Category Archives: Mars Colonization

February 13, 2017

by John Hopton

Nobody ever said it was going to be easy, but the discovery of a cluster of recent meteorite impacts on Mars has highlighted a major reason why future colonization of the Red Planet will be an almighty challenge.

Among myriad other obstacles, Mars has lower gravity, lower temperatures, and lower atmospheric pressure compared to Earth. A new observation from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has also reminded us that while Earth's thicker atmosphere keeps out almost all space rocks, the thinner atmosphere on Mars gives less such protection.

The impact is thought to have occurred between 2008 and 2014, but NASA's High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera revealed in 2016 that two large impact craters were surrounded by up to 30 smaller craters.

A meteorite had broken up in the atmosphere and then rained down rock onto the surface.

This is by no means the first observation of impacts of this nature. Regular examination of impact sites on Mars help scientists to study what minerals sit beneath the surface, and to track how surface winds affect fine particles of material. The regularity of impacts is also of great interest.

Human expeditions to Mars are expected within two or three decades, and Elon Musk of Space X previously said he wants to help the human race to establish a permanent, self-sustaining colony on Mars within the next 50 to 100 years. Whoever does make it up there, though, will have to find a way to deal with what amounts to celestial carpet bombing.

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Image credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

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Mars was just slammed by a 'cosmic shotgun blast' - RedOrbit

It's what you may not have heard, though, that will really shock you: SpaceX never planned to earn much profit from launching rockets in the first place. Instead, SpaceX is placing its faith in a megaproject, partially backed by Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL), to create a satellite broadband internet constellation, which will encircle the globe, and (as the Journal puts it) "eventually dwarf [SpaceX's] rocket division."

Now, here are five more things you need to know about SpaceX's secret plan for satellite dominance.

Look! Up in the sky! It's not a bird or a plane -- it's how SpaceX hopes to turn profitable. Image source: Getty Images.

While most famous today for its rocket launches (and soon to become famous for launching reused rockets, perhaps as soon as this month), SpaceX sees rockets as only a small part of its plans for future profits.

That year, revenue from satellites will be minuscule -- a few hundred million dollars at most, and probably contributing nothing to profits. Just one year later, however, in 2020, SpaceX expects to get roughly equal amounts of revenue from rocket launches and from satellite internet, about $3 billion each. Profits are expected to leap to $2 billion -- 33% of revenue.

And this is just the beginning. SpaceX expects its revenue from satellite internet to grow by leaps and bounds from 2020 on, eclipsing revenue from rocket launches in 2021. SpaceX expects that by 2022, satellite revenue will account for roughly 75% of all revenue the company collects, then grow to more than 80% in 2023, and to 85% or more in 2024 and 2025-- by which time SpaceX expects to be regularly landing astronauts on Mars.

You might expect that once SpaceX has begun its Mars colonization project, the company would lose interest in the workaday business of merely lofting satellites into Earth orbit -- and you'd be right.

SpaceX's rocket launch plans got knocked off track by its twin SpaceXplosions in 2015 and 2016. But before those plans went askew, the company had mapped out a surprising future for its rocket launch program. Starting off from a base of zero launches in 2011, SpaceX planned to steadily increase the pace of launches through 2019. SpaceX had 27 launches slated for this year, for example. That number would grow to 44 launches in 2018, and then 52 in 2019. But in 2020, satellite launch activity would suddenly reverse course, and fall to just 41 launches.

At the same time, SpaceX projects modest increases in launch revenue even after 2020. The logical conclusion is that by 2020, what few rockets SpaceX is still launching will be bigger, and more expensive, and will carry bigger, more expensive satellites, too -- just not as many of them.

As we explained last week, SpaceX's internal documents show that even in the best of years, it has been only marginally profitable, and is not profitable at all at present. Introducing reusable rocket launches, as the company plans to do this month, holds the potential to put SpaceX back in the black. But significant profits -- the kind that can finance the colonization of Mars -- will depend on the company's successful deployment and operation of a constellation of broadband internet satellites.

Based on the numbers laid out above, SpaceX appears to be targeting operating profit margins of 33% once its satellites begin operating in 2020. Operating profits could total $4 billion by 2021 (a profit margin of more than 40% on projected revenue of about $9.5 billion). Margins will top 50% by 2022 -- then soar into the mid-50s range in 2023, and finally top out at better than 60% by 2025. At that point, SpaceX expects to be collecting $36 billion in annual revenue -- almost all of it from satellites -- and earning roughly $22 billion in operating profit. To put that final goal in context, $22 billion in profit is 11 times more than the $1 billion in revenue that SpaceX collected in 2014, its best revenue year ever.

