NASA'S CURIOSITY ROVER FINDS ORGANICS ON MARS AND DISCOVERY CHANNEL GETS UNPRECEDENTED ACCESS EVERY STEP OF THE WAY

RED PLANET ROVER airs Thursday, December 18 at 10 PM ET/PT on the Discovery Channel

(Los Angeles, Calif.) - It's a stunning breakthrough that will forever change the way we look at the world: on Tuesday, NASA announced that the Curiosity rover found organics on Mars, the necessary building blocks of life. Discovery Channel cameras were rolling every step of the way with unprecedented access -- experiencing the ups and downs of the expedition through the eyes of the science team and from the perspective of the Curiosity rover itself. But what is ultimately discovered, will truly change everything.

RED PLANET ROVER, premieres Thursday, December 18, at 10 PM ET/PT on the Discovery Channel. Viewers will get access unlike anything else seen before, and take an incredible ride with the smartest, most complex robot ever launched from Earth - a one-ton, nuclear powered, all-terrain vehicle, part geologist, part chemist, part photographer. Even though it's a sophisticated piece of equipment, anything could go wrong and one minor mistake could stop the rover in its tracks.

NASA's Curiosity was sent to solve one of the greatest mysteries of science - did life ever exist on Mars? It's an audacious mission with no margin for error. And like most things, making history hasn't been easy.

The Curiosity rover mission marks the beginning of what may only be the beginning to the story of life on Mars. Curiosity looks to uncover how Mars evolved over billions of years. Was it once -- and could it be now -- habitable for life?

Bombarded by radiation, Mar's surface is cold, dry and lethal. But it wasn't always this way. Billions of years ago, life might have had a chance. Of all the planets in the solar system, only two have been in liquid form at some time: Earth and Mars. Both were enriched by all the chemicals necessary to create human form.

"When we look at Mars, we have to wonder did life happen there as well? If so, what happened to it?" asked Gentry Lee, a veteran JPL engineer. "If life evolved first on Mars, what's the possibility that life was knocked off of Mars and carried all the way to the planet Earth? Perhaps you and I and everything that's living on the planet Earth are Martians!"

In its time on Mars, Curiosity has gone to Gale Crater - a basin three miles deep and a hundred miles across - and with an 18,000-foot mound in the middle called Mount Sharp. And Curiosity found signs of past water, as well as key chemical ingredients for microbial life, in a spot called Yellowknife Bay.

We've been searching for Martians since the Space Age began. Now this latest evidence may finally help solve those ever-enduring questions - Is there life beyond Earth? And are we really alone?

RED PLANET ROVER is produced by MDTV Productions for Discovery Channel. Mark Davis is executive producer for MDTV Productions. Howard Swartz serves as vice president of Production and Development for Discovery. To learn more, go to www.discovery.com, on Facebook at Facebook.com/discovery and on Twitter @Discovery.

About Discovery Channel

Discovery Channel is dedicated to creating the highest quality non-fiction content that informs and entertains its consumers about the world in all its wonder, diversity and amazement. The network, which is distributed to 100.8 million U.S. homes, can be seen in 210 countries and territories, offering a signature mix of compelling, high-end production values and vivid cinematography across genres including, science and technology, exploration, adventure, history and in-depth, behind-the-scenes glimpses at the people, places and organizations that shape and share our world. For more information, please visit www.discovery.com.

About Discovery Communications

Discovery Communications (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) is the world's #1 nonfiction media company reaching more than two billion cumulative subscribers in 223 countries and territories. Discovery is dedicated to satisfying curiosity through 162 worldwide television networks, led by Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Science and Investigation Discovery, as well as U.S. joint venture networks OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, The Hub and 3net, the first 24-hour 3D network. Across the Nordic region, Discovery owns and operates SBS Discovery Media, a top-three portfolio of 20 television brands that feature leading nonfiction content, as well as locally produced entertainment programs, sports and the best scripted series and movies from major studios. Discovery also is the leading provider of educational products and services to schools, including an award-winning series of digital textbooks, and owns and operates a diversified portfolio of digital media services, including Revision3. For more information, please visit www.discoverycommunications.com.