Category Archives: Mars Colonization

Coeur dAlene student selected to be on the first high school-aged team to train in the Mars Desert Research Station  KREM.com

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Coeur dAlene student selected to be on the first high school-aged team to train in the Mars Desert Research Station - KREM.com

Marscoin Expo 2022

I have a dream. I have a dream that one day millions of people will live on Mars. What about you? Marscoin is intriguing and worth paying attention to. Everyone is going to Mars: NASA, European Space Agency, the United Arab Emirates, and more! Elon Musks SpaceX is intent on landing " on Mars by 2026"! This future is within reach, and we are here to talk about the future currency of Mars! On July 30th, at the Marscoin Expo, we will brief you about the future currency of Mars! The future decentralized governance systems of Mars. The future of technology for space faring mankind.

On July 30th, at the Marscoin Expo, we will brief you about the concept of Marscoin. We will also introduce our world-wide operating decentralized group of enthusiasts, scientists and developers - our purpose, our beliefs, where we are heading, and what we have done. We are excited to share our view on near and far-future potential regarding Marscoin and its roadmap. We want to unite everyone, connect, and form a community. Lets get you into these professional networks to gain industry-level knowledge. You are part of whats happening! Weve organized influential & certified specialists and insiders to describe why this project matters - and what needs to happen next. Join us for our online, one-day conference. Its free! Heres the link to our second annual expo:

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Carina Johansen/NTB/AFP via Getty Images; Onur Dogman/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images; Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images; Justin Williams - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images; Illustration by Kaz Fantone/NPR

Carina Johansen/NTB/AFP via Getty Images; Onur Dogman/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images; Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images; Justin Williams - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images; Illustration by Kaz Fantone/NPR

The saga around Elon Musk's deal to buy Twitter has been just that: a months-long soap opera involving lawsuits and subpoenas, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, even a town hall. But why does Musk one of the world's richest and arguably most influential men want a social media platform?

It's Been a Minute host Brittany Luse puts the question to Jill Lepore, political historian and host of The Evening Rocket, a podcast about Musk. Lepore says that the idea of being a savior of free speech would appeal to Musk, who has built around himself a mythology inspired by what she sees as a misinterpretation of mid-twentieth century science fiction.

Lepore discusses how Musk crafted a powerful narrative that millions around the world have bought into; how he draws from science fiction and film; and why we need to be more critical of billionaire visionaries.

Y0u can listen to the full episode at the top of the page, or on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. These excerpts have been edited for length and clarity.

On Musk's self-mythology

Brittany Luse: In a nutshell, what is the myth that you see Elon Musk trying to sell about himself?

Lepore: The story that he tells about his own life is kind of ripped out of the pages of early science fiction. He's a boy wonder, right? He's this kind of boy genius. And there's a whole origin story about Musk in South Africa that involves winning an award for a computer game that he wrote as a boy. He's marketed as this figure straight out of comic books. And the version of the story that he's kind of bandying about now is one in which he's the ultimate futurist. He is the visionary innovator, an engineer-slash-entrepreneur who will bring the light of human civilization to the stars and colonize Mars.

On turning to science fiction for inspiration

Lepore: Musk often talks about how he was transformed as a boy by reading Isaac Asimov and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. These books, he will say, taught him that humankind must reach for the stars, that we must colonize other planets in order to bring the light of human consciousness elsewhere. For Musk, his vision of himself is as the hero of a science fiction story from the 1950s. And yet he completely misreads that very science fiction.

Luse: You brought up Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. That was also one of my favorite books when I was around the same age. I read it in middle school. I loved it. I thought it was hilarious. Different life trajectories, me and Elon Musk. But you point out in your podcast, he names a space ship after the Heart of Gold spaceship that's also in the book. He calls Douglas Adams, the author, one of his favorite philosophers. And yet, as you just said, you believe that he misses the point of the book. How does he miss?

Lepore: Yeah so, the Hitchhiker's Guide stories which are comedies, these big BBC radio plays written in the '70s were an indictment of the widening inequalities of wealth in Britain and around the world. The real bad guys in the story are these super wealthy people who want to build luxury planets where the poor can serve them. And they were broadcast to South Africa, to Pretoria, where Elon Musk grew up under apartheid, in a wholly white community where all the labor was done by Black people living under conditions of profound degradation and deprivation. And Douglas Adams had on the manual typewriter with which he typed the plays and then later the books he had a sticker that read, "end apartheid."

Hitchhiker's Guide is essentially about the injustice of advanced capitalism, as is much science fiction. We think about H.G. Wells writing The Time Machine. A lot of these science fiction writers are [indicting] colonialism in particular. Like, don't go to other planets and make other people your slaves. Wells was a big critic of the British Empire and British imperialism, especially in Africa. [Musk] is actually the villain of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He is not Arthur Dent. He's Zaphod Beeblebrox. Jeff Bezos is the same way. They talk about having read all this science fiction as boys, which inspired why they found these rocket companies later in life.

But of course, science fiction completely changed around the time that Douglas Adams was writing. You see the emergence of Afrofuturism or someone like Octavia Butler, Ursula K. Le Guin, and this kind of feminist science fiction and this interesting kind of transgender way of thinking about alternative universes and possibilities in which the future involves a lot of suffering. When I hear Elon Musk talk about the future, it really sounds to me like a very, very sad version of the past.

On being the 'real-life Iron Man'

Luse: The writers of Marvel's Iron Man cited Elon Musk as an inspiration for Tony Stark. And you also pointed out that the first Iron Man movie came out the same year the Tesla Roadsters were released. Can you talk about how the fictionalized version of Elon Musk in Tony Stark then influenced the real Elon Musk?

Lepore: It's sort of an interesting reciprocity. I mean, Iron Man dates to the 1960s when he's created in comic books by Stan Lee. The character is very much updated and kind of wrapped around the idea of Elon Musk, where you can take the same storyline about Tony Stark from the '60s and glue to it the kind of cultural fascination with the Silicon Valley entrepreneur, of which Musk was the best model.

And I don't want to be heard to be somehow discrediting Musk's accomplishments. He has this extraordinary career as a businessman. He goes to Stanford to get a Ph.D. guy's really, really smart drops out to found his first company, moves quickly through a series of startups that are extraordinarily successful. And then around the time of the first Iron Man, Musk moves from from Silicon Valley to Los Angeles, and he becomes a Hollywood figure. You can't really conceive of anyone else doing that. You can't conceive of Bill Gates going to live in Hollywood. So there's this kind of interesting trajectory that takes him from the sort of nerdy Silicon Valley inventor guy to Tony Stark with sexy cars and sexy women.

Luse: What does it say about our society that Elon Musk has become a celebrity in a similar way to somebody like a rock star?

Lepore: Well the happy reading of it is: Celebrities are not celebrated for having ideas. Musk has many ideas. We should be heartened by the idea of someone with engineering genius being celebrated. That's not exactly what he's being celebrated for, but I think in some ways that's maybe the least concerning piece of it.

It's surprising that people aren't more concerned about the idea that you would go from extraordinary, unrivaled business success, to Hollywood fame celebrity stardom, to political aspirations that bring you in and out of the White House, to a pursuit of a position of power possibly over communication across the whole planet. It's very much like a scripted Marvel moment where people keep giving this character more and more power, and the viewer's like, "I think he might be evil." But people still give him more power. This is kind of where we are in the movie moment right now. We just don't quite know.

This episode of 'It's Been a Minute' was produced by Barton Girdwood, Liam McBain, Jessica Mendoza, Janet Woojeong Lee and Jamila Huxtable. Engineering support came from Joby Tanseco and Natasha Branch. It was edited by Jessica Placzek. Our executive producer is Veralyn Williams, our VP of Programming is Yolanda Sangweni and our Senior VP of Programming is Anya Grundmann. You can follow us on Twitter @npritsbeenamin and email us at ibam@npr.org.

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How Elon Musk used sci-fi and social media to shape his narrative : It's Been a Minute - NPR

Haunted Montreal recently announced its new ghost tour created for the 2022 Halloween season, set in Old Montreal, featuring twisted tales of deranged ghosts and paranormal activity in the citys most haunted neighborhood.

With its cobblestone streets and timeworn buildings, some dating back to the 1600s, Old Montreal is a popular neighborhood for tourists and residents alike.However, as the site of the French colonial establishment of Ville-Marie in 1642, it also has an extremely dark and disturbing side. The area has witnessed countless horrors brutal colonization, bloody guerilla warfare, unspeakable tragedies, heinous crimes, shocking executions, and the imposition of European Imperial regimes.