Logical conclusion: If SpaceX can bring its broadband satellite internet project to fruition, SpaceX stock could turn out to be a very profitable investment. But if you're planning to invest in SpaceX, you need to do it for the satellite business (which doesn't exist yet), and not for the rocket launch business that does exist.

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5 Things We Learned From The Wall Street Journal's Exclusive ... - Madison.com

Bohemia Interactive has announced the official release of Take On Mars. In order to celebrate this announcement, Bohemia released the games launch trailer, highlighting the many benefits of playing Take On Mars over alternative options of space exploration.

Take On Mars places you right in the middle of mankinds most exciting undertaking. Start out in the seat of a rover operator, finish as the first human to have ever set foot on Mars. With a scientific arsenal at your disposal, you will pioneer the exploration, and colonization, of the Red Planet.

Starting out as mod for Carrier Command: Gaea Mission, Take On Mars began life as a passion project by Project Lead Martin Melichrek, who was already working at Bohemia Interactive at the time.

Take On Mars Project Lead Martin Melichrek said:

For as long as I can remember Ive been fascinated with space exploration, and particularly Mars. Being able to make this game has been like a dream come true. It took a bit longer than anticipated, and its been wild ride thats tested the patience of both us and our Early Access subscribers, but, it was a ride worth taking. We, as a team, thank all of our loyal fans, those who have never doubted us, in helping us make this dream a reality!

Here are the games key features:

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Bohemia's Take On Mars leaves Steam Early Access, gets launch trailer - DSOGaming (blog)

Todays businesspeople are very excited about launching into the stratosphere. Whether its Elon Musks SpaceX, Richard Bransons Virgin Galactic, the Mars One mission, or a slew of other aerospace enterprises, a host of companies are trying to help humans leave the rocky planet weve called home for the past six million years. But some critics argue that instead of finding a nook elsewhere in the solar system, we really ought to be focusing on solving the issues with our own planet.

Ron Garan, a former NASA astronaut, believes we should not be abandoning hope for continued life on planet Earth in favor of rubbing shoulders with Martians. He has spent time on the International Space Station (ISS), done four spacewalks, and has been awarded both the NASA Exceptional Service medal and the NASA Space Flight medial. Back on land, Garan spends his time focusing on bettering the home we already have. Being so far away from Earth makes you see how similar and interconnected everything is, he says, rather than us compartmentalizing home.

To be clear, Garan isnt opposed to exploring the notion of colonizing Mars: Its just that we should be using the innovative technologies were developing to live up there to make life better down here. Human curiosity is one of the biggest drivers for space exploration, and it keeps us hungry to continuing wanting to innovate and solve these problems, he says.

It may be a moonshoot, but perhaps if we aim for the moon, well land on the stars.

This conversation has been lightly condensed and edited for clarity.

Considering you are one of the few people who have left Earth, how have you come to form the opinion that we shouldnt colonize Mars?

I think we should explore other planets, but I dont think we should abandon this planet to go live on Mars. It just doesnt make any logical sense that we would leave this planet for an inhospitable one like Mars. First of all, if we cant even terraformwhich is to control our climate and environmentour own planet, what makes us think that we can go to another planet and control the environment there? If we developed the capability to terraform and create atmospheres and climates on other planets, then we should apply that capability to benefit our home planet.

From Elon Musk to Richard Branson, private entrepreneurs are sending a lot of money up into space. Would it be best to redirect that capital toward solving the problems that already exist on Earth?

I think funding should go to both. Space is our future; we need to devote resources and time and effort toward further exploration of our solar system, including human exploration. The primary reason for doing this is not so that we can have a plan B, via having another planet we can go live on, but instead so that we can use the technology thats developed through those efforts to help us here on Earth.

Carl Sagan basically said that for the foreseeable future, Earth is where we make our stand. So if there is nowhere else we can go right now, we need to take this really seriously.

Have you always felt this way, or was there a moment when you realized the importance of focusing on the Earth instead of the stars?

Ive always had the idea that everyone has a responsibility to leave this place a little bit better than how they found it. But going to space broadened, reinforced, and amplified that opinion.

The Earth is just incredibly beautiful when viewed from space, and all those buzzwords youve heard astronaut after astronaut say about how beautiful and tranquil and peaceful and fragile this planet looks from spacethose are all true. It really does look like this jewel in the blackness of space; a fragile oasis. I try to use this perspective of our planet to inspire people to make a difference, mind the ship, and take care of our fellow crewmates on Spaceship Earth.

Why are so many people obsessed with getting off planet Earth?

I wanted to be an astronaut ever since July 20, 1969. That was the day when I, along with millions and millions of people all around the world, watched those first footsteps on the moon on TV. I wouldnt have been able to put it in these words at the time, but even as a young boy, on some level I realized that we had just become a different species. We had become a species that was no longer confined to this planet, and that was really exciting to me.

