Ron Howard: Creating the vision of a future Martian colony

To mark the second season of the March TV series, Hollywood director Ron Howard spoke to the BBC about creating a realistic portrayal of early human settlements on the red planet.

If humanity is to develop in the universe, Mars will likely be our first springboard. With an atmosphere mainly composed of carbon dioxide and temperatures ranging between 20 ° C and -125 ° C, the red planet is not quite ideal for human occupation.

We would have to adapt to live almost entirely in sealed habitats – so outdoor types are not needed.

But there may be a bigger problem at stake. The colonization of Mars would provide humanity with a lifeboat to ensure the survival of our species if a world catastrophe were to affect the civilization of the Earth – say asteroids or a degradation of the environment.

It's something that several big names – such as the founder of SpaceX, Elon Musk – think seriously.

Through a mix of fiction and documentary, National Geographic's Mars series explores how humans would establish themselves as an interplanetary species. The second season of the series begins on November 11th.

Executive Producers Mars Howard, Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, Oscar winners, are behind a long list of Hollywood blockbusters, such as Splash, Cocoon, A Beautiful Mind and Apollo 13, as well as historical television series such as From Earth to the Moon. who told the story of the race to space.

Ron Howard told BBC News that although he is a big proponent of space exploration, he was not initially convinced of the importance of settling Mars.

"When I started the series a few years ago, I thought it was a good idea to make an adventure on Mars and that we should make it as real as possible," said Mr. Howard. .

"But I was not sure to believe in the idea of ​​going on Mars.I knew that I believed in the idea of ​​space exploration … and of any show. advocating who made a healthy and positive statement for human beings – to inspire their imaginations to look outward.

"But while I was working on the series and interviewing some of the greatest thinkers, I really do believe it strategically – I do not mean that from the military point of view, I think from the point of view of evolution the human species … not only I think it's viable, but I'm a big supporter. "

The first season of March followed the Daedalus spacecraft team, as astronauts attempted to create a pioneering colony on the red planet in 2033. The second season is set nine years later and follows the fate of the first colony in its own right. The scenario addresses the daily challenges of the settlers, including first births on the red planet, epidemics and mechanical breakdowns.

It also documents the tensions between scientists who want to study the planet and private companies that want to take advantage of its natural resources.

"Here, in our show, we have interests that are not fully aligned in the expedition.The private sector as opposed to this international group of scientists.And everything has not yet been settled on Earth; they each have their orders of the day and their orders, details of the development of the conflict, "Howard said.

The series presents an international organization responsible for the scientific exploration of Mars. Indeed, many experts have argued that the distribution of the effort and cost of a live crewed Mars mission between countries is the only viable way to proceed if we wish to get there soon.

Yet with American support for the International Space Station, which was due to end in 2024 and the use of the Russian Soyuz rocket for flights to the space station that was to cease in the coming years, it might seem that we are approaching the culmination of an unprecedented era international cooperation in the field of manned spaceflight.

Asked what would be needed to make a real settlement on Mars, Mr. Howard said, "I think if there is one lesson to be learned in this season, it is that more human beings can be coordinated at the same time. international level, both in terms of scientific exploration, national interests and corporate interests, the more effective the alignment, the better. "

The Season 1 documentary segments contained large-scale stories, such as the daily operations of Musk & SpaceX and the one-year mission of astronaut Scott Kelly aboard the International Space Station in 2015/2016. Mr. Howard stated that he thought it would initially be more difficult to find case studies for season two, but that he found abundant material on one of the last frontiers of the Earth, the Arctic. Here, the interests of oil drilling regularly mingle with those of scientific researchers and environmentalists.

"Exploring various aspects of the parallel stories where industry and science meet and where the ecology of the planet is in danger is perfectly harmonized with what it would take to start installing actually on Mars, where human beings really have to affect their environment.

"So it's been very interesting and useful, and since we learned a lot during the first season, I think we've better targeted the material that would support and reinforce the drama of the scripted material. public responds well to this season and we are doing more seasons, we already understand that there are great ways to continue to use the documentary side in the adventure of colonization and beyond. . "

Elon Musk explained in some detail his concrete plans for colonization on Mars. Although there is no specific timetable, he is considering a fully reusable transportation system that would take 80 days to arrive on Mars. His combination of rocket and spacecraft would have a height of 122 meters – larger than the Saturn V rocket of the Apollo era – and could have carried 100 people at a time.

Musk said that he thought that a Martian colony would need about a million people to self-maintain – one of his ultimate hopes.

Howard said the series relied on some of the technical ideas proposed by SpaceX, NASA and other sources. "The spaceniks can probably see that it 's its own hybrid style.We have not used any other movie props, so we have to create everything. our own designs and for our production team, with a budget for television, it was probably like throwing together your own plan to go on Mars ".

Speaking about the new series in front of a small group of reporters, Mr. Howard explained why he thought that space exploration had such appeal: "My fascination began as a boy witness to the race to space and all that has been accomplished.

"It gave the whole world the feeling that human beings were capable of so much more and there was so much to wait for, so between the mystery of space and the drama and the excitement and thrill from the ability of humanity to explore it and to make the actual experience – it has just captured our imagination.

"One of the things I learned while working on Apollo 13 and interrogating so many astronauts who went to the moon and walked on the moon was so real."

He added: "For them, it was proof that it was possible to go there, and that was the next horizon. That's what do human beings, they look to the horizon and want to go. "

MARS returns for a second season Sunday, November 11 at 20:00 GMT on National Geographic