Mars

The National Geographic Channel has a new series called Mars . I believe it's a limited run series meaning it will go on for so many episodes then stop. (It looks as if there are going to be six episodes total, looking at the website). I watched the first episode this morning after DVRing it last night (it's on while I'm at my Toastmasters meeting).

It's an impressive series. It combines a science fiction story of the first humans to travel to Mars (in 2033) along with documentary about the efforts being made today to get those humans there. For example, I did not realize Elon Musk formed SpaceX for the goal of getting humans to Mars.

The story/science fiction part is very well done with good special effects (these days, that's a given with CGI) and in the short time they were given (maybe half of the hour-long show) developed the characters fairly well. I assume we'll get to know them better as the show progresses.

And the documentary part is very interesting. I feel bad because I haven't been keeping up on advances in space for the past few years. This has helped me catch up on what's happening, at least in the pursuit of getting to the red planet.

I really have no complaints about the show. It's very good. You should check it out. Apparently if you missed the first episode, you can stream it here. Or maybe here.