I wanted to become a part of that group of explorers that got to step off the planet and look back upon ourselves. I think continuing that exploration out into the solar system and beyond is part of human nature. We are explorers by nature. We want to expand our knowledge and expand our understanding of our universe.

Is it common among astronauts that once you finally leave Earth and can look back upon it from space, you have an urge to go straight back to protect it?

I dont want to speak for other astronauts, cosmonauts, or taikonauts, but most of the people I know whove had this experience have come back with a deeper appreciation for the planet that we live on. And its not just an appreciation for the planetits appreciation for the living things on the planet, too.

One of the things I experienced in space is what I can only describe as a sobering contradiction: a contradiction between the beauty of our planet and the unfortunate realities of life for a significant number of its inhabitants. Its obvious from space that life on our planet is not always as beautiful as it looks from space.

The other thing Ive experienced was a profound sense of gratitude: gratitude for the opportunity to see the planet from that perspective, and gratitude for the planet that weve been given. Being physically detached from the Earth made me feel deeply interconnected with everyone on it in some way that I really cant fully explain. Its very obvious from that vantage point that we are all not only deeply connected, but also deeply interdependent as well.

What new discoveries have we uncovered in our exploration of the universe that have been particularly revolutionary back on Earth?

Theres the technology side, and theres then theres perspective. Perspective is very powerful. That first time that we looked back and saw this planet from spaceEarthrisewas incredibly revolutionary. That photograph of Earthrise is certainly the most influential environmental photograph ever taken. It was credited for inspiring the first Earth Day in 1970, and its helped launch the modern environmental movement. It really shows the truth, the reality of the world we live in; that were on this oasis, and its all we have.

So theres that aspect of it, but theres also all the technology that comes from the space program, whether its computing technology, energy production through things like solar energy, or all of the implications for medicine and medical diagnostics. We do a tremendous amount of Earth observation from space that gives us a profound increase in understanding of our planet and its life-support systems that we would not have insight into if we didnt have a space program.

Why do you think there are so many conversations about Martian colonization? Have we lost hope for Earth?

This idea that we are going to abandon Earth and go live on Mars is utter nonsense. Its illogical. It makes perfect sense to expand human presence to Mars, but were not going to abandon Earth. If we had the capability to colonize and terraform Mars to make it habitable for humans, then we certainly could control whats happening on our own planet, which has a head start of millions of years.

What conversation should we be having instead?

The first place we should establish a permanent human presence in our solar system is the moon, our closest neighbor. And then from there, establish transportation infrastructure to allow regular flights between the Earth and the moon. Then from there, we could use it as a jump-off point and have that be a transportation hub to the rest of the solar system. That makes perfect sense to me.

We need to basically take parallel paths: We need to be exploring the solar system because of all the benefits to humanity that that will incur, while also devoting as much effort to being able to control the life-support systems of Spaceship Earth.

If we expand milestones such as the accomplishment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 and having complete decarbonization by 2050 out to 2068which is the 100-year anniversary of EarthriseI believe we should have complete control of the life-support systems on our planet by then. If we had complete control of the chemical constituents of our atmosphere, soil, land, and oceans, wed be able to monitor it and adjust itand optimize it for life.

Why are we having more conversations about living on Mars than the potential of being able to control our own atmosphere on Earth? Learning how to counteract climate change and other environmental factors here instead of establishing colonies elsewhere seems far more beneficial.

Well, its a moon shot, right? Its something thats going to take a lot of effort and a lot of time to accomplish, but we started this conversation off with terraforming Mars. Its a lot easier to control our own atmosphere and our own oceans than it is to create an entirely new atmosphere.

What are you currently trying to achieve back on Earth?

Ive got a non-profit that I founded and am still involved in, and I have a lot of social enterprises that Im involved in. Most of the stuff I work with in that sector is around being able to provide clean water to folks, because I think its really important to do that in an environmentally, financially sustainable way.

Im also involved with an effort called Constellation, which is bringing together a coalition of international astronauts, visionaries, and futurists to put out a call to the world to crowdsource and co-imagine a vision of our future. Were not going to be able to get to the vision of our future we want if we dont learn how to work together on a planetary level, not just a local level.

My primary day job is working as the chief pilot for a company called World View, which is trying to launch all kinds of thingsincluding peopleto the edge of space in high-altitude balloons. This project has tremendous environmental capabilities as far as being able to hover these platforms over a specific area of interest to do things like monitor the oceans, coral reefs, or how much CO2 is in the atmosphere. From it, we might be able to develop better ways to do climate modeling, weather predictions, and agricultural optimization.

For those who would still want to go live on Mars, what kinds of over-romantic notions do people have about living in space?

