Showing posts with label Mars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mars. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

The Martian movie vs book

Well the movie, "The Martian" is out and I have seen it twice.  (science errors and all)
I am still waiting for a copy of, "The Martian: A Novel" to arrive by snail mail. :-)

I have received heads up notes about "The Martian" and how 20th Century Fox version might have been entertaining but strayed some from good science.  Not having read the book yet, I don't have any first hand information how much Andy Weir followed scientific rigor.  His pre-release interviews admits to a few slights for entertainment license so thought I would ask the Internet for some other opinions.

Hmmm, you may find some of the reports of interest.

What I am interested in is seeing what might interest folks that would help in developing the Moon in preparation for being Spacefaring 
Do we want to look in on how we can engineer the problem or look for an Indy 500 car crash.

It wasn't long after Apollo 11 landing that the audience interest dropped off.
Come Apollo 13 problem and much interest.  
Will they make it back, will they be lost, tune in for the 6 o'clock news.
Much like the Saturday Matinee's I attended as a kid, will Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon save the world?


This from the link.
- LRK -
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[Serials were a popular form of movie entertainment dating back to Edison's What Happened to Mary? of 1912. There appear to be older serials, however, such as the 1910 Deutsche Vitaskop 5 episode Arsene Lupin Contra Sherlock Holmes, based upon the Maurice LeBlanc novel,[1] and a possible but unconfirmed Raffles serial in 1911.[2] Usually filmed with low budgets, serials were action-packed stories that usually involved a hero (or heroes) battling an evil villain and rescuing a damsel in distress. The villain would continually place the hero into inescapable deathtraps, or the heroine would be placed into a deathtrap and the hero would bravely come to her rescue, usually pulling her away from certain death only moments before she met her doom. The hero and heroine would face one trap after another, battling countless thugs and lackeys, before finally defeating the villain.

Many famous clichés of action-adventure movies had their origins in the serials. The popular term cliffhanger was developed as a plot device in film serials (though its origins have been traced by some historians to the Sherlock Holmes stories of Arthur Conan Doyle or the earlier A pair of blue eyes by Thomas Hardy from 1873), and it comes from the many times that the hero or heroine would end up hanging over a cliff, usually as the villain gloated above and waited for them to plummet thousands of feet to their deaths. Other popular clichés included the heroine or hero trapped in a burning building, being trampled by horses, knocked unconscious in a car as it goes over a cliff, crashing in an airplane, and watching as the burning fuse of a nearby bundle of dynamite sparked and sputtered its way towards the deadly explosive (at the beginning of the next chapter the endangered character usually simply got up and walked away with only minor scrapes). The popular Indiana Jones movies are a well-known, romantic pastiche of the serials' clichéd plot elements and devices.]
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It will be interesting to read Andy Weir's "The Martian: The Novel" and see if his interest in Sherlock Holmes comes through.
It will also be interesting to see if maybe the movie industry was interested in making a good "Cliffhanger" movie with maybe a bit more budget.
As of October 4, 2015The Martian has grossed $54.3 million in North America and $44.6 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $98.9 million, against a budget of $108 million.[4][59] 
- LRK -

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"The Martian" and real Martians
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The film adaptation of the bestselling novel "The Martian" opened to rave reviews and a big box office take this weekend, days after NASA also announced evidence of liquid water on the surface of present-day Mars. Jeff Foust examines what effect -- if any -- these events could have on NASA's plans for actual human missions to the Red Planet.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2837/1

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The Martian movie vs book

Well "The Martian" movie is out and I am still waiting for a copy of the "The Martian: A Novel"
- LRK -

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Book to Screen: ‘The Martian’ Leaves Science on the Page and Goes for Thrills on Screen

BY MATT GOLDBERG

Andy Weir’s self-published novel The Martian became a huge bestseller, and it was a big hit at the box office this weekend. The film also went over big with critics, and is primed to be a potential player in this year’s Oscar race. But for director Ridley Scott and screenwriter Drew Goddard to translate Weir’s book to the big screen, how much did they have to lose, and what did they choose to keep?

Looking at the skeleton of the story, Goddard kept Weir’s book intact. It’s a movie where there’s plenty of subtraction, especially where Mark Watney’s various duties and missions are concerned (more on that later), but Goddard basically condensed the narrative to fit a 130-minute runtime. However, there are no radical changes. Just subtraction.