The Haunted Old Montreal ghost walk visits the Place dArmes, Cours Le Royer, the Courthouse District, Place Vauquelin, Champs-de-Mars, Jacques Cartier Square, and the infamous Chateau Ramezay areas said to be rife with paranormal activity and ghost-sightings.

Guests will learn the deranged stories of various ghosts and other apparitions, including Marie-Joseph Anglique, a slave woman who was hanged during the New France era; Jeanne Le Ber, a Catholic recluse who frequently self-flagellated; and the Demon of the Htel-Dieu Hospital. Other spirits include the babbling decapitated head of Jean Saint-Pre, wife-murderer Adolphus Dewey and former museum warden and perfectionist Miss ODowd.

The Haunted Old Montreal ghost walk also features dark history, including strange colonial legends and their Indigenous detractors, forgotten cemeteries, devastating fires, sickening tales, unsavory plaques and statues and unmarked colonial sites of torture, barbarity, and execution.

Led by a professional actor and storyteller, this ghost tour will please ghost hunters, history buffs, and Halloween lovers with its creepy tales of paranormal activity and the ghostly spirits that haunt Old Montreal!

Visit Haunted Old Montrealfor more information.

Haunted Montreal

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New ghost tour unearths the grisly side of Old Montreal this Halloween season - The Suburban Newspaper

As the UK gets set to return to launching its own satellites after half a century, where might Britain's space sector be in 2035 and beyond? RICHARD GARDNER reports from Space-Comm Expo22.

Space Comm Expo22 which took place at Farnborough, Hants on 6-7 September presented a timely window on just how much progress is being undertaken to raise the bar on UK involvement in space, generating new policies, innovations, and capabilities needed to deliver on the vast potential that awaits those prepared to invest appropriately.

Once again a new global space-race is underway, with the global space economy expected to grow from 270bn in 2019 to 490bn by 2030, according to the governments National Space Strategy. Furthermore, the UK space sector is determined to grab a much larger proportion of it.

This is as exciting as ever, despite a grim current economic backdrop, as new breakthroughs emerge that are showing how advances in human and robotic space exploration will lead to new sources of raw materials and manufacturing in space. Alongside developments ranging from large, automated orbital platforms to micro-satellites capable of operating individually or within a global mesh, the UK is also well on its way to establishing multiple launch facilities within its own national boundaries for the first time. This opens up capability for speeding the pace of satellite launches and lowering launch costs as well as offering new sector competition.

Any future Moon Base will need more than just solar power to maintain the output needed to provide continuous power generation. Rolls-Royce is designing Micro Reactors for this very purpose. (Rolls-Royce)

The potential for new, lower cost UK military satellite projects is likely to become even more important as it confers greater operational flexibility in national defence planning. Providing UK vertical launch bases, space-ports for air-launches, with infrastructure and control elements, and a new generation of launch vehicles, complete the missing links in the total UK space offering. Alongside sits global leadership in small and micro satellites for LEO use, complex commercial, and military GEO satellites and exploratory space vehicles, including participation in deep space probes and expeditionary planetary programmes.

In a session dedicated to discussing UK National Space Growth, David Morris MP, Deputy Government Whip, told the audience that he was very proud to have been given the portfolio as Space Champion and had previously been Chairman of the Space Group of MPs. He had recently visited Machrihanish in Western Scotland where he saw progress on Skyrora engine testing in preparation for a UK launch, with five sites now agreed for development. He said, The UK is now playing catch-up, 50 years on, to re-enter a global market for orbital delivery where we aim to capture a 10% share, starting later this year. This will bring new high skill employment opportunities across the sector and we look forward to numbers rising from 47K to 100K as new jobs emerge and innovative applications, such as manufacturing in space, receive incentivised commercial as well as official support.

Morris added that via the Return to the Moon programme the UK had an important communications role in tracking space vehicle movements and also expertise in producing service and habitation modules that would be needed for a Moon station. He said that the wider public still take for granted the benefits brought about in everyday life by space access, and they dont realise that there is a return of 12 for every 1 invested. He said, The UKs space effort is a lot more than simply the sum of its parts, and we should speak out to be heard in Government.

Space Comm Expo22 took place at Farnborough on 6-7 September. (Richard Gardner/RAeS)

Space Comm Expo is now the UKs biggest space-focussed event, and provided a very encouraging glimpse of progress through top-level conference sessions featuring 80 keynote speakers and supported by over 150 exhibitors, representing a 65% increase over the previous event. The speaker programmes extended over the shows two days, and the subjects included: Duel-use satellites- civil and military; Nano-micro-satellites, Integrating and sharing the digital fabric of space; Prospects for the colonisation of Mars; Connectivity with the Moon; Sustainability for Small Satellites; Space and weather prediction; Future space travel; Space security; Space partnerships; Space cyber security; Space domain protection; Space and Net Zero and the Economic development of space. The sessions were introduced by familiar television space and science presenters Dallas Campbell and Dr Maggie Aderin Pocock. Amongst the guest speakers were: Dr Paul Bate, CEO, UK Space; John Hanley, Chair, UK Space; Ian Annett, Deputy CEO Project Delivery, UK Space; Kevin Craven, CEO ADS; Andrew Staniland, CEO, Thales Alenia; Rebecca Evernden, Director for Space, BEISD; Elizabeth Seward, Head of Space Strategy, BAE Systems; Pam Underwood, Director, Spaceports, FAA; and Malissa Thorpe, CEO Spaceport Cornwall.

The strong international representation at the show was reflected in the numbers of overseas businesses exhibiting and participating in conference sessions, some 35%, including 20% from the US. Many now have UK bases as well as partnering agreements, with expanding centres of excellence, working closely with the UK Space Agency, UK regulatory authorities and various UK government-supported specialist advanced technology organisations and academia.

A computer generated image of the Skynet 5D satellite in orbit. The Skynet project sustains approximately 800 British jobs. (MoD)

While other specialised military space-focused conferences have been held recently in the UK, defence was also featured in the sessions. Airbus and Northrop Grumman have combined to bring the best of UK and US space communications capabilities together in the latest progression of the UKs Skynet programme, originally started 50 years ago. It is at the forefront of providing secure global military communications for UK Forces and its allies. Airbus is the prime integrator and the UK MoD has supported an expansion of the Skynet architecture which includes upgraded ground stations as well as the supply of new satellites.

Protecting Global Security was the subject of a session which included Air Commodore Mark Flewen, Head of Operations, Plans and Training in UK Space Command. He underlined the criticality of collaboration to secure data and intelligence that was essential to decision-making in the face of an evolving global threat. Flewen told the audience, Anti-satellite activities, including interference, were increasing with methods including interception, jamming and laser dazzling, and a UK Space Ops Centre was expanding with a commercial integration cell, to enable us to monitor nefarious activity out there. This will also have the capability for the development, procurement and operation of new space assets.

Cardiff-based Space Forge is pioneering returnable satellites that are designed for manufacturing next generation super materials in space. (Space Forge)

Many speakers made reference to the need to encourage young specialists to provide an expanding future workforce of scientists, engineers and innovators. It should be a question of training up the best of the best talented candidates working closely with academia, but recognising that suitable talent from abroad should not be excluded, and also due inclusion of those enterprising innovators in small start-ups who can offer unconventional solutions that might produce genuine breakthroughs.

One such example is Space Forge, which didnt exist before the Covid crisis, but in less than three years the young team has gone from working in a garage to growing a company that created a small payload, offering experiments relating to space manufacturing, that will be carried into orbit aboard the first new UK launch vehicle. The company believes that the development of returnable and repairable satellites and orbital fabrication will help reduce operating and sustainment costs as well as reducing waste and adding to the total of space debris that is an increasing menace.

Astroscales QR-style magnetic docking plate is designed to be compatible with a variety of capture mechanisms, either magnetic or robotic. (Richard Gardner/RAeS)

One barrier to space manufacturing is limited capacity where it can be done, and reusable space platform architecture is needed. The International Space Station (ISS) was intended to run on until 2030 but with the earlier than planned withdrawal of Russian participation, US-European co-operation on a future orbital base will develop in a different direction.

Apart from its limited internal size, the problem with using the ISS for experimental manufacturing, as discussed in one conference session, is that it created a task backlog ensuring a long waiting time to carry out proposed new experiments.