You cant be claustrophobic, because if youre going to Mars, youre gonna be in a can for six to eight months. And once you get there, youre still gonna be living in a tin can. There are a lot of things that define the beauty of life on our planet, like the breeze in your face, mist on a lake, and the sound of the birds. If youre going to live on Mars, youre not gonna have that for the rest of your life. Thats not so romantic to me.

What is romantic is expanding the body of human knowledge and expanding human presence. Its not going to be all fun. Those pioneers who will eventually be exploring Mars are going have to deal with hardships. Im sure there will be a lot of people who get homesick, which is an interesting thought: When you get that far away from the planet, your definition of home changes radically. Home simply becomes Earth.

You can follow Ron on Twitter at @Astro_Ron and read more on his website. He is also the author of The Orbital Perspective. Learn how to write for Quartz Ideas. We welcome your comments at ideas@qz.com.

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Should we leave Earth to colonize Mars? A NASA astronaut says nope - Quartz

SpaceX is set to launch its Dragon cargo spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 rocket on Saturday, February 18th for a NASA-contracted mission to the International Space Station that will deliver supplies, scientific instruments, and hardware to the crew of the orbiting laboratory. The mission will also usher in a new era for SpaceX as they christen their use of the launch pad, which will help fulfill the companys most ambitious space-faring goal: the colonization of another planet.

The mission will be launched from the iconic Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center which saw the liftoff of Apollo 11 as well as many Space Shuttle missions that helped place the Hubble Telescope and the space station in orbit. SpaceX will conduct a hold-down firing of the Falcon 9s engines this weekend at the historic launch site in preparation for next Saturdays liftoff of Cargo Resupply Service Mission 10.

Launch Complex 39A has not been used since 2011 and is now leased by SpaceX for future launches of the Falcon 9, the upcoming Falcon Heavy, and one day, the Interplanetary Transport System which CEO Elon Musk hopes will shuttle humans to Mars.

The infrastructure of Launch Complex 39A has also been renovated by SpaceX to accommodate NASAs Commercial Crew Program, in which the federal space agency has contracted the Hawthorne, California-based private space firm to shuttle astronauts to the space station beginning sometime in 2019.

SpaceX will utilize its still-in-development Crew Dragon spacecraft (a variant of the Dragon being used for next Saturdays cargo run) to transport NASA astronauts to low-Earth orbit after being launched from LC-39A. These commercial crew missions will mark the first time a manned spacecraft has been launched from American soil since 2011after the Space Shuttle made its final flight in 2011, NASA has been dependent on the Russians for ferrying their astronauts to the space station (at a cost of around 80 million dollars a seat).

Until then, SpaceX has plenty of missions to keep the firm busy. After an explosion of its Falcon 9 rocket destroyed a customer satellite and Cape Canaveral launch pad, SpaceX was grounded for 4 months before returning to flight last month from Californias Vandenberg Air Force Base. With its Falcon 9 back in action and now that LC-39A is ready, SpaceX intends to catch up with its long manifest of scheduled private commercial satellite deliveries by launching every 2-3 weeks this year. The aerospace company reportedly has 70 missions on its backlog worth over $10 billion combined.

These launches will include a few landmark events for SpaceX. LC-39A will see the first flight of the Falcon Heavy which Musk claims will be the most powerful rocket in operation by a factor of two and will have deep space capability for launching uncrewed scientific missions to Mars. SpaceX also hopes to achieve the first launch of a flight-proven orbital-class rocket that was safely brought back to Earth following a previous mission.

Just a few weeks ago at its McGregor, Texas rocket development facility, SpaceX conducted a successful static fire test of the Falcon 9 booster that launched Cargo Resupply Mission 8 last April. That resupply service launch also resulted in a milestone for SpaceXthe first successful landing and recovery of a rocket on their autonomous drone ship at sea, the Of Course I Still Love You.

This recovered Falcon 9 booster will be reused for the upcoming delivery of the privately-owned SES-10 satellitea mission that will also be launched from LC-39A sometime in March of this year. Elon Musk says this mission, if successful, will be an important milestone for SpaceX as the firms long-term goal is to send humans to Mars for permanent settlement and make humanity a multiplanetary species. Musk claims that rocket reusability is the key to accomplishing that.

This year will be a real test for SpaceX to see if they can clear that backlog of launches, push forward with the monumental tasks of flying the powerful Falcon Heavy that will help establish cargo route with Mars, and fly a reused orbital rocket for the first time in aerospace history. Elon Musk hopes that these steps will culminate into his grand vision for sending colonists to Mars in over a decade from Launch Complex 39A and next Saturdays liftoff which is slated for 10:01 AM ET from the historic NASA site, will clear a path for SpaceX to pursue those ambitious goals.

Robin Seemangal focuses on NASA and advocacy for space exploration. He was born and raised in Brooklyn, where he currently resides. Find him on Instagram for more space-related content: @nova_road.