The biggest removal comes in the third act when in the book, Watney is driving to the Ares IV landing site, and because he accidentally shorted out his communications, he doesn’t know that a storm is coming to make his journey even more difficult. Goddard removes all of this. Watney never shorts out his communications array, and there’s never a dust storm to avoid on the way to Schiaparelli. It’s the smoothest sailing he encounters until he has to launch himself off the planet.

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Will let you pick the links if interested.
- LRK -

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5 Big Differences Between The Martian Book And The Movie
BY MIKE REYES

If you're looking for a good time at the movies, The Martian is a steely eyed missile man of entertainment. With a nearly record breaking opening for the first weekend in October, the Ridley Scott directed / Drew Goddard written adaptation of Andy Weir's best-selling novel is pretty faithful to the text. But despite Mark Watney's smart-assed humor and scientific prowess still making the grade, along with the scores of other details most inferior adaptations would forget, there are still five major changes that the film adaptation has made. While these changes don't ruin The Martian at all, they are still big enough that they should be discussed.
 

The Epilogue
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For me, the log book entry scheme let me know what was going without needing to have a third person, talk over announcer.
NASA Mourns Loss of Former Launch Commentator, Jack King
John W. (Jack) King, former chief of Public Information at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, died June 11, 2015 He was 84.
- LRK -

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http://www.space.com/30699-the-martian-movie-space-book-review.html
Does 'The Martian' Movie Do the Book Justice? Yes. Yes, It Does

Movies adapted from successful books don't always capture the magic of the original text — and the calculation- and science-heavy story of "The Martian" seems a particularly tough customer — but the upcoming film does a surprisingly good job conjuring the book's spirit. The new movie, opening Friday, trades some of the book's nonstop danger for glorious Martian vistas and more NASA at work, and I'm not complaining.

As a quick note, this article doesn't spoil major plot points but does discuss the major themes of the book and movie.

The movie "The Martian," is based on Andy Weir's book of the same name, and tells the story of an astronaut who is accidentally left behind on Mars and must struggle to survive. When watching "The Martian," all I could think was that the movie version of protagonist Mark Watney had it easy. Sure, almost everything he does goes sideways and presents a new challenge for him to ponder, calculate and build his way out of. But there are a lot of major problems presented in the book that movie-Watney doesn't encounter while stranded on Mars, and several complicated, clever solutions he never has to devise. [Watch: How to Kill (or Save) a Martian – Author Andy Weir Knows!]

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Another chance to hear from the author of the book.
- LRK -

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Here’s what ‘The Martian’ author had to say about those book-to-movie changes

SPOILERS FOR “THE MARTIAN” BOOK AND MOVIE LIE AHEAD!


Ridley Scott’s adaptation of “The Martian” stays rather true to the novel that inspired the movie. But for you fans of the book about an astronaut stranded on Mars, you may still be wondering about some parts of the book that were altered for the movie.
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Weir told Tech Insider that Goddard and Scott incorporated his feedback into the script.
- LRK -

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http://www.techinsider.io/the-martian-book-versus-movie-scenes-2015-96 amazing plot twists that are missing from 'The Martian' movie
Kelly Dickerson
Oct. 3, 2015, 10:03 PM

When Andy Weir published his sci-fi novel "The Martian," readers praised his attention to detail and scientific accuracy
It's arguably the reason the book became a bestseller and, now, a blockbuster movie.

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The Martian is a 2015 American[nb 1] science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon. The film is based on Andy Weir's 2011 novel The Martian, which was adapted into a screenplay by Drew Goddard. Damon stars as an astronaut who is incorrectly presumed dead and left behind on the planet Mars, and who then fights to survive. The film also features Jessica Chastain,Kristen WiigJeff DanielsMichael PeñaKate MaraSean BeanSebastian StanAksel Hennie, andChiwetel Ejiofor in supporting roles.
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I now waiting for book, "THE MARTIAN", to arrive and will see how print reads.
As for going to the Moon or Mars, I think we need to consider if we just want to be entertained for a short time or whether we are ready take on the opportunity to engineer the many exciting problems to become truly Spacefaring .  

Thanks for looking up with me, and ask that youngster if they would like to help "Make it so!"  :-)
- LRK -
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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK -

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Monday, October 5, 2015

Duck Tape, MacGyver, "The Martian" - book and movie

I have been looking at movie trailers for "The Martian" and decided to go to the movies.
I live in the dark ages and had never gone to a movie in "3D".  
Probably to cheap to pay for glasses.

