It has been nearly half a century since the first robotic missions landed and studied the surface of Mars. Since then a series of ever more complex missions have left robotic “foot prints” on Mars and these have revealed Mars to be a place so different yet so similar to our pale blue dot.

How did we get there, what have we learned, how is it relevant to our understanding of our planet, what do we hope to learn and do next?

NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab Chief Engineer and Whitman grad Rob Manning '80 will see if it is possible to answer some of these and other questions for his fellow Whitties.