According to NASA, the upcoming film The Martian, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon, may reignite public enthusiasm about space travel and exploration, much like the 1968’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey did. The movie, an adaptation from Andy Weir’s eponymous book, gives the space agency hope that people might once again be interested in historic space missions.
NASA Wants a Man on Mars as Much as We Do
NASA hasn’t done much in regard to manned space missions since 1974. Instead, the space agency has chosen to focus on the International Space Station, the science laboratory currently floating in low-Earth orbit.
Although progress has been seen with the New Horizons Mission and the Orion Capsule, NASA has been very cautions about sending manned spacecraft out to explore space. Currently, the space agency expresses hopes of a manned mission to Mars by 2030, but this is pending Senate approval of President Obama’s $18.5 billion proposal for the agency’s budget in 2016.
THE MARTIAN: The Power of Film and visual arts
In the meantime, The Martian may help to fuel public interest in the mission. Visual arts have always had an immense impact in world and pop culture often highlights both fictional and non-fictional issues by bringing them to public attention.
With the high relevance of space news, the power of the film at this moment is unbeatable, and the agency hopes to use this to its advantage – especially since the Mars mission seems to have become more of political science issue than one of rocket science. Recent films such as Gravity, Interstellar, Tomorrowland and even Transformers: Dark of the Moon may be the push NASA needs in order to overcome the politics and to shift the popular opinion about space exploration. This could ultimately cause significant changes to the agency itself as well as all of its future projects.
The Martian hits theaters October 2nd. The movie received NASA’s stamp of approval after consultations regarding each aspect of the film.