I waited for the previous showing to finish and folks to file out.  The lights came on and I was the first one in.  A bit early as the cleaning crew came in and proceeded to fill a very large trash can with popcorn and drink containers and other trash.  

Talked with them while standing out of the way.  
October 2, 2015 was the opening weekend and it seems some of the relatives of the author, Andy Weir, had seen the movie earlier.
(Livermore National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratory is just over the hill from Tracy and he had programmed at Sandia.)

The theater's previews were shown in ear splitting sound level that made me wish I had brought ear plugs and thought I would go deaf for a whole movie.  I was very pleasantly surprised when "The Martian" started and everything was at an appropriate sound level for the action being portrayed and the "3D" viewing was like we were there for real.  No silly jumping out of a screen.  Nice and added to the realism.

Having watched a number of the trailers and YouTube interviews I appreciated, and expected to see the Duck Tape and MacGyver, can do attitude.  I was not disappointed. I laughed at one liners, had tears in my eyes at unexpected moments, and thoroughly enjoyed the adventure.

No matter the Martian wind would probably not been able to blow things around at the start of the movie, I am sure a real mission would have enough of its own problems to test ones survival instincts.  It was interesting to see how Mark Watney handled his.

I also appreciated how the movie managed to have enough camera monitors to provide statistical and personal information to update the full movie camera presentation.

All in all I thought well done.  

I had not read the book so have ordered a used one.  Watching the YouTube interviews we get to see the movie teaser trailer and hear about how he managed to get published.  That in itself was enlightening.  A lot of work, writing, while working, and developing a website and going finally to post the book on line in several forms and then posting to Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing.

There has been some question as to whether NASA has taken advantage or made announcements about water on Mars to coincide with the movie release.  I will let you check out the links that follow and make your own opinion.

- LRK -

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"The Martian" and real Martians
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The film adaptation of the bestselling novel "The Martian" opened to rave reviews and a big box office take this weekend, days after NASA also announced evidence of liquid water on the surface of present-day Mars. Jeff Foust examines what effect -- if any -- these events could have on NASA's plans for actual human missions to the Red Planet.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2837/1

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Just as Mark Watney, the central character of the book and film The Martian, used this rover to make a long-distance trek across the surface of Mars, some Mars advocates hope the film helps power NASA’s own long-term plans to send humans there. (credit: 20th Century Fox)
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A bit from NASA
- LRK -

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Nine Real NASA Technologies in 'The Martian'
Aug 19, 2015
Mars has held a central place in human imagination and culture for millennia. Ancients marveled at its red color and the brightness that waxed and waned in cycles over the years. Early observations through telescopes led some to speculate that the planet was covered with canals that its inhabitants used for transportation and commerce. In “The War of the Worlds”, the writer H.G. Wells posited a Martian culture that would attempt to conquer Earth. In 1938, Orson Welles panicked listeners who thought they were listening to a news broadcast rather than his radio adaptation of Wells’s novel.

The real story of humans and Mars is a little more prosaic but no less fascinating. Telescopes turned the bright red dot in the sky into a fuzzy, mottled disk that gave rise to those daydreams of canals. Just 50 years ago, the first photograph of Mars from a passing spacecraft appeared to show a hazy atmosphere. Now decades of exploration on the planet itself has shown it to be a world that once had open water, an essential ingredient for life.

The fascination hasn’t waned, even in the Internet Age. A former computer programmer named Andy Weir, who enjoyed writing for its own sake and posted fiction to his blog, started a serial about a NASA astronaut stranded on Mars. The popularity ultimately led him to turn it into a successful novel, “The Martian”, which has been made into a movie that will be released in October 2015.

“The Martian” merges the fictional and factual narratives about Mars, building upon the work NASA and others have done exploring Mars and moving it forward into the 2030s, when NASA astronauts are regularly traveling to Mars and living on the surface to explore. Although the action takes place 20 years in the future, NASA is already developing many of the technologies that appear in the film....
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In the interviews Andy Weir mentions he has a website that isn't the greatest but he could post chapters serially and get feedback from his readers.  He mentions that after the book publishing they asked for some changes. (no more free copies)
- LRK -

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There are some comments to Andy Weir on his website.
- LRK -
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The YouTube links following will probably start off with the earlier
TEASER TRAILER for "The Martian".
A later one is labeled the OFFICIAL TRAILER.