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SpaceX's Road to Mars to Begin With First Mission From Iconic Apollo 11 Launch Pad - Observer

EDITORS NOTE: Film Fans features local residents reviewing the movie of the week: The Space Between Us. To be a film fan, email features@gwinnettdailypost.com.

Alfred Richner, Duluth

Rating: 3 out of 4 Stars

Pass: Mars colonization is a given, being the first-born human in Mars is an interesting proposition, this movie, as cheesy as you think it is, is a study of what makes us human even when you have grown inside a petri dish. I saw this movie through the eyes of Gardner Elliot as he comes to Earth to search for his Dad.

Fail: Very cheesy coming of age teenage romantic predictable sci-fi movie. Was it made for TV, maybe?

Standout performance

The main character Gardner Elliot, played by Asa Butterfield was believable, and his sidekick, love interest Tulsa (Britt Robertson), made the film a good early summer flick.

Gary Oldman played Nathaniel Shepherd and kind of mimicked the real life personas of Richard Branson/Elon Musk as the eccentric billionaire whose personal dream of colonizing Mars drove him to the secretive films only twist that closed the story neatly.

All others had secondary roles that didnt shine as much.

Who will like this?

Mild sci-fi fans and teenage romantic flick fans would enjoy a rainy evening watching this film.

See it now or wait?

This is a matinee/DVD/Groupon discounted ticket film. Wait until it shows in your Amazon or Netflix queue.

Overall impression

I liked the film and enjoyed the premise of naivete. Well made film of a simple story of an extraordinary child born in Mars visiting Earth for once in a lifetime, what is there not to like? Made you experience the simple pleasures of being human on Earth that you take for granted. The scene when Gardner experienced rain for the first time was joyful to watch.

Will this movie replace any of my never get tired movies I can see over and over? Not at all. Would I see it again with my grandchildren? Probably.

Tim Weekley, Suwanee

Rating: 1.5 out of 4 Stars

Pass: Nice special effect renditions of space travel; beautiful cinematography of the western U.S.

Fail: A story line that cant make up its mind whether to be a sci-fi tale or a romance; so-so acting; numerous continuity gaffes in content and direction as the movie progresses; much of the chase scene action makes no sense whatsoever; no real chemistry between the two teen leads; a lackluster ending.

Standout performance

No one really shines in The Space Between Us, although Britt Robertson (from the recent A Dogs Purpose) is decent as Tulsa, a teenager in foster care who carries on a pen-pal relationship with Gardner Elliot (Asa Butterfield, Hugo and Enders Game), the first human born on Mars. Butterfield is OK as Gardner, especially in his fish-out-of-water scenes on Earth which are mildly comical at times; trouble is, these moments are too few and far between. Gary Oldman tries WAY too hard and ends up chewing a lot of scenery as Nathaniel Shepherd, a Richard Branson-like figure who spearheads the Mars mission.

Who will like this?

Romance movie enthusiasts might like The Space Between Us, but will need to be very patient because the first 30-40 minutes of the flick are almost entirely devoted to telling the sci-fi tale of the first colony on Mars and the early life of Gardner. Sci-fi fans will be disappointed by the many dialogue and continuity errors throughout the film, and indication of lackluster direction and poor film editing.

See it now or wait?

If you must see The Space Between Us, wait until Redbox is running a two-for-one special on rentals later this year, or Netflix lets you watch it for free. Its not worth coughing up the bucks at your local movie house, and it certainly wont be around long enough in the cinemas to catch in first release.

Overall impression

The Space Between Us would have worked much better if the back story of Gardners life on Mars had been revealed during his time on Earth interacting with Tulsa; that way, it could have stood a fighting chance to be at least a halfway decent romance flick. Instead, what viewers get is a hybrid film that is half sci-fi, half-romance, resulting in a half-baked and very dull flick.

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Film Fans view 'The Space Between Us' as dull - Gwinnettdailypost.com

Science fiction television is in the midst of a resurgence, the least likely culprit of its success being the lowly SyFy Channel. Rebranded from Sci-Fi Channel some years ago, the station had become less science fiction and more wrestling drama cum Sharknado, leaving a struggling genre in the field to rot under a dying sun.

As the world turns, tastes change and studio executives take risks perhaps feeling the pressure from streaming juggernauts Netflix, Hulu and Amazon to give viewers a reason to stick around in the midst of Stranger Things and The Man in the High Castle. Thus SyFy procured several adaptations and originals: 12 Monkeys, Killjoys and, yes, The Expanse.

Based upon the novels by author James S. A. Corey, The Expanse is a futuristic space opera/mystery with many moving parts.

