwest Passage." " The finest crystal." " Si, si." " John." " Cheers." "* Here" "* So far away" "* Another time" "* Another place *" "The HMP Okarian has landed." "Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote of the Yellow Martians who escaped drought and war to reach the planet's far north." "They were survivors knights of the ice and explorers." "They were called the Okarians." "[helicopter whirring] [indistinct radio chatter]" "Stand by, flight." "Going to Mars is the exploration challenge of our time." "We should not fear it or postpone it but embrace it and make it succeed." "It will bring humanity together and strengthen our character." "As I age, my dream of going to Mars is slowly fading." "I may not make it." "But I have a new dream." "I wanna pass the torch to you the next generation." "We dedicate our polar adventure to you who will live and witness the journey to Mars." "Make us feel the pride of being explorers again and make humanity a more peaceful and promising species." ""Houston we got a, uh, if you give us through data, we got some.."" "[indistinct radio chatter]" "[instrumental music]" "[indistinct radio chatter]" "[people cheering]" ""The surface of Mars!"" "[static] [indistinct radio chatter]" "Will you find life?" "What kind of life will it be?" "If it's a completely alien life with its own DNA that might tell us there's a possibility of life throughout the universe." "Saa, your video." "Earth will be up in five minutes." "What if you find that life on Mars is similar to life on Earth?" "Maybe life started on Mars and came to seed the Earth." "We might all be children of Mars." "Maybe all this time the tantalizing call of Mars has been a call to return home." "[instrumental music] [indistinct radio chatter]" "This is the final entry in our expedition log." "Tonight, the children of the Okarian will be sleeping at Mars-On-Earth dreaming under the stars of the day you will be looking back at the Earth from the quiet rim of Olympus Mons." "I'm Pascal Lee." "Signing off." "[music continues]" "Apollo 11, Houston, we're a go for undocking, over." "On the moon" "I have seen magnificent desolation." "Now humans are reaching for this new world this time, to stay and then venture further into space." "Before us now is a giant leap to Mars and beyond." "[indistinct radio chatter]" "[instrumental music]" "* Imagine" "* The world" "* In a moment" "* Truth and the unseen" "* Time in a dream" "* Reach out" "* Breathe in" "* I'm ready to believe again" "* Hold on" "* Let go" "* Find a way" "* Home" "* Home" "* The daylight" "* Is falling" "* Beyond the last horizon" "* A passage you know" "* All across an endless sea" "* Reach out" "* Breathe in" "* I'm ready to believe again *" "* Hold on" "* Let go" "* Find your way" "* Way back home * Home" "* Way back home * Home" "* Said you're gonna reach out" "* And you're gonna hold on" "* Find a way" "* Leading home" "* Said I'm gonna reach out" "* And then you're gonna hold on *" "* Find a way" "* Way back home" "* Reach out" "* Breathe in" "* You ready to believe again?" "* Alright" "* Hold on" "* Let go" "* I know you'll find it" "* I said yeah" "* Said I'm gonna be strong" "* Said I'm gonna hold on" "* For you" "* For you and for me" "* Hold on * Faith" "* Let go * A little bit of love *" "[instrumental music]" "[music continues]" ""Before the cylinder fell, there was a general persuasion" ""that through all the deep of space" ""no life existed beyond the petty surface" ""of our minute sphere." ""Now we see further." ""Dim and wonderful is the vision I have conjured up" ""in my mind of life spreading" ""throughout the inanimate vastnesses of sidereal space." "Remote dream." "It may be."" "[instrumental music]" "[music continues]"