- Race to Mars
"Race to Mars" is a 2007 Canadian television mini-series about a fictitious mission to
Mars that is based on contemporary international research. The first part aired onDiscovery Channel Canada and its High Definition channel onSeptember 23 ,2007 and the second part onSeptember 30 . It was produced in association withGalafilm Inc.A companion book of the same title, written by Dana Berry, was also published in September 2007. It was offered as a selection of the
Science Fiction Book Club .A companion 6 episode TV documentary mini-series, using sequences shot for the Race to Mars TV mini-series, called "Mars Rising", aired from
October 7 toOctober 21 ,2007 .Plot
The four-hour mini-series begins in the year
2026 , with a test lander exploding on landing. Jumping to2029 , the narrator explains the mission, 'Project Olympus' and shows the fourNTR spacecraft: Cargo lander "Shirase", Mars Surface Habitat "Atlantis", Mars lander "Gagarin", and Crew Transfer Vehicle "Terra Nova." In early2030 , the international crew of sixastronauts from theUnited States ,Russia ,France ,Canada andJapan board "Terra Nova" to begin their 582 day-month journey toMars and back. They suffer numerous equipment failures along the way, eventually traced back tofraud on the part of asubcontractor . The international team is racing againstChina , who have already landed a robot on Mars. The astronauts successfully land on Mars, but astrobiologist Hiromi's arm is broken by a faulty landing gear. Later, the Chinese robot finds water, but it contains too muchcalcium chloride for it to contain life. Meanwhile, the Crew's drilling equipment is irreparably damaged by a MartianDust Devil . The crew sends an impassioned plea back to Earth to asking to allow them to cannibalize the Chinese robot lander, saying that the exploration of Mars should be for mankind and not be limited by politics.The crew's proposal is accepted, and they redouble their drilling efforts. After days of non-stop work, they finally strike water, but crew member Hiromi is killed when pressure builds in the well causing an explosion that knocks over a beam of the drilling platform and crushes his spacesuit. After they ascend back to the main spacecraft for the journey home, the entire crew becomes gravely ill. They suspect infection by Martian microbes, but commander Rick Erwin refuses to open the seals on their Martian samples for fear of further contamination. It is discovered that carbon monoxide poisoning is the actual culprit, and they manage to deal with the problem. On final approach to Earth it is discovered that the Terra Nova's braking thrusters are malfunctioning making a safe return impossible unless repairs are carried out. After a dangerous spacewalk they repair the damage, but astronaut Antoine Hebert is nearly killed by electrocution. The mini-series ends as Olympus' crew module prepares to land and then cuts to a scene in the year
2095 to show a Mars base named forRobert H. Goddard , situated near to Hiromi's grave site.External links
* [http://www.racetomars.ca Official site]
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