How to use space infrastructure to get the best value from new investments touched on such issues as how to refuel space platforms to extend orbital life of satellites and how to use robotics to maintain or up-grade them in-orbit, or assist in safe removal. Some of these associated innovations are destined to be expensive and demanding to bring to market, while others are delightfully simple. Just such an example was to be found on the Astroscale stand in the form of a QR-style magnetic docking plate. The plate is designed to be flexible and adaptable and is compatible with a variety of capture mechanisms, either magnetic or robotic. Fixing this onto satellites before launch will allow easy follow-up access in space. Its designed for an in-space life of over 15 years and aimed at future-proofing docking systems on small satellites.

Much was discussed about using the micro-gravity of space to create new materials and components that will support platforms and other activities in space, but space manufacturing for use on Earth also opens up new areas of possible future growth. Making next-generation semi-conductors could extend benefits throughout the terrestrial supply chain, but how and where manufacture might be located, and the products transported back to Earth, opens up new transfer issues. The end-to-end solution, including sustainment of orbital space or Moon-based enabling infrastructure assets, will prove to be highly expensive to establish. Trying to find ways of making these future visions come true is no longer a science-fiction fantasy and the Space Comm exhibition and conference highlighted how the UK Space sector community is rising to many of these new challenges.

Activity covers development of advanced in-space robotics and micro-engineering, the creation of a global connectivity and observation mesh, and all aspects of returning to the Moon to establish bases for long-term, sustainable human habitation and exploration, potential mining of rare minerals, and fabrication of space platforms and assembly of deep space vehicles, and then beyond to the next already identified goal a Mars base. At the core of enabling these bold visions to become a reality will be the mix and availability of human ingenuity and what quantum physics will be able to deliver beyond artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Rolls-Royce has designed Micro Reactors for use on the Moon and other demanding operating environments where continuous, consistent, highly-efficient and emission-free power is demanded. (Rolls-Royce)

The Rolls-Royce exhibition stand featured an eye-catching model of a Micro Reactor, set against an impression of a future Moon Base. The company enjoys a 60 year pedigree in nuclear power provision, including building powerplants for the UKs nuclear submarine fleet. It has now designed Micro Reactors for use where continuous, consistent, highly-efficient and emissions-free power is demanded, in a compact package, operating in demanding operating environments. Space is just one example and comes with its own challenges, but Mark Cheesman, Rolls-Royces Head of Business Development and Future Programmes, explained to AEROSPACE that a future Moon Base will need more than just solar power to maintain the output needed to provide continuous power generation through cycles which include 14 days of dark and surface temperatures which vary from +250 to -100C. NASA is committed to a Fission Surface Power programme that would lead to a full development programme in 2030 and this would act as a steppingstone to a very suitable base solution he explained. The Micro Reactor is a very safe design solution with tiny uranium oxide pellets sealed within silicon carbide layers. This is a dry environment and wont release any fission products. The design is scalable and there are no moving parts and operations would be passive and remotely monitored in use.

In a mining situation either in space or on earth its adoption would slash costs and provide continuous power independently of the day/night conditions for comprehensive power services on the Moon Base. It would also provide a well-suited power solution for a follow up base on Mars. There is always a regulatory challenge dealing with radical new technologies but if any company can deliver on the promise it has been shown that Rolls-Royces optimism is to be believed.

This year's Royal Aeronautical Society President's Conference, hosted by2022 President Peter Round FRAeS, will take place at 4 Hamilton Place and online between 18-19 October and is titled New Space. It will bring together experts and practitioners in order to inform potential users of the current and future capabilities of commercial new space and its benefits to society. Recent rapid increase of availability of launch, and reducing costs of launch, now mean that access to space is a commercial reality. Thousands of companies are now looking at how space can be used that wouldnt have in previous years because it was deemed as unaffordable to do so.

The conference will:

- Look at current and evolving trends in the global space sector from the perspective of the primes, the people and the skills required, finance, new business and infrastructure and the importance of launch as a national capability.- Analyse the need for regulation (congestion in space, space control etc.) and the funding of new space (how do financial markets invest and what does the future look like).- Allow you to hear from new space operators, bringing together an impressive panel of speakers from across the world.- Discuss how the UK can become a space power by 2030 and its path to get there.

For more details, visit:https://www.aerosociety.com/events-calendar/raes-presidents-conference-new-space/

Richard Gardner FRAeS 14 October 2022

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Competing in the new 'Space Race' - Royal Aeronautical Society

2015 film by Ridley Scott

The Martian is a 2015 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon. Drew Goddard adapted the screenplay from the 2011 novel The Martian by Andy Weir. The film depicts an astronaut's lone struggle to survive on Mars after being left behind and the efforts of NASA to rescue him and bring him home to Earth. It also stars Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Kristen Wiig, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sean Bean, Michael Pea, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan, Aksel Hennie, Mackenzie Davis, Donald Glover, and Benedict Wong.

Produced through 20th Century Fox, the film is a coproduction of the United Kingdom and the United States. Producer Simon Kinberg began developing the film after Fox optioned the novel in March 2013, which Drew Goddard adapted into a screenplay and was initially attached to direct, but the film did not move forward. Scott replaced Goddard as director, and with Damon in place as the main character, production was approved. Filming began in November 2014 and lasted approximately seventy days. Twenty sets were built on one of the largest sound stages in the world in Budapest, Hungary. Wadi Rum in Jordan was also used for exterior filming.

The film premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2015, while the London premiere was held on September 24, 2015. The film was released in the United Kingdom on September 30, 2015, and in the United States on October 2, 2015, in 2D, 3D, IMAX 3D and 4DX.[5] It received positive reviews and grossed over $630 million worldwide, becoming Scott's highest-grossing film to date, as well as the 10th-highest-grossing film of 2015. The Martian received praise for its direction, visual effects, musical score, screenplay, scientific accuracy, and likability, largely due to Damon's performance. It received several accolades, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, seven nominations at the 88th Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay for Goddard, and the 2016 long form Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. Damon won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and was nominated for several awards including the Academy Award for Best Actor, the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and the Critics' Choice Award for Best Actor.

In 2035, the crew of the Ares III mission to Mars is exploring Acidalia Planitia on Martian solar day (sol)18 of their 31-sol expedition. A severe dust storm threatens to topple their Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV). The mission is scrubbed, but as the crew evacuates, astronaut Mark Watney is struck by debris. The telemetry from his suit's bio-monitor is damaged and Watney is erroneously presumed dead. With the MAV (Mars Ascent Vehicle) on the verge of toppling, the remaining crew takes off for their orbiting vessel, the Hermes.

Watney awakens after the storm, injured and with a low-oxygen warning. He returns to the crew's surface habitat ("Hab") and treats his wound. As Watney recovers, he begins a video diary. Unable to communicate with Earth, his only chance of rescue is the next Mars mission. In four years, the Ares IV will land 3,200 kilometers (2,000mi) away at the Schiaparelli crater. Watney's immediate concern is food; being a botanist, he creates a garden inside the Hab using Martian soil fertilized with the crew's bio-waste and manufactures water from leftover rocket fuel. He then cultivates potatoes using whole potatoes reserved for a special Thanksgiving meal. He also begins modifying the rover for the journey to the Ares IV MAV site.

On Earth, NASA satellite planner Mindy Park, reviewing satellite images, notices moved equipment and realizes Watney must be alive. NASA director Teddy Sanders releases the news to the public, but decides not to tell the Ares III crew so that they will remain focused on their mission, over flight director Mitch Henderson's strong objection.

Watney takes the rover on a one-month journey to retrieve the Pathfinder probe, which fell silent in 1997. Using Pathfinder's camera and motor, he establishes visual contact with NASA. NASA transmits a software patch to link the rover with Pathfinder, enabling communication by text. Sanders finally allows Henderson to inform Watney's crewmates.

Mars missions director Vincent Kapoor and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) director Bruce Ng prepare a space probe to deliver enough food for Watney to survive until Ares IV's arrival. However, the Hab's airlock blows out, exposing the Hab to the harsh Martian environment; the potato plants all die. Now, to save time, Sanders orders the routine safety inspections be bypassed. His gamble fails, and the Atlas V rocket explodes soon after lift-off.

