Dramatis Personæ

Robert Pappalardo, a planetary scientist

Louise Prockter, a geomorphologist

Galileo, a spacecraft orbiting Jupiter from 1995 to 2003

Carl Sagan, an astrophysicist

Viking 1

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Two Mars probes, 1976 to 1982

Viking 2

Edward Weiler, the head of NASA science missions

Curt Niebur, a program scientist at NASA headquarters

Karla Clark, an engineer at Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Wernher von Braun, a rocket scientist

Daniel Goldin, the NASA administrator from 1992 to 2001

Pathfinder, a Mars rover mission in 1997

James Green, the head of planetary science at NASA

Fran Bagenal, a planetary scientist

Ralph Lorenz, a planetary scientist

Jonathan Lunine, a planetary scientist

Huygens, a probe that landed on Titan in 2004

Cassini, a spacecraft orbiting Saturn from 2004 to 2017

Susan Niebur, an astrophysicist

John Culberson, a U.S. congressman from Texas

Todd May, a materials engineer

Alan Stern, a planetary scientist and NASA science missions lead

MESSENGER, a spacecraft orbiting Mercury from 2011 to 2015

Mike Griffin, the NASA administrator from 2005 to 2009

Don Blankenship, a geophysicist

Ron Greeley, a geologist

Cynthia Greeley, a historian

Europa Orbiter, a spacecraft that never was, in 1999

JIMO, a Europa nuclear spacecraft that never was, in 2003

Europa Explorer, a spacecraft that never was, in 2007

Jupiter Europa Orbiter, a spacecraft that almost was, in 2010

Europa Clipper, a spacecraft that will orbit Jupiter

Mars Science Laboratory, a rover mission in 2012

Tom Gavin, an engineer

Dave Senske, a planetary scientist

Spirit

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Two Mars rovers, landed in 2004

Opportunity

Lori Garver, the deputy administrator of NASA from 2009 to 2013

Joan Salute, a program executive at NASA headquarters

Barry Goldstein, an engineer

Brian Cooke, an engineer