This is a
six-part miniseries put out by National Geographic which part fictional, describing a manned mission to Mars in 2033, and part factual, describing the current (2016) state of Mars explorations. Interviews with current astrophysicists are intercut with actors playing future astrophysicists and it's not always possible to tell which is which.
Elon Musk is featured prominently.
So far two episodes have been released. In the first one some future astronauts (I think) talk about humanity becoming a "space-faring race" and how important it is for mankind to be on more than one planet in the event of an "extinction event."
I hope these are actors saying this. It would be really stupid for real scientists to say.
For one, traversing space is not like sailing the sea. There is no oxygen at the end of the journey, or anywhere in between.
For two, setting up shop on a new planet isn't like growing crops in New England. There will be sustained, probably permanent support required by the home planet, at great expense.
Third, a multi-month sailing journey is NOTHING compared to interplanetary travel. Even the closest planet would take a couple years to get to, and anything farther out is exponentially longer. Outside our solar system? Forget it.
The series scientists (this time the real ones, I think) mention a couple of times how exciting it would be to find single cellular life under the soil on mars or under the ice on Phobos, but they don't explain WHY this would be so exciting, or what good it would do, or how vanishingly unlikely it would be.
Technically, special effects-wise, the series is awesome.
Logically, not so much.
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