The China National Space Administration has developed a secret booster rocket, the Taiyang Shen (lit. the "Sun God"). The decision is made to use the rocket to resupply Watney. However, JPL astrodynamicist Rich Purnell devises an alternative plan: have the Taiyang Shen rendezvous with and resupply the Hermes, which will then use Earth's gravity to "slingshot" back to Mars two years earlier than Ares IV. Sanders rejects the idea, considering it too risky for the Hermes crew. Henderson surreptitiously sends Purnell's proposal to the crew; they unanimously vote to implement it without seeking NASA approval, disabling NASA's remote controls and making the course change. Sanders is forced to support them publicly, but demands Henderson resign after the Ares III mission is complete.

Watney begins the 90-sol journey to Schiaparelli, where the MAV for Ares IV has been pre-positioned. He must use it to rendezvous with the Hermes, but it needs to be lightened considerably. After takeoff, when the MAV runs out of fuel, its velocity relative to the Hermes is not fast enough for Watney to be picked up. Commander Lewis quickly improvises, using an explosive to breach a forward airlock, resulting in air escaping violently and slowing down the Hermes. It is still not enough; using a tethered Manned Maneuvering Unit, Lewis is unable to reach Watney. Watney pierces his pressure suit, using the escaping air to propel himself to Lewis, ending his 543 sols alone on Mars.

After returning to Earth, Watney becomes a survival instructor for astronaut candidates. Five years later, as the Ares V is about to launch, those involved in Watney's rescue are seen in their current lives.

Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain

Chastain prepared for her role by meeting with astronauts and scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. She was inspired by astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson, saying "She's very matter of fact, very straightforward. My character is dealing with the guilt of leaving a crew member behind, but she's still responsible for the lives of five other crew mates. I tried to play her as Tracy would have been in those moments."[8] Damon prepared for the role by a different method than Chastain. He explained, "For me the rehearsal process was sitting with Ridley and going kind of line-by-line and moment-by-moment through the script and playing out a plan of attack for what we wanted each scene to accomplish."[9]

The Media Action Network for Asian-Americans (MANAA) criticized the casting of white actor Mackenzie Davis as Mindy Park who it said was described by author Andy Weir as Korean-American. The group also criticized the casting of Chiwetel Ejiofor as Vincent Kapoor, who the MANAA said Weir described as an Asian Indian character. In the novel, the character's name was Venkat Kapoor, and he identifies religiously as a Hindu (a Baptist and a Hindu in the film). The group called the casting whitewashing and said that Asian actors, being under-represented in Hollywood, were deprived of acting opportunities.[6] Weir said in October 2015 he perceived Mindy Park as Korean but said he did not explicitly write her as Korean. He also dismissed criticism of Ejiofor's casting as Kapoor, "[Kapoor]'s an American. Americans come from lots of different sources. You can be Venkat Kapoor and black."[7] In the original novel, Weir intentionally avoided including the physical descriptions of his characters.[7]

Naomi Scott was cast as Ryoko, a member of the JPL team. She filmed her scenes but they were removed from the final cut, resulting in her appearance becoming a silent role.[10]

The Martian was directed by Scott and based on a screenplay by Drew Goddard that was adapted from Weir's 2011 novel of the same name. 20th Century Fox optioned the novel in March 2013, and producer Simon Kinberg was attached to develop the novel into a film.[11] The following May, Goddard entered negotiations with the studio to write and direct The Martian.[12] Goddard wrote a screenplay for the film[13] and Matt Damon expressed interest in starring under Goddard's direction. Goddard then pursued an opportunity to direct Sinister Six, a comic book film about a team of supervillains.[14] Kinberg then brought the book to Scott's attention.[15] In May 2014, Scott entered negotiations with the studio to direct the film with Damon cast as the film's stranded astronaut.[16] Scott said he was attracted by the emphasis on science and thought a balance could be struck between entertainment and learning. Damon said he was attracted by the novel, the screenplay, and the opportunity to work with Scott.[17] Following Scott's commitment, the project picked up the pace and was quickly approved.[18] Goddard has since expressed that he felt Scott made a much better film than he could have directed, telling Creative Screenwriting, "When it's Scott, collaboration is easy because I just revere him. Every day I would just look around and think, 'Is that really Ridley Scott sitting there at the table? This is exciting!'"[19]

Korda Studios 26 kilometres (16mi) west of Budapest, Hungary, in the wine-making village of Etyek was chosen for filming interior scenes of The Martian. It was favored for having one of the largest sound stages in the world.[20][21] Filming began in Hungary on November 24, 2014.[22] Around 20 sets were constructed for the film, which was filmed with 3D cameras.[21] Actual potatoes were grown in a sound stage next to the one used for filming. They were planted at different times so that different stages of growth could be shown in film scenes.[23] A team of six people built 15 suits for the film. External scenes, some with Matt Damon, were filmed in Wadi Rum, a UNESCO world heritage site located in Jordan, over eight days in March 2015.[21][24][25] Wadi Rum had been used as a location for other films set on Mars, including Mission to Mars (2000), Red Planet (2000) and The Last Days on Mars (2013).[26] Total filming time for the film lasted approximately 70 days.[21]A special Mars rover model was built for the filming; the movie cast and team presented the rover model to Jordan in return for the hospitality they had received. The rover is now exhibited in Jordan's Royal Automobile Museum.[27][28]

Weir avoided writing Watney as lonely and depressed in his novel. While Watney's humor is preserved in the film, Scott also depicted the character's isolation in the vast, dusty Martian landscape. Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "The scenes back on Earth provide a hectic, densely populated counterweight to the Martian aridity, which is magnificently represented by exteriors shot in the vicinity of Wadi Rum in Jordan."[29] Damon said he and Scott were inspired by the documentary film Touching the Void (2003), which featured trapped mountain climbers.[30] Scott also expected to film Watney as a Robinson Crusoe, a character in full isolation, but learned to film Watney differently since the character would be self-monitoring his behavior under the watch of various mission cameras.[23]

According to Scott, the first cut of the movie was 2 hours and 45 minutes long.[31] An extended cut of the movie was released on home video.[32][33]

When the novel was first published, NASA invited Weir to tour the Johnson Space Center and Jet Propulsion Laboratory. When Scott began preparing the film, Weir contacted NASA to collaborate on the film.[34] When Scott and producer Mark Huffam had their first production meeting, they called NASA and spoke with its film and television liaison Bert Ulrich.[35] NASA decided to assist the filmmakers with depicting the science and technology in The Martian since it saw potential in promoting space exploration.[34]

Key NASA staff members that joined the partnership were James L. Green, the Director of the Planetary Science Division, and Dave Lavery, the Program Executive for Solar System Exploration.[35] Scott conversed with Green twice before filming started. Over a period of a month, NASA answered hundreds of questionson a weekly basison everything from radioisotope systems to the look of potential "habs"the residences for future Mars astronauts. The questions were answered by Green or passed on to the right expert, and then came back to Scott's team to make their way into the production.[36][37] The space agency also sent hundreds of files of real images of Mars and images of control centers, down to what the computer screens look like, to the production team.[38] Green arranged a tour of the Johnson Space Center in Houston for production designer Arthur Max, who met with individual specialists, taking hundreds of photos as he went for eight hours.[36][38] The production designer created a futuristic, heavily modernized Mission Control as a studio set; Ars Technica described its depiction as "the space agency that we all dream of" and the opposite of the real Johnson Center's appearance as "a run down college campus".[39]

Newsweek said NASA collaborated more with The Martian than most other films: "Staff from many NASA departments consulted on the film, from script development through principal photography, and are now helping with marketing timed to the theatrical release."[35] As part of the collaboration, the production's NASA liaison included the front page of the script for the film in the payload of the spacecraft Orion during its Exploration Flight Test 1 on December 5, 2014.[40]

The Los Angeles Times said NASA and the wider scientific community anticipated the film as a way to publicize a human mission to Mars. The New York Times reports that the film "serves as a nice plug for NASA, which has returned the favor by pushing the movie on its website. (On Monday [September 28, 2015], scientists announced that signs of liquid water could be seen in photographs taken on Mars by a camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter,[41][42] timing that suggests NASA certainly has the whole cross-promotion thing down.)"[43] Jim Erickson, NASA project manager, said the film would show moviegoers "the risks and rewards" of humans traveling to Mars.[44]

In October 2015, NASA presented a new web tool to follow Watney's trek across Mars[45] and details of NASA's next steps, as well as a health hazards report[46][47] for a real-world human journey to Mars.[48][49][50]

In 2016, then sitting U.S. President Barack Obama who made the annual NASA budget requests to Congress, named The Martian as among the best science fiction films he had ever seen.[51]

