Can we actually go to Mars? And if so, how would we survive there? Those big issues are at the heart of the National Geographic channel’s new six-part television series Mars, which premiered on 14 November. The series mixes interviews of scientists and Mars advocates with a fictional drama of the first crewed mission to Mars in 2033. And it comes at an uncertain time for space policy, as advisers to US president-elect Donald Trump have suggested a shift in NASA’s focus back toward human spaceflight—though not necessarily to Mars.
The goal of the series “was to create a documentary about the quest to go to Mars but also bring it to life in a really dramatic and cinematic way,” said executive producer Ron Howard in a statement. National Geographic claims that extensive consultation with the science community ensures the show’s accuracy—and based on a review of the first two episodes, that largely seems to be the case.
The opening episode starts in the fictional realm, with astronauts dragging an injured crew member across the Martian surface. Then there’s a flashback to the initial announcement of the daring mission to Mars, which introduces viewers to the 14-story-high Daedalus spacecraft. Short interviews with The Martian author Andy Weir and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk link today’s thinking on visiting Mars with the future fictional proposal. However, there is a discord between real and imagined, 2016 and 2033, that makes me wonder whether it would have been better to showcase the entire fictional bit before moving on to the real-life interview footage.
One of the biggest problems with the fictional part of the series is the character of Commander Ben Sawyer, as played by actor Ben Cotton. Some of his decisions seem irrational and fatalistic. Why would the commander, and not the engineer, try to fix the engines before entering the Martian atmosphere? Based on the astronauts I have met, Sawyer’s behavior seems outside the norm.
A huge part of the second episode examines real-life astronaut Scott Kelly’s year-long mission to the International Space Station (ISS), in terms of not only the biological and environmental effects he experienced but also the emotional toll of being separated from his daughter. It was the most compelling part of the episode. Plus, watching the failures SpaceX experienced in trying to land a rocket on a barge brought home the risk inherent in today’s space travel.
I am almost embarrassed to say I have an extensive collection of Martian movies in my library, from Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964) to Red Planet (2000). Because of the ability of the Mars spacecraft to land and take off from the Martian surface, Daedalus more closely resembles the spacecraft from the classic 1950s movies than the orbiting ships and smaller landers that transport Mars explorers in more recent films. In fact, Daedalus appears remarkably similar to SpaceX’s recent proposal for a lighter-weight spacecraft that uses a carbon-fiber fuel tank.
I don’t believe the design choice was coincidental. Robert Zubrin, president of the Mars Society and one of the consultants for the series, says the Daedalus design is evocative of his Mars Direct plan, which includes a spacecraft that can land on Mars and then relaunch using locally produced propellant. The footprints of SpaceX show up in the fictional ship’s use of supersonic retro-propulsion to accomplish the landing. “Musk has embraced and developed the research and the technology, and this is what the producers picked up on,” Zubrin says.
The special effects for the 2033 segments are impressive, although I suspect many scientists and engineers would say that the switches and blinking lights on the consoles are just there for show. Zubrin, however, says the switches are there for a reason. Originally, the astronauts on the ISS were to control operations via computer, but because they were concerned about the computer malfunctioning, they rejected the idea. Although NASA did for the most part provide the switches the astronauts wanted, a computerized light control malfunctioned in 2007, which greatly annoyed the crew.
According to the series, the one-way trip to Mars would take about 207 days. That might sound like a long time, but it’s actually shorter than some proposed missions, which could take as long as 18 months. Daedalus doesn’t appear to use centrifugal forces to create “artificial gravity,” which means that along with suffering from bone loss and high radiation exposure, the crew would be pretty weak when they landed on the planet. In addition, the crew immediately runs into some issues that sound likely for a mission of this complexity, such as blowing an axle on their rover far from base.
Although the series will intrigue some scientists, they are not the target audience. Anyone who has some knowledge of Mars might come away feeling unsatisfied. But those who don’t know much about the Red Planet might be inspired to investigate deeper, which would be a win for both National Geographic and the science community. “Mars could possibly inspire someone within the Trump administration to focus on Mars exploration,” says Zubrin. “Or it could move someone who is now in high school to make it happen 18 years from now.”
Mars appears Mondays through 19 December on the National Geographic channel.
