William Shatner and Wil Wheaton Narrate New NASA Mars Curiosity Rover Video

July 30, 2012

Dwayne Brown/Allard Beutel
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726 / 202-358-2191
dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov / allard.beutel@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 12-258

WILLIAM SHATNER AND WIL WHEATON NARRATE NEW NASA MARS CURIOSITY ROVER VIDEO

WASHINGTON -- As NASA prepares for next week's Curiosity rover landing
on Mars, William Shatner and Wil Wheaton share this thrilling story
of NASA's hardest planetary science mission to date. The video
titled, "Grand Entrance," guides viewers from entry through descent,
and after landing.

The video will be used at events around the country and shared on the
web and social media. The goal is to educate the public about
Curiosity and build awareness about the landing at 1:31 a.m. EDT,
Aug. 6.

Shatner and Wheaton each provide their own unique narration to the
video allowing a wider range of audiences to be reached. The actors
are icons to sci-fi fans worldwide through their work on Star Trek.
Shatner remains a pop culture phenomenon with more than 50 years of
stage, television and film experience, while Wheaton not only is a
successful actor, but a writer who possesses a huge social media fan
base.

"Shatner and Wheaton are mavericks in inspiring film, TV and social
media audiences about space," said Bert Ulrich, NASA's multimedia
liaison for film and TV collaborations. "NASA is thrilled to have
them explain a difficult landing sequence in accessible terms that
can be understood by many. Thanks to their generous support, Mars
exploration will reach Tweeters, Trekkies and beyond!"

After a successful launch in November 2011, Curiosity is close to
reaching its destination on the Martian surface. However, the process
from entering the atmosphere to landing safely is no easy task.
Curiosity has seven minutes to go from 13,000 mph to a soft landing.
If a single step is unsuccessful, the mission could fail. This
process has been dubbed as the "seven minutes of terror."

To view the "Grand Entrance" videos, visit:

http://go.nasa.gov/N7eV2N

http://go.nasa.gov/N7f8D8

For more information about NASA's Mars Curiosity rover and its
mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/mars


-end-



To subscribe to the list, send a message to:
hqnews-subscribe@mediaservices.nasa.gov
To remove your address from the list, send a message to:
hqnews-unsubscribe@mediaservices.nasa.gov