Harry Gregson-Williams composed the score for The Martian. It is the fourth collaboration between Gregson-Williams and Scott. Gregson-Williams previously worked on music for Scott's films Kingdom of Heaven (2005), Prometheus (2012) and Exodus: Gods and Kings, composing the main film score for the first and last films, and doing additional music for the other two.[52]

A running gag in the film is commander Melissa Lewis's love for 1970s songs (especially of the disco genre, which apparently Watney hates), the only music available to Watney on Mars which often appears as diegetic music. The soundtrack includes:[53]

The exit music, which includes "Don't Leave Me This Way" and "I Will Survive," is a commentary on Watney's situation on Mars.[54]

20th Century Fox launched a viral marketing campaign for The Martian.[55] On June 7, 2015, NASA astronaut Michael J. Massimino shared an in-universe video diary depicting Damon's character and the other crew members.[56][57] Ars Technica compared the video diary to similar viral videos marketed for Scott's 2012 film Prometheus in having a similar "style of slickly produced fictional promotional material". The studio then released an official trailer on June 8.[58] Forbes said, "20th Century Fox has cut together a pretty perfect trailer in that it absolutely makes the sale. It establishes the stakes, offers a sympathetic lead character, shows off an all-star cast, tosses out a potential catchphrase, and ends on a grimly humorous tagline."[59] In response to the trailer, Jimmy Kimmel, host of the late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live!, released a spoof trailer, The Mastronaut: Emission to Mars, that edited the original to parody the film.[60]

At the start of August, Fox released another video, depicting interviews with each of the main crew members.[61] Mid-month, the studio released another film trailer, and NASA hosted a "Martian Day" at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to both promote The Martian and highlight the space program's ongoing efforts to carry out a human mission to Mars.[37] At the end of August, Fox released another video, presenting it as a special episode of the TV series StarTalk in which astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson discusses the hazards of traveling to Mars.[62] In September, Scott's RSA Films released a teaser for The Martian that depicted Damon wearing Under Armour sports clothing and being active in his off-world tasks.[63] The teaser originated from a collaboration between RSA Films and the marketing shop 3AM (under theatrical advertising agency Wild Card), initiated in 2014, to produce advertising content for The Martian. RSA contacted the advertising agency Droga5, under whom Under Armour is a client.[64] Droga5 ultimately collaborated with WME and 3AM to produce the teaser.[63]

Forbes's Peter Himler said American astronauts had traditionally been used by public relations to promote commercial products, starting with the drink Tang. Himler said it "came as no surprise" that NASA astronauts in the International Space Station were reported by The Guardian and CBS News as having read Weir's novel and hoping to see the film on board the ISS.[65] NASA participated in the marketing of the film despite its lack of involvement with previous films. Though it turned down a request for Interstellar to be screened on the ISS,[38] The Martian was screened on board[66] 402km (250 miles) above the Earth's surface on September 19, 2015, and also at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, and at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral on October 1, 2015.[38]

In November 2015, 20th Century Fox announced The Martian VR Experience, a "virtual reality adventure" where viewers play as Mark Watney and reenact scenes from the film.[67] The project was executive produced by Scott alongside Joel Newton and directed by Robert Stromberg. It was released for HTC Vive and PlayStation VR on November 15, 2016, and is also available for the Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear VR.[68] The project won 2 major awards; a Silver Lion at the Cannes Film Festival and an AICP Award.

The Martian premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2015.[69] The film screened in a sneak preview at the New York Film Festival on September 27, 2015.[70] It also screened at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, on September 29, 2015.[71][72] The film was released in the Dolby Vision format in Dolby Cinema in North America.[73]

Two months before The Martian's release, BoxOffice forecast that the film would gross $46 million on its opening weekend in the United States and ultimately $172 million in its theatrical run. The magazine said positive factors for its performance included the continued sales of Weir's novel, Scott's success with past science fiction films, and the positive reception of prior space-based films Gravity (2013) and Interstellar (2014). The magazine said negative factors included Damon not being a consistent draw at the box office, Gravity and Interstellar setting high expectations, and Scott's "stumble" with his previous film Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014).[74] A week before the film's release, pre-release trackings in North America (United States and Canada) showed that the film was on pace to earn between $4050 million at its opening weekend from 3,826 theaters.[75]

In comparison to other contemporary space films, Gravity, facing far less competition, opened to a better-than-expected $55.8 million in 2013. In November 2014, Interstellar debuted to $47.5 million.[75] Unlike Gravity and Interstellar, which had the benefit of IMAX locations, boosting profits, The Martian was not initially playing in IMAX, since IMAX was committed to an exclusive run of Robert Zemeckis' The Walk. The Martian played in more than 350 premium large-format theaters including 2,550 3D locations.[75][76] Also, the film was released several days after the announcement of NASA's discovery of water on Mars' planetary surface,[41][42] which might have aided in boosting its opening.[77] Ticket selling website Fandango reported that the film was outselling Gravity.[77] Unlike Gravity, The Martian did not contain abundant 3D spectacle (even though it was filmed in 3D), and was longer than Gravity.[78]

The Martian was a financial success.[79] It grossed $228.4 million in the United States & Canada and $402.2 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $630.6 million against a budget of $108 million.[4] Worldwide, it was the highest-grossing Fox film of 2015 and the tenth-highest-grossing film of that year overall.[80] Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $150.32 million, accounting for production budgets, P&A, talent participations, and other costs, with box office grosses, and ancillary revenues from home media, placing it tenth on their list of 2015's "Most Valuable Blockbusters";[81] and The Hollywood Reporter reported around $80100 million profits for the film.[82]

The film was released in theaters in 2D and 3D.[83] In the United Kingdom, it was released on September 30, 2015, a Wednesday,[84] and in the United States on the following Friday, October 2, 2015.[85] It was also released in 49 markets including Mexico, Hong Kong, India and Taiwan from the weekend October 24, 2015 and expanded to Germany, Russia, and South Korea the following weekend. It opened in Spain on October 16, then France on October 21. China opened on November 25 and Japan bowed in the first quarter of 2016 on February 5.[86][87] Various sites estimated the film to gross between $45 and $50 million over its opening weekend in the United States.[88]

In North America, it opened on Friday, October 2, 2015, and earned $18.06 million on its opening day of which $2 million came from premium large formats from 3,831 theaters.[89][90] The film's Friday gross included $2.5 million from late-night Thursday screenings that took place in 2,800 theaters.[91] During its opening weekend, it earned $54.3 million from 3,831 theaters ranking first at the box office which is the second biggest October opening, behind Gravity ($55.7 million) and the second biggest for Scott, behind Hannibal ($58 million) and Damon, behind The Bourne Ultimatum ($69.2 million).[4] The film made $6 million at 375 premium large format screens.[92] 3D accounted for 45% of the ticket sales while RealD 3D accounted for 42% or $23 million of that sales which is one of highest for the 3D company in 2015.[92] The film fell short of breaking Gravity's record which might have been hurt by Hurricane Joaquin, the NFL season and the last day of the Major League Baseball regular season.[92] In its second weekend of release, it dropped gradually by 31.9% and earned $37 million from 3,854 theaters (+23 theaters) maintaining the top position. The Martian's demographics in its sophomore weekend remained in sync with its opening frame drawing 52% males and 72% over 25.[93] It topped the box office for two consecutive weekends before being dethroned by Goosebumps in its third weekend after a close race between the two ($23.6 million for Goosebumps and $21.3 million for The Martian).[94][95] It returned to the top of the box office for the third time in its fourth weekend,[96] and went on the top the box office for four non-consecutive weekends[97] before being overtaken by Spectre in its fifth weekend.[98] On November 5, the film surpassed Gladiator ($187.7 million) to become Scott's highest-grossing film at the domestic box office.[99]

