The St Cross Centre for the History and Philosophy of Physics held a lecture by Dr Jim Green (NASA Chief Scientist) entitled "The Martian - Science Fiction and Science Fact" on Friday 23 July 2021 at 17:00 BST by Zoom.
The bestselling book about an astronaut stranded on Mars was brought to life in Ridley Scott’s film, The Martian. Before production started, Ridley called NASA to obtain information about NASA’s plans for human exploration of Mars as well as the science of Mars that would contribute to a realistic look and feel of the film in keeping with the approach laid out in Andy Weir’s book. An intense period of interaction over several months followed between Ridley’s design team and NASA’s Journey to Mars personnel on everything from habitats and Mars terrains to vehicles, spacesuits, ion engines and radioisotope power systems.
The result was a tremendously popular and award-winning film. As one of the main consultants on the film, Dr Jim Green will discuss what NASA’s real plans and challenges are to sending humans to Mars in comparison with this fictional account.
The session was recorded and you can watch the video below.
