Calling all space nerds: New documentary Good Night Oppy will give you all the feels

For over 14 years, space nerds and the general public alike were riveted by the parallel journeys of Spirit and Opportunity, twin intrepid Mars rovers who launched and landed on the red planet three weeks apart and surpassed their original 90- day missions by many years. They explored the Martian surface and collected samples before giving up the ghost. Good Night Oppy is a new documentary from Prime Video that will allow us to relive that journey all over again.

It's easy to forget that the story of Spirit and Opportunity began against a backdrop of two previous failed missions to Mars: the Mars Climate Orbiter and the Mars polar explorer. The 2001 Mars Odyssey mission was a success, but there was still a lot of pressure on NASA to land a robotic rover on Mars. The future of the Mars Exploration Rover program could have been in danger.

Both launched without a hitch. The signal was delayed until the signal was re-established after the impact of Spirit. In Good Night Oppy, the engineers say that Spirit was a bit of a drama queen. After a few weeks, Opportunity landed safely. The rovers spent the next several years exploring their respective regions of Mars, overcoming steep hills, getting stuck in the loose Martian soil, and bracing against dust storms to deliver valuable scientific insights back to mission control on Earth.

The public's imagination and hearts were captured by the rovers and people like White, who wanted to be anastrologer as a child. White and a lot of other people were upset when NASA lost contact with Opportunity after she failed to respond to over 1,000 recovery commands. NASA officially ended the mission on May 24, 2011, nine years after the demise of the spirit. The end of a mission that exceeded expectations by 14 years and 47 days was marked by the transmission of the song "I'll Be Seeing You".

In Good Night Oppy, White beautifully conveys those types of moments. He told Ars that the robots took off when he was in college. He appreciated the scientific mission and legacy more when he made the documentary. White and Ars were able to learn more.