Internationally, The Martian was released in a total of 81 countries.[100] Outside North America, it opened on the same weekend in 54 markets and grossed $44.6 million from 9,299 screens topping the international box office as well as opening at No. 1 in over 15 markets.[86] The following weekend, it added 23 more markets and grossed an estimated $57.5 million from 77 markets from 12,859 screens.[100] Its opening weekends in South Korea ($12.5 million)[nb 1], the United Kingdom, Ireland and Malta ($10.2 million), Russia and the CIS ($7.4 million), France ($6.9 million), Australia ($4.5 million) and Germany ($4.3 million; behind Inside Out) represented its largest takings.[86][100][102] In terms of total earnings, the United Kingdom ($35.3 million), South Korea ($33.6 million), Australia ($16.57 million) and Germany ($16 million) are the top markets.[103][104] In South Korea, it became Fox's third-highest-grossing film ever behind Avatar (2009) and Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015).[103] It topped the box office outside of North America for two consecutive weekends before being overtaken by Ant-Man in its third weekend[105] but returned to the top in its fourth weekend.[102] In its fifth weekend, it was surpassed by Spectre thereby topping the international box office for three weekends in total.[103] The Martian opened in China on Wednesday, November 25 and earned $50 million in its five-day opening weekend from 4,848 screens of which $6.6 million came from 249 IMAX theaters.[106] In its second weekend, it fell by 60% to $13.7 million,[107] while in total, it grossed $95 million there.[108] It opened in Japan on February 5, 2016 under the name Odyssey,[100][109] where it earned $5.2 million from 8,333 screens in its three-day opening weekend, debuting at No. 1 at the box office and helped the film push past the $600 million mark. Its Saturday and Sunday take was $4.25 million.[109][110] It dropped just 19% in its second after adding $3.4 million.[111] It has topped the box office there for four consecutive weekends and as of February 28 has grossed a total of $23.2 million.[112][113]

For its United States release, the film was originally scheduled to be released on November 25, 2015, but 20th Century Fox switched The Martian with Victor Frankenstein so that the former would be its first film for all audiences in the country's fall season (SeptemberNovember).[114] On the film's 3D screenings, RealD's chief Anthony Marcoly said 3D technology was proliferating from action-packed blockbuster films commonly released in the United States' summer season. Marcoly said the technology was being used in more immersive storytelling, citing The Martian and The Walk (released the same year) as two examples.[83]

The Martian was released on Blu-ray and DVD on January 12, 2016. It was released on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on February 14, 2016. An extended cut of the film adding an additional ten minutes was released on June 7, 2016.[33]

On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 91%, with an average rating of 7.9/10, based on 383 reviews. The website's critics consensus read, "Smart, thrilling, and surprisingly funny, The Martian offers a faithful adaptation of the bestselling book that brings out the best in leading man Matt Damon and director Ridley Scott."[115] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 80 out of 100 based on 46 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[116] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it an average 4.5 out of 5 stars and a 66% "definite recommend". Audience demographics were 54% men and a total 59% over 35.[117]

The Martian received praise for its direction, visual effects, musical score, screenplay, scientific accuracy, and likability, largely due to Damon's performance.[118] Variety reported, "Critics are calling the film a funny, thrilling ride, and a return to form for [Ridley] Scott after The Counselor and Exodus: Gods and Kings fell flat."[119] According to aerospace engineer Dr. Robert Zubrin, commenting in The Guardian:

[The film] is the first genuine Mars movie. It is the first movie that attempts to be realistic and that is actually about human beings grappling with the problems of exploring Mars, as opposed to various movies set on Mars that are essentially either shoot 'em ups or horror films. It does not engage in fantasy: no monsters, no magic, no Nazis. However, there are a number of technical mistakes.[120]

Writing for the New York Post, Lou Lumenick considered the film to be Scott's and Damon's best and thought that it is a "straightforward and thrilling survival-and-rescue adventure, without the metaphysical and emotional trappings of Interstellar".[121] Manohla Dargis, of The New York Times, stated that the film "involves a dual journey into outer and inner space, a trip that takes you into that immensity called the universe and deep into the equally vast landscape of a single consciousness. For this accidental castaway, space is the place where he's physically marooned, but also where his mind is set free", from a film director, whose "great, persistent theme is what it means to be human".[43]

Negative reviews focused on the lack of character depth or atmosphere. Jaime N. Christley, writing in Slant Magazine, commented, "It goes in for the idea of texture, tics, and human behavior, but there's no conviction, and no real push for eccentricity. ... It hardly seems interested in its characters or in any depiction of their work, settling instead for types of characters and kinds of scenes, correctly placed among the pendulum swings of Watney's dramatic journey."[122] In The Village Voice, Stephanie Zacharek stated that the actors "are treated as accessories", and that the director is "workmanlike in his approach to science, which always trumps magic in The Martianthat's the point. But if we can't feel a sense of wonder at the magnitude and mystery of space, why even bother?"[123] In Cinemixtape, J. Olson commented: "Ridley Scott and company have concocted the most colossally mediocre sci-fi movie of the decade, all in pursuit of empty backslapping and a grade school level celebration of science. Not only is The Martian not in the same class as Scott's two masterpieces Alien and Blade Runner it's not even on the same continent."[124]

The Martian was listed on nearly two dozen critics' top ten lists for 2015.[125]

The film was included in many critics' Top Ten Films of 2015 lists.[125] The film received various industry awards and nominations including 26 Best Picture, 20 Best Director (for Scott), and 19 Best Actor (for Damon) nominations at different organizations and associations.[126] The American Film Institute selected The Martian as one of the Top Ten Films of the year.[127] The film garnered two Golden Globe Awards for Best Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and Best Actor Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Damon. Scott was also nominated for Best Director. It received nine nominations from the Broadcast Film Critics Association, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Visual Effects. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay.[128]

The Martian was named Film of the Year by National Board of Review also winning Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay. Ranked at position eight, it won the Top Ten Films of the year award at African-American Film Critics Association. It received eight nominations from Satellite Awards including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor Motion Picture, Best Screenplay Adapted, and Best Visual Effects.[129]

The Martian was named one of the best films of 2015 by over 50 critics and publications and was ranked seventh on Rotten Tomatoes and thirteenth on Metacritic's best scored film of 2015.[125][130] David Hynes of WhatCulture ranked the script seventh in his[131] list of the "10 Best Movie Screenplays Since 2010", writing, "Goddard injects some much-needed humour into the story, asking not so much how would somebody survive on Mars but how would somebody live?"[132]

Solanum watneyi, a species of bush tomato from Australia, has been named after the character of Mark Watney, to honor the fictional heroic botanist portrayal. It is a member of the same genus as the potato, Solanum.[133][134][135]

When Weir wrote the novel The Martian, he strove to present the science correctly and used reader feedback to get it right.[137] When Scott began directing the film, he also sought to make it realistic and received help from James L. Green, the Director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA's Science Mission Directorate. Green put together teams to answer scientific questions that Scott asked.[138] Green said, "The Martian is reasonably realistic," though he said the film's hazardous dust storm, despite reaching speeds of 120 miles per hour (190km/h) would in reality have weak force.[139] Green also found the NASA buildings in the film to be more stylish than the functional ones NASA actually uses.[140] Film critics picked up the point that the Martian winds could amount to "barely a light breeze" in their reviews,[141][142] and screenwriter Goddard agreed the winds had to be considerably exaggerated in order to set up the situation that sets the story in motion.[143][144][145]

The process used by the character Watney to produce water was accurate and is being used by NASA for a planned Martian rover. The radioisotope thermoelectric generator was also appropriately used for heat.[137] When his rations begin to run low, Watney builds an improvised garden using Martian soil and the crew's feces as a fertilizer. "We could probably grow something on Mars", said Michael Shara, curator, Department of Astrophysics, Division of Physical Sciences at the American Museum of Natural History.[citation needed] However Martian soil has since been found to be toxic to both plant and animal life, although it is believed that microbial organisms have the potential to live on Mars.[146][147][148] In one scene, the glass face shield on Watney's helmet cracks; as oxygen momentarily drops below the critical level, he quickly patches the helmet with duct tape and avoids suffocation. According to Shara, "As long as the pressure on the inside is around 30%, you could hold it together before your eyes blow out or you had an embolism."[citation needed]

Time magazine criticized another duct tape based repair: "When a pressure leak causes an entire pod on Watneys habitat to blow up, he patches a yawning opening in what's left of the dwelling with plastic tarp and duct tape." Such a repair might work in the reality of the actual Mars atmosphere, but is inconsistent with the reality the film has established.[149]

While Martian gravity is less than 40% of Earth's, director Scott chose not to depict the gravitational difference, finding the effort less worthwhile to put on screen than zero gravity.[34] Scott said the heavy spacesuits would weigh the main character enough to make up for not showing the partial gravity.[44] The climate of Mars is also cold enough that it would make Watney's initial plan to disable the rover's heater immediately impractical. The average temperature is 80F (62C); it is cold enough on Mars for carbon dioxide snow to fall at the poles in winter.[citation needed]

The plot key to the eventual rescue plan is gravity assist, a well-known practice that has been used on a number of robotic planetary exploration missions and served as a backup strategy on manned Apollo missions. It would have been one of the first approaches that everyone within NASA would have considered,[149] but in the movie, only one JPL astrodynamicist argues for sending the Ares mission back to Mars using gravity assist rather than having a separate mission to rescue Watney.

