Good Night Oppy

 I was right. 

Fiddler didn't get atop the Academy's roof. But another documentary I was certain would show up on today's shortlists didn't either. That would be Good Night Oppy, Ryan White's chronicle of the twin Spirit and Opportunity rovers and their mission to Mars. Of course, Opportunity, aka "Oppy," has the lion's share of focus. But I digress.

It chronicles the rovers' lives from their inception and throughout the mission. We see NASA race against time to launch the rovers to take advantage of Mars and Earth's close alignment. They launched three weeks apart in the summer of 2003 and landed three weeks apart in early 2004. Their mission was to search for signs of water, which would mean life, on the Red Planet. NASA expected the two to expire after 90 sols. But Spirit chugged along until 2011, while Oppy lasted all the way to 2019. 

It recreates the mission with some impressive CGI by ILM. A solar flare hit their pods with enough force to damage their circuitries. We get the full magnitude of the impact inside and out. It's certainly miraculous that they survived that and their landing. Other hazards including Martian winters, Martian sandstorms and getting stuck in dunes are all presented as formidable threats. Their "faces" make them instantly lovable robots. They look and feel like real robots so much that, when Oppy gets robo-arthritis and robo-dementia, it's devastating.

The film also chronicles the NASA team behind them. We see them conceive, build and test the robots before their launch. When trouble strikes, including the aforementioned sand dune, we see them brainshoot on Earth.  We see Oppy's daily routine, which includes a good setlist of "wakeup songs." We see them plot Oppy's course with precision, especially since it takes twenty minutes for her to receive orders. One portion has them trying beyond hope, and eventually succeed, in restoring contact with Oppy after that sandstorm. It's an interesting chronicle of NASA's technical prowess on Earth and in space. 

It's also a compelling chronicle of their emotional investments in the rovers. They came to see the rovers as their kids exploring a harsh world. You'll share their joy when the rovers first land and they send back the first photos. You'll feel their triumph when they solve Oppy's hazards. A few of them were kids when Oppy launched and were NASA-employees when Oppy expired. One of them lost her grandma to Alzheimer's when Oppy's robo-dementia hit. It was equally devastating to lose both at once. You'll feel it when Oppy expires, too.

It's quite surprising that the Academy bypassed Good Night Oppy. It's a compelling science documentary about the little rover that could and the team behind her. Anyone looking to see NASA behind the scenes will get the most out of its 105 minutes. It's ready to watch on Amazon Prime whenever you are. You won't regret it.