On December 5, NASA’s Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV)–which will eventually enable a crew of 4 to carry out missions to Mars–conducted a 4-hour test flight 5600 miles above the Earth’s surface. With the script. (And screenwriters thought being on the Black List was exclusive!)
Said screenplay for The Martian was written by Drew Goddard (The Cabin in the Woods), based on Andy Weir’s 2012 e-book publication, which issued a print edition this past February. It is officially described as follows:
Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. Chances are, though, he won’t have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old “human error” are much more likely to kill him first. But Mark isn’t ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?
Co-starring Jessica Chastain, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jeff Daniels, Sean Bean, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan and Michael Pena, 20th Century Fox’s The Martian is currently in production in Budapest, with Simon Kinberg and Aditya Sood producing for a November 25, 2015 release.
(Photo Credit: WENN/NASA)