Ed Finn, director of the Center for Science and the Imagination at Arizona State University, said, "What this story does really well is imagine a near-future scenario that doesn't push too far of where we are today technically."[44] British physicist Brian Cox said, "The Martian is the best advert for a career in engineering I've ever seen."[150]

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The Martian (film) - Wikipedia

Elon Musk is the CEO of Tesla Inc TSLA and SpaceX, two companies attempting to solve world problems. Heres the latest on Musks grand ambitions to colonize Mars.

What Happened: Founded in 2002, SpaceX is now a $127 billion company that has transformed the space industry. While the company has already accomplished a lot for the space sector, Musk has grand ambitions to use SpaceX for the next evolution of space travel.

Something will happen to Earth eventually, its just a question of time, Musk told Financial Times editor Roula Khalaf. Eventually the sun will expand and destroy all life on Earth, so we do need to move at some point, or at least be a multi-planet species.

Talks of colonizing Mars arent new for Musk, but the latest comments call into the timeliness and speed that could be needed.

Its a question of what percentage of resources should we devote to such an endeavor? I think if you say 1 percent of resources, thats probably a reasonable amount.

Musk told Khalaf that he would consider going to Mars in the future if hes older.

If Im getting old, Ill do it. Why not?

Musk said there is a non-trivial chance of dying, which leads him to prefer to go when hes older so he can see his kids grow up.

Rather than right now, where little X is only two-and-a-half. I think hed miss me.

Maybe someday Musk could go to Mars or space with X, his son, who is currently obsessed with toy rockets.

Related Link:Elon Musk Says 'It's A Fixer Upper Of A Planet': Can We Live On Mars?

Why Its Important: Over the years, Musk has sought to help provide solutions to problems he recognized. This includes co-founding what would become PayPal Holdings PYPL to change banking, leading Tesla to change the electric vehicle and clean energy sector and creating SpaceX to change space travel.

SpaceX has landed deals with NASA and is helping make transportation of satellites and other items to space cheaper for companies.

The reusable rockets that are a staple to SpaceX have transformed the space industry forever and could be the precursor to increased space travel and eventually colonizing Mars.

Photo courtesy Steve Jurvetson on Flickr

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Elon Musk Racing To Colonize Mars, He Says This Will 'Destroy All Life On Earth' - PayPal Holdings (NASDA - Benzinga

Before reading this article, I would like to state that I am only presenting this theory, this isnt an argument for or against its veracity.

sometimes see our world with different eyes based on the knowledge that we have. If a child is born with no knowledge of Earth and indoctrinated that our planet is flat they have no reason to doubt their parent or mentor. Our curiosity is what drives us towards education from a very young age, not only to our origins but also to this rock that we have been given life on.

Based on the historical notes from early researchers and explorers of this Earth, we have accumulated knowledge that allows us to acknowledge the size, shape, and resources available on our home rock, but when it comes to the core of the Earth, we dont have any questions as we think that besides thousands of kilometers of bedrock and some very hot magma, there is nothing of interest. So, why wonder right?

Well, this is because, over the last two centuries, the modern era of exploration, not that many people ventured towards exploring the corners of the world that are still left in the shade and which may be drawn on the map just to fill the empty space, but truly there may be nothing there or something we are not yet aware of.

This is because exploring takes not only a lot of time and resources, but its quite a risky business, hence why only a few come back.

We are already proceeding to colonize Mars whilst there are many undiscovered places on Earth or places that have been lost in time. We dont know what lies at the bottom of oceans and the deepest hole we dug in the crust of our earth is only 12.2 kilometers deep. Therefore there are still a lot of unknowns.

For many years, people didnt really wonder that much about what is within Earth and this is because they always had bigger problems on their hands such as wars, famine, or pandemics. The wonder was brought by early geologists but it never reached public attention.

It was not until the late 19th century that this wonder reached public attention and it did not only reach the support of the public but even the support of scientists, politicians, and world leaders.A map from the early 19th century representing Atvatabar, the world within the crust of our Earth (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

The idea behind the theory is that the Earth is actually hollow inside and that it encapsulates more land and water with a separate ecosystem sustained by the Sun represented as the core of the Earth. The Earths crust or bedrock of 2,400 kilometers (1,500 miles) is what separates what has been described as a separate civilization from us which lives outside the crust.Julse Verne (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

The origin of the theory was fueled by the famous novelJourney to the Centre of the Earthby Jules Verne, published in 1864. The novel was originally published in French, but it quickly got translated into different languages and distributed all over the world. The book got so much attention that in 1867 Jules Verne published another version that expanded on the detail of the center of the Earth.

The novels story represents a team of explorers who go down into a volcanic creature towards the center of the Earth through the South Pole. After 2 months the exploration team finally reaches the core of the Earth where they discover a whole new civilization powered by their own Sun.This civilization was as advanced as our own world in the 19th century, with a great emphasis on infrastructure.

This is where the problems started, as the book got more and more popular some people actually took this book not as a novel, but as if it was actually stating the findings of new discovery (remember this was back in the 1870s). This also attracted the attention of different scientists that were inspired by the novel to actually believe that this theory could be true.

Many writers have started a mediatization campaign of this new discovery to the rest of the world, just like how social media today misinforms the masses, but a lot slower.

The first evidence of this was seen published in the late 19th century by a researcher within the field of Geography. The book is entitledPhysical Geographywritten by Arnoldo de Azevedo who writes about a mysterious world beneath our own feet with the argument that scientists at the time knew nothing about what is five miles beneath their feet.

The author goes over saying that scientists only come up with theories and hypotheses to entertain the world without having any hard evidence and allowing the reputation of scientists to define the reliability of any theory. Based on 19th-century scientific standards it is pretty true.

We have below our feet an immense region whose radius is 6,290 kilometers, which is completely unknown, challenging the conceit and competence of scientists. (Quote taken from Physical Geography by Arnoldo de Azevedo)

Azevedo also came up with his own scientific hypothesis behind the theory. When the Earth was still forming as a planet, most of the Earth was just soft lava and due to this the centrifugal speed at which the planet was spinning forced the lava from the center or core of the Earth to settle on the side, therefore making the Earth hollow. Due to lower centrifugal force at the two poles of the Earth, holes to the hollow center have also formed.

Believe it or not, there is actually a calculation that supports this theory. The total size of our planets surface is 431.5 million kilometers squared which should give a weight six times bigger than the actual weight of the Earth which is 5.972 10 kg. This means that the Earth is not necessarily hollow (although it can be a logical explanation), but for some reason, our planet is a lot lighter.

What is even more interesting is that the 19th century isnt actually the first time this theory was mentioned as a possible scientific theory. The first mention of this theory was done in 1692 by Edmond Halley, a researcher in astrology and mathematics from the University of Oxford who put forward the idea that Earth has different size hollow shells inside, just as presented in this image.

If we were to go even further in history we would see mentions of similar theories of the Earth being Hollow, although the reference and ideologies are very vague, with, of course, Greek scholars being the first to think of it.

Going back to the 19th century, after the publication of Azevedos work there have been a large number of scholars who came up with support for this theory, or very similar variants to the theory itself.

Where it gets really interesting is in the 20th century with the bookThe Hollow Earthby Doctor Raymond Bernard (also known as Walter Siegmeister) who was a very popular writer, but also very controversial and this book is one of the main reasons. In the book, Bernard talks about the expeditions held by Richard Evelyn Byrd From the Artic in 1947 and Antarctica in 1956.Richard Evelyn Byrd in the Artic 1947 (Source: Virginmuseum of History & Culture)

Byrd and the rest of his team found the interior concavity that leads to the hollow center of the Earth. The North Pole with a distance of 2,700 kilometers until the scope of the inner land and the South Pole with a distance of 3,700 kilometers. The land inside hollow Earth is quite tropical and filled with a civilization that is 10 times more advanced than ours.

In the book, there is also a reference to all this in another book that debates these two holes from each of the poles towards the center of the Earth. The book is entitledWorlds Beyond the Polesby Amadeo Giannini, published in 1959. It is amazing how many books have been published on this matter, and these are the most popular ones, not taking into consideration the thousands of others lost in time.

