NASA touts real technologies highlighted in imminent 'The Martian' flick
NASA said the book and the movie, “The Martian,” merges fictional and factual chronicles about Mars, building upon the work NASA and others have done exploring Mars and moving it into a future where NASA astronauts are regularly traveling to the red planet to live and explore.
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Indeed, as Matt Damon, who plays the central character Mark Watney in the movie says: “I have to make water and grow food on a planet where nothing grows” to basically stretch a couple months worth of food and supplies into four years becomes a modern day MacGyver in a spacesuit and uses some amazing technologies to try to survive.
NASA says it has nine of the technologies Watney employs under development already.
For example, on the surface of Mars, Watney spends a significant amount of time in the habitation module -- the Hab. Future astronauts who land on Mars will need such a home to avoid spending their Martian sols lying on the dust in a spacesuit. NASA says at its Johnson Space Center, crews now train for long-duration deep space missions in the Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA).
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NASA says HERA is a self-contained environment that simulates a deep-space habit. The two-story habitat is complete with living quarters, workspaces, a hygiene module and a simulated airlock. Within the module, test subjects conduct operational tasks, complete payload objectives and live together for 14 days (soon planned to increase to up to 60 days), simulating future missions in the isolated environment. This research provides valuable data in human factors, behavioral health and countermeasures to help further NASA’s understanding on how to conduct deep space operations, the agency stated.
Other research, according to NASA, featured prominently in the movie includes:
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