posted 01-24-2013 09:33 AM               

The first three documentaries in the series are: "The American Rocketeer," "Explorer 1" and "Destination Moon."

An Emmy award winner, Baggett was a finalist for the Journalist in Space program prior to the loss of Challenger in January 1986.

"The Changing Face of Mars" debuted at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) on Wednesday.

From just a flickering red speck in the night sky to a world rife with scientific treasure, Mars has so spellbound our minds and imaginations that the quest to unmask it is nearly as storied as the planet itself. Since the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mariner 4 first visited the Red Planet in 1964, 38 more hopeful explorers around the world have been tasked with investigating Mars and challenging our beliefs about the mysterious planet. Only 15 of these missions have been successful, yet their findings have drastically altered our view of Mars.

Discover the story of our first quests to explore Mars as Emmy award-winning producer/director/writer and director of the office of communication and education at JPL Blaine Baggett premieres his latest documentary film, "The Changing Face of Mars." The JPL - produced, 90-minute documentary is told through a mix of archival footage and interviews with the scientists and engineers who pioneered Mars exploration. It serves as the fourth installment of Baggett's Beginnings of the Space Age documentary series chronicling the evolution of space exploration since the first rockets were launched into space.