During the early 20th century the theory really got the attention of scholars from various fields. A group of Russian scientists discovered that the magnetic North Pole isnt represented by a single spot, but by a line that is almost 1,500 kilometers long which goes over the polar river up until the Taimir Peninsula from Siberia.

Based on this hypothesis, this represents the edge of the polar concavity and any on the edge of the magnetic pole can be called the Magnetic North Pole because on this edge any compass would point to the North, no matter the position of the compass. Science isnt able to explain this phenomenon and blames it on the particles that are electrically charged by the Sun.

Even German Scientists before the Second World War had researched this theory but sadly all the research papers have been lost or destroyed during the war.

Since the middle of the 20th century, there have been smaller writers publishing about this theory, but around the 1970s when the scientific revolution took place, the interest in this theory was lost. It is interesting to see how many papers have been published disregarding the theory, yet we still only base our belief that the world is not hollow on calculations that for some reason dont add up.

Is it all a big lie supported by scientists and writers seeking attention? I will let you be the judge of that.

See the rest here:
The Origin of the Hollow Earth Theory - History of Yesterday

Outer space has been grabbing headlines over the past few months. The James Webb Space Telescope continues to wow astronomers and the masses alike withunparalleled images ofdistant galaxies, stellar nurseries,Neptunes ringsand more.

A couple of weeks ago, NASAs Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) altered an asteroids trajectory byslamming a spacecraft into it,a feat that,in theory, could help humanity avoid the fate of the dinosaurs. Even the thrice-delayedlaunch of NASAs Artemis I, which will eventually take a crew to the moon, continues tomakefront-page news.

However, another cosmic achievement has been eclipsed by these flashier feats: On Oct. 5,Nicole Mann, a registered member of theWailaki tribe, became the first Indigenous woman to go to space.

Spaceexplorationhasalwaysbeen marked by firsts: the first person or country in space, on the moon, and someday, on Mars. There are countless practical and symbolic reasons representation matters in space, just as it doeseverywhere else, particularly for Indigenous people.

Agencies, organizations and companies that spearhead space programs and interests have always been dominated by wealthy white men. John Glenntestified in front of a Congressional subcommitteethatwomen shouldnt participate in NASAs astronaut program. The naming of the James Webb Space Telescope hasgenerated much controversybecause ofWebbs participationin theLavender Scare, when the U.S. government tried to identify and jettison any employees who werent demonstrably heterosexual. The first all-female spacewalk happened just three years ago, andonly after a debacle involving a lack of spacesuitssized for non-male crew members.

Diversity and representation in NASAs astronaut classes, as well as in other astronaut programs around the world,are slowly improving. But not quickly enough.

The existence of overwhelmingly white, male crews and space tourists suggests false homogeneity on Earth and perpetuates destructive power dynamics. Private space companies run by rich, white men imply that space is accessible only to certain people if they just work and save up.

The dominance of space ventures by the white and wealthy also paves the way forcosmic capitalism. The finders-keepers and frontier mentality prioritizes exploration, not for the sake of knowledge or even of species survival, but rather, for power. But space,like Earth,is not a commodity and shouldnt be treated as such.

Indigenous people have lost far too much on Earth already, and we need to prevent that from happening in space, too. Problematic rhetoric around manifest destiny, pushing the space frontier or colonizing celestial bodiesperpetuates those ideologies and behaviors. Quantifying how muchNative Americanshavelost is impossible; what is entirely possible, however, is disrupting these patterns before they reach the stars.

Most of us don't think much about the cosmos except when we glimpse the occasional eclipse or shooting star.However, thats not the case for Indigenous communities, whose connection to the cosmos is spiritual, cultural and practical. These communities use the stars to navigate,celebrate holidays dictated by the position of the planets, and incorporate constellations intoreligious and spiritual practices. Space X currently has over2,300 Starlink satellites orbiting Earth(with some 30,000 more on deck), whichdisrupt ground-based astronomyand create a gap between Indigenous communities and the natural elements that have guided their customs for centuries.

Indigenous communities have also had to fight to retain land that offers superlative access to the sky. The controversy about the plannedThirty Meter Telescopeon Hawaiis Maunakea mountain is one recent example. Maunakea, an inactive volcano with a sacred summit used for prayer, already accommodates13independent observatories, each of which is committed to sustainability andstewardship. The Thirty Meter Telescope would be far larger than the existing observatories, and most problematically, its plans didnt involve local Indigenous communities or consider the impact its construction would have on them.

Fortunately, the National Science Foundation isassessing the environmental impactsof the telescopes construction, and the Environmental Protection Agencyrecommended that the Foundation find an alternative sitethat wouldnt have such negative impacts on the lives of native people.

Still, the clear implication is that Native American land is ripe for theft, especially in the name of "progress." Powerful white people still get to decide which Indigenous beliefs, values, practices and property to respect and which tobulldozefor their own use.

A team of astronomers concernedabout the impacts of such developments suggests treating space asanancestral global commonsthat contains the heritage and future of humanitys scientific and cultural practices.That legacy, as well as the present and future, should be accessible toall people. In corporate terms, all of us are shareholders and stakeholders in the sky and in space, and that paradigm should guide decisions about who does what in space, why and at what cost to whom.

In this context, its hard to overstate the significance of the first Native American woman in space. Mann, commander of theCREW-5 mission, is the second Native American in space (20 years ago,John Harrington, of theChickasaw Nationbecame the first). She will live on theInternational Space Stationfor up to six months, where she and the other astronauts will conduct research on the effects of microgravity on the human body and other processes essential to life off-Earth.

This missionpavesthe way forArtemis, which aims to send astronauts back to the moon and eventually to Mars. One of thegoals of the Artemis mission is to put thefirst female and the first person of color on the moon some 50 years after Neil Armstrong set foot there. Whoever NASA selects will, like Mann, serve as inspiration for generations,and as a reminder that cycles can be broken. As we think about the future, we can choose not to repeat the mistakes of the past.

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See the rest here:
Why sending a Native American into space is a big deal - WBUR News

Photo: Mario Tama / Adastra (Getty Images)

Attention cosmo-cowboys who think rocketing themselves into outer space will take away their suffering: It wont. Variety recently published an excerpt from William Shatners upcoming memoir Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder, and Captain Kirks verdict is in: Space makes you sad. In Shatners case, it was among the strongest feelings of grief [he has] ever encountered.

I, a permanent Earth dweller, have always believed this to be true. Ive often imagined the horror of looking out at Earth beneath me and fully understanding how insignificant my little life as a blogger is. All I saw was death, Shatner writes of riding on Bezos rocket. My trip to space was supposed to be a celebration; instead, it felt like a funeral. The whole essay reads like a middle school diary entry, the most honest and dire genre to exist.

Despite billionaires like Jeff Bezos calling his trip to space the best day ever, or lowly millionaire (humiliating) Tom Cruise teasing a movie filmed on the International Space Station, a trip to space is not a rock-and-roll adventure. Instead, it is a Mount Eerie album: depressing, isolating, and bleak. Sure, moving through zero gravity would be neat to experience, but when you go to space, your sense of self completely bottoms out, too. Im sure theres a theme park on the edge of your towns warehouse district where you can pay $119 to feel like youre floating, or whatever.

Elon Musk has made inane promises of creating a colony on Mars. Bezos shares this vision. Richard Branson charges almost half a million dollars for civilians to drag race around the moon. Like many people, Ive been skeptical of the billionaire boys clubs dick-measuring rocket race. There are a lot of problems to address on this side of the ozone layer, many a result of said billionaires bad behavior, before we go gallivanting outside of it. More pressingly, why on earth (heh) would we trust what these mega-billionaires consider fun? They are miserable men who only know how to exploit people, throw money at problems, and lie. Perhaps, for them, space isnt sad, because, in comparison to Earth, where theyve isolated themselves from real human connection, it is at least a fun little trip. Everyone loves a fun little trip. But dont let their distorted perspective fool you. Space is the saddest frontier!

The regular person is more like Shatner than Musk, Bezos, or Branson. Were even more like Shatner than Tom Cruise, if not only financially, then for the fact that we cant do backflips. Going to space is not awesome. Going to space is not the future. Going to space will make you sad. It will make you feel insignificant and lonely. Stick to doing your little affirmations and mental health walks here on Earth. Those will alleviate your problems much more effectively than colonizing Mars. In the meantime, we should let the billionaires launch themselves into the cosmos and let them discover the depths of their own depression.

Read the rest here:
Going to Space Will Not Save Us - Jezebel