Two hundred years into the future, Earth balances a tenuous relationship with sister planet Mars, colonized by Earthlings long ago and now independent. Between the two are asteroid belt miners who dream of independence as they procure minerals, water and other necessities of life for the two competing planets, always receiving the short end of the deal.

Season 1 begins with what appears to be an attempt to start an interplanetary war. A mining ship known as Canterbury is destroyed by a mysterious vessel, leaving James Holden (English actor Steven Strait) and a ragtag crew of survivors to pick up the pieces while navigating the treacherous political landscape between Earth, Mars and the various pods of rebels and activists that exist elsewhere in the solar system. Meanwhile, detective Joseph Miller (Thomas Jane, notably of The Punisher and Boogie Nights) is conscripted to search for the missing daughter of a space billionaire, which inevitably leads him to investigating the destruction of the Canterbury.

On Earth, United Nations diplomat Chrisjen Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo) conspires and treads political tightropes with the expertise of a spider. As all the parts begin to come together, the web begins to untangle, leaving behind only a mystery beyond her political motivations.

Lets talk a moment about the visuals of the series. Many a time, a great science-fiction series has come along with an excellent premise but the technology to create the world is, well, lacking. A persons suspension of disbelief can only stretch so far before the graphics budget forces you back into reality la a rubber lizard costume or foam space rock. The Expanse is a beautiful series and quite the opposite in tone and nature. Ships are well-designed, and the colony outposts are controlled chaos, inspired by the futuristic landscapes of Blade Runner and Cowboy Bebop. Most of all, the material is taken seriously and presented carefully so as not to breach the thin line between quality and schlock.

Case in point: The time spent making space colonization realistic and familiar. Nothing says world of the future better than when Miller pulls up to a noodle bar, with Asian-inspired text on the banner, and orders a burrito. Coreys original novel is a well-designed effort to humanize the impossible, similar in style to Phillip K. Dicks uncanny ability to make the impossible seem not only possible but, yeah, duh obviously this is what the future will look like.

In The Expanse, the eclectic cast of characters, played well and without pretentiousness or even a modicum of eye-rolling dismissal, lifts the series above and beyond the standard SyFy fare of yesteryear. This is a space opera worthy of your time and patience, and oh, what luck! Season 2 began on Feb. 1, and the first season is available on Amazon Prime.

Out of the Box is a column by VCReporter staff and contributors about television and streaming content.

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OUT OF THE BOX | Sci-fi returns to its roots in The Expanse - Ventura County Reporter

With a title like The Martian Chronicles, it probably wont surprise you to learn that sci-fi referencesboth intentional and not-so-intentionalabound in last nights Supergirl. Like most good science fiction writers, the Supergirl team builds on the theories and established conventions of past authors. Lets take a look at the works that inspired this weeks episode:

1. The Martian Chronicles Lets start off with the most obvious reference: a title borrowed from one of Ray Bradburys best-known works. Bradburys The Martian Chronicles is a classic of science fiction writing, detailing the human exploration and colonization of Mars. Told as a series of connected short stories, Bradbury uses the setting of Mars and the human desire to escape from a dying Earth to explore a lot of contemporary themes. Written in the late 1940s, Bradbury bluntly explores themes like racism, colonization, nuclear war and death, all while ruminating on what it means to be human. Its powerful work and far from uplifting, butwithout detailing any spoilersits well worth a read, especially if youre a believer in the idea that science fiction gives us a space to talk about the less savory aspects of human nature.

2. Invasion of the Body Snatchers Are your friends and loved ones acting strangely? Are they acting a bit too much like themselves? Are they too understanding, too calm, too patient, too willing to listen to you whine about how theyve let you down without defending themselves? Bad news, my friend: Theyve been body snatched.

The Invasion of the Body Snatchers franchise encompasses several movies, thematic connections to multiple authorsincluding Robert Heinlein, whose 1951 novel The Puppet Masters provided the loose inspiration for the film versionand even a Bugs Bunny cartoon. (Its called Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers, and its perfect.) All revolve around the paranoia that the people we know could one day be replaced by identical alien life forms with no discernable difference. So when Mgann, Winn, and later Alex turn out to be white Martians in disguise, those feelings of uncertainty and paranoia come straight out of the Body Snatchers bag of tricks.

Originally meant as a metaphor for communism and the Cold Warand, really, when was anything not originally meant as a metaphor for communism and the Cold WarSupergirl ups the ante on Snatchers by taking a more personal route. Its a horrifying idea: That you could be spilling your most difficult-to-process and embarrassing feelings to a person you think is your closest friend, only to find out that the person literally isnt who you think he is. Try hard not to think about it the next time youre talking to your crush.

3. John Carpenters The Thing Basically, any media artifact in which a group of badasses is trapped in an isolated settingin Supergirls case, well count the lockdown as isolatedwhile trying to figure out who may or may not be an alien owes its dramatic tension to The Thing. Throw in a liberal use of fire as both a test and a weapon, and you have a pretty safe guess as to what movie the Supergirl writers were watching while writing last nights episode.

