Mars base by Bryan Versteeg

Picture of the Day 28/2/15 - Dust storm approaching a Mars base by Bryan Versteeg. More of his space concept art here.

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Mars movie review - Red Faction: Origins (2011)

Red Faction: Origins (2011) is a TV movie set in the universe of Red Faction computer game series. It details the events between Red Faction: Guerrilla and Red Faction: Armageddon on terraformed Mars of mid-22nd century. It's one of the latest movies depicting human colonies on Mars.

Story

The story of Red Faction series is tied around the freedom fights of human colonists on Mars against an oppressive rule of Earth-based corporation - the plot line often used in Mars fiction. The main hero of the movie is Jake Mason - the son of the famous leader of Mars resistance force (called "Red Faction") - Alec Mason - who has led the revolutionists towards the victory against Earth Defense Force (EDF) 25 years ago in Red Faction: Guerrilla. The victory hasn't brought a prosperity to the Mars colonies and colonists are living in quite poor conditions. The inhabited area of Mars is split by colonists and the marauders - a militant group of savage outcasts - and the relations between those two groups are getting more and more tense.

Spaceship in Mars orbit by Tim Flattery

Picture of the Day 23/2/15 - Spaceship in Mars orbit by Tim Flattery from his concept art for Mission to Mars. More of his concept art for movies here.

Mars colony by Caroline Gasnier

Picture of the Day 19/2/15 - "Station Mars" by French digital artist Caroline Gasnier.

Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets (2004)

Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets (2004) is a fictional documentary made by BBC about a manned voyage through the solar system. Five astronauts are traveling with nuclear powered spaceship Pegasus and land on Venus, then on Mars, then they make a close flyby of the Sun for a gravity assist maneuver slingshotting them to Jupiter's system where they visit Io and Europa, then Saturn's icy rings and finally land on Pluto. On their way home they also land on a comet experiencing its destabilization when it closes Sun.

On their voyage they encounter many problems of which the death of one of them (because of a radiation overdose during the flyby of the Sun) is the most depressing one. In all the hardships the landing on Mars where they are delayed only by a sandstorm seems to be one of the easiest one.

There are some scenes from the Mars part of the movie (click to view in full resolution):

The Mars part of the movie can be seen here:

Astronauts exploring Mars by Manchu

Picture of the Day 14/2/15 - "Sunrise on Mars polar cap" by French sci-fi artist Manchu (Philippe Bouchet).

Red Mars, Green Mars and Blue Mars by Peter Elson

A set of paintings for the book covers of Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy by classical space illustrator Peter Elson.
More of his paintings you can find here.

Phase 1. - Red Mars:

Phase 2. - Green Mars:

Phase 3. - Blue Mars:

Mars colony by Robert McCall

Picture of the Day 12/2/15 - "Mars metropolis" (1999) by legendary space artist Robert McCall. More of his space art here.

Carl Sagan: Blues for a Red Planet (documentary)

Blues for a Red Planet (1980) is a documentary about the exploration of Mars by Carl Sagan - the famous visionary of space exploration and colonization. It is the 5th episode of Carl Sagan's Cosmos series and follows the humanity's gradually improving perception of the planet Mars - from our first looks at the night sky to Schiaparelli's Martian canals and global myth of intelligent but dying Martian civilization and finally the first Mars probes and two Viking landers (the most recent Mars probes of that time).

You can watch the full documentary here:

Astronauts exploring Mars by Kyle Brown

Picture of the Day 7/2/15 - Astronauts trying to find a lost Mars rover by American concept artist Kyle Brown. More of his art here.

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