4. The Twilight Zone The Twilight Zone had something of a crush on Mars upon its debut in 1959. When space invaders were needed or far-off planets explored, The Twilight Zone usually found itself on Mars. (Well, except that one time where they found a giant mouse on the moon. But we try not to think about that.)

Its no surprise then that the seminal sci-fi TV series put into practice most of the space exploration tropes we see todaya list worthy of its own article, to be sure. Still, one of the best, invoked in tonights Supergirl, comes from the classic episode Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up? (Spoilers ahead. Consider yourself warned.) In it, two police officers investigate the crash of what appears to be an alien space ship, tracking the survivor to a diner where a bus full of travelers has stopped for a meal. Its a classic paranoia plot, in which the cops try to determine which of the passengers is the alien in disguise. The plot relies on a lot of misdirection, but its ultimately revealed that the unassuming man in the corner was a three-armed Martian the entire time. Not content with this twist, The Twilight Zone then reveals that the kindly counter attendant (whose long-term job at the diner kept him above suspicion) is actually a three- eyed Venusian. There were two aliens all along! Luckily, in this case, neither turned out to be Supergirls sister.

5. Melbourne and Mars: My Mysterious Life on Two Planets Of all the references on this list, Id put good money on the fact that the Supergirl team had no idea they were alluding to Melbourne and Mars while working on the white Martian plot line. Written in 1889 by Joseph Fraser, the story details the life of a sick man named Jacobs living on Earth. As his health deteriorates, Jacobs begins to have dreams of an alien world. It is eventually revealed that these dreams are a telepathic link between him and a child, his other self, living on Mars. Thanks to series like the aforementioned Martian Chronicles, we take Martian telepathy as a standard in science fiction. So much so that, were Martians to exist, I suspect we humans would start an intergalactic war with some unintentional snark about their mind reading abilities. Still, Melbourne and Mars was the first fiction to speculate on this idea, and while maybe only a handful of people consider it a must-read today, it created one of the qualities we most closely associate with (speculative) alien life forms.

6. Casablanca Finishing off this weeks list is a classic, though its obviously not a work of science fiction. Mgann and Jonns struggle to express and come to terms with their growing love for one another has some overtones of Romeo and Juliet. Still, with its themes of war, longing and a desperate need to do the right thing, their tragic love story shares more in common with the Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman classic than any other. A reversal of gender roles adds extra punch here, with Mgann taking Ricks attitude that sacrificing peace and love for the greater good is necessary, and Jonn arguing that they can be happy if they just agree to hide from their problems together. Its unconsummated love, which, depending on your interpretation of Casablanca, they also share with Rick and Ilsa. Throw in Armek as an evil, less desirable, jerkface-who-needs-to-die version of Victor Laszlo and you have a feminist science fiction twist on one of the greatest films ever made.

Katherine Siegel is a Chicago-based writer and director, and a regular contributor to Paste. You can find out more by checking out her website or follow her on Twitter.

Continued here:
6 Classic Sci-Fi Stories That Inspired This Week's Supergirl - Paste Magazine

The Space Between Us is apparently a large divide when it comes to describing this silly, romantic, mixed-up movie.

Its an interplanetary adventure as a science-fiction flick with a race against time.

Its a teen romance (involving a girl named Tulsa!) formed around a fish-out-of-water story.

Its a morality play, and its a redemption story.

Its a mess, more than anything, that goes from a convoluted, boring first hour to a second half that is such a heart-on-its-sleeve love story, aimed so squarely at tween girls, that your 12-year-old daughter may walk out of the theater swooning.

That may be the one group of people whose space between their ears will really appreciate The Space Between Us.

Initially set in the very near future, NASA sends a shuttle of astronauts to prep Mars for colonization, but theres a problem: One of them is pregnant. The baby is born on Mars, and the mother dies in childbirth.

That makes Gardner Elliott the first human not born on Earth, and that makes him different.

No. 1: A full gestation in zero-gravity atmosphere means his organs are different than our own, endangering his ever coming home.

No. 2: Sentencing him to live on Mars is a bit of a public-relations nightmare, so his existence is kept a secret from the public.

I know what some may be thinking, but no: The moon landing was not faked.

This whole snafu leaves Gary Oldman, as the architect of this Mars mission, fretting and yelling at people about this massive cover-up, and it leaves a motherless boy stuck with astronauts inside a small space station for the first 16 years of his life.

Asa Butterfield (Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children) already proved his sci-fi teen mettle in Enders Game, and now as Gardner he gets an upgrade to romantic lead.

But it takes forever to get him there in the hands of director Peter Chelsom (Serendipity, Hannah Montana: The Movie).

Between Oldmans rants down on Earth, Mars mother-figure Carla Guginos sentimental concerns for the boy and Gardners repeated questions Whats Earth like? Whats your favorite thing about Earth? Will I know how to act on Earth? that the only thing that kept me from snoring was thinking out loud: When are you going to get this boy on Earth?

The movie never really takes off until we get Gardner in front of Tulsa, the teen girl in Colorado hes been secretly future-texting from Mars, where the wi-fi is red planet-hot.

Tulsa is played by Britt Robertson, who was the one good thing about Tomorrowland and who, at 26, is so pretty that she can make us believe shes still in high school.

It turns out that she was abandoned at age 4 in Tulsa, and the orphan girl adopted the city as her nickname.

So we can see that bond start to form: Both Gardner and Tulsa grew up without parents, forced to live with strangers who didnt always tell them the truth.

Butterfield brings an awkward, goofy, somewhat cute manner to his discovery of Earth things both large and small, from crawly bugs to homeless people to Robertsons lips.

Robertson, playing the street-smart girl who can steal a car as easily as she takes off in a crop-dusting plane, brings a blushing sweetness to her tough chick, whose defenses weaken in the presence of a true innocent.

After a sloooow-developing period of great length, its remarkable that the final act is as moving in a sappy kind of way as it is. Admittedly, my 12-year-old daughter may have coaxed that feeling along.

She and her friends are the audience for The Space Between Us, and those accompanying them will just have to grin and bear it.

Continued here:
Movie review: "The Space Between Us" is aimed squarely at teens - Anchorage Press

The Space Between Us is apparently a large divide when it comes to describing this silly, romantic, mixed-up movie.

Its an interplanetary adventure as a science-fiction flick with a race against time.

Its a teen romance (involving a girl named Tulsa!) formed around a fish-out-of-water story.

Its a morality play, and its a redemption story.

Its a mess, more than anything, that goes from a convoluted, boring first hour to a second half that is such a heart-on-its-sleeve love story, aimed so squarely at tween girls, that your 12-year-old daughter may walk out of the theater swooning.

That may be the one group of people whose space between their ears will really appreciate The Space Between Us.

Initially set in the very near future, NASA sends a shuttle of astronauts to prep Mars for colonization, but theres a problem: One of them is pregnant. The baby is born on Mars, and the mother dies in childbirth.

That makes Gardner Elliott the first human not born on Earth, and that makes him different.

No. 1: A full gestation in zero-gravity atmosphere means his organs are different than our own, endangering his ever coming home.

No. 2: Sentencing him to live on Mars is a bit of a public-relations nightmare, so his existence is kept a secret from the public.

I know what some may be thinking, but no: The moon landing was not faked.

This whole snafu leaves Gary Oldman, as the architect of this Mars mission, fretting and yelling at people about this massive cover-up, and it leaves a motherless boy stuck with astronauts inside a small space station for the first 16 years of his life.

Asa Butterfield (Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children) already proved his sci-fi teen mettle in Enders Game, and now as Gardner he gets an upgrade to romantic lead.

But it takes forever to get him there in the hands of director Peter Chelsom (Serendipity, Hannah Montana: The Movie).

Between Oldmans rants down on Earth, Mars mother-figure Carla Guginos sentimental concerns for the boy and Gardners repeated questions Whats Earth like? Whats your favorite thing about Earth? Will I know how to act on Earth? that the only thing that kept me from snoring was thinking out loud: When are you going to get this boy on Earth?

The movie never really takes off until we get Gardner in front of Tulsa, the teen girl in Colorado hes been secretly future-texting from Mars, where the wi-fi is red planet-hot.

Tulsa is played by Britt Robertson, who was the one good thing about Tomorrowland and who, at 26, is so pretty that she can make us believe shes still in high school.

It turns out that she was abandoned at age 4 in Tulsa, and the orphan girl adopted the city as her nickname.

So we can see that bond start to form: Both Gardner and Tulsa grew up without parents, forced to live with strangers who didnt always tell them the truth.

Butterfield brings an awkward, goofy, somewhat cute manner to his discovery of Earth things both large and small, from crawly bugs to homeless people to Robertsons lips.

Robertson, playing the street-smart girl who can steal a car as easily as she takes off in a crop-dusting plane, brings a blushing sweetness to her tough chick, whose defenses weaken in the presence of a true innocent.

After a sloooow-developing period of great length, its remarkable that the final act is as moving in a sappy kind of way as it is. Admittedly, my 12-year-old daughter may have coaxed that feeling along.

She and her friends are the audience for The Space Between Us, and those accompanying them will just have to grin and bear it.

Link:
Movie review: "The Space Between Us" is aimed squarely at teens - Gwinnettdailypost.com