The Martian | Teaser Trailer [HD] | 20th Century FOX
The Martian | Official Trailer [HD] | 20th Century FOX

Andy Weir's trip to LLNL
- LRK -
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Author of ‘The Martian’ thrills Lab employees
Published on Sep 4, 2015
Imagine being inadvertently left for dead on Mars, completely alone and abandoned by your crew, with nothing but your wits and a scant amount of precious supplies to keep you alive.

That’s the enthralling premise of the best-selling science-fiction survival novel and soon-to-be released motion picture, “The Martian,” scheduled to run in theaters nationwide on Oct. 2.

Amidst a whirlwind media blitz, the book’s author, Andy Weir, took time to visit the Laboratory on Wednesday, entertaining a packed house of nearly 400 Lab employees and special guests with his wit, vast and varied scientific knowledge and tales of his sudden rise to stardom.

“It’s kind of a homecoming,” Weir said. “It’s special for me because it’s where I grew up.”

Read more about Andy's visit to LLNL:
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These trips are just before the October 2 opening.
- LRK -

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"The Martian" Visits JSC
Published on Sep 15, 2015
On Sept. 15, NASA’s Johnson Space Center hosted the media and cast members of the soon-to-be-released 20th Century Fox movie, “The Martian, for a variety of events offering a fresh perspective on NASA’s Journey to Mars and the confluence between the science fiction of the movie and NASA’s science fact, on which the film is based. NASA innovation is fueling the Journey to Mars, and information about the cutting edge technology being developed by NASA is available at: http://go.nasa.gov/1NqheRR.
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Comic-Con: Journey to Mars and The Martian

Published on Aug 19, 2015
For the second year in a row, NASA participated in Comic-Con International in San Diego.

NASA experts took part in two panel discussions during the conference on Thursday, July 9.

NASA's participation continues the agency's efforts to engage and inspire the next generation of American innovators and explorers in our #JourneyToMars.
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You may like this interview if you like Adam Savage and his TV program.
Adam asks a lot of newbie questions.
- LRK -

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Adam Savage Interviews 'The Martian' Author Andy Weir - The Talking Room

Published on Jun 11, 2015
Adam Savage welcomes author Andy Weir to The Talking Room! Andy wrote 'The Martian', the story of an astronaut stranded on Mars--it's a book we can't recommend enough. Adam and Andy talk about the research that went into writing the book, the portrayal of astronauts in fiction, and the upcoming film adaptation!

Thanks to Andy Weir! Find out more about his books at http://www.andyweirauthor.com/
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I now waiting for book, "THE MARTIAN", to arrive and will see how print reads.

Thanks for looking up with me
- LRK -

WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK -

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Monday, February 23, 2015

The Martian Way - Asimov 1952

The Martian Way - Asimov  1952
As I mentioned in the previous post, I am presently reading "Robot Dreams" a book of short stories by Asimov.. 
In it is Asimov's "The Martian Way".  He wrote it in 1952 and then it was thought that the  rings of Saturn were large chunks of ice. Nevermind that we know today the ice is much smaller  chunks. 

If it has been awhile since you read the story, I would encourage  you to read it again. Consider the politics of 1952.  Now chase an asteroid today and take into account  the politics of our time and squabbleso over budgets.  Will building on the Moon and Mars be an option?  And if they happen because of commercial interests will they be able to be self sufficient or will the drain on Earth's resources  be used to shut them down?
- LRK -
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"The Martian Way" is a science fiction novella by Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the November 1952 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction and reprinted in the collections The Martian Way and Other Stories (1955), The Best of Isaac Asimov (1973), and Robot Dreams(1986). It was also included in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two (1973) after being voted one of the best novellas up to 1965
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Protagonists Mario Esteban Rioz and Ted Long are Scavengers: Mars-born humans who scour space for the spent lower stages of spacecraft, which are then recycled on the Martian moon of Phobos. At the beginning of the story, Rioz scolds Long for wasting power listening to Grounder (Earth-born) politician John Hilder's argument that Earth's settlements on Mars,Venus, and the Moon are useless drains on Earth's economy, and that spaceships are wasting irreplaceable water by using it as reaction mass.
A year later, Hilder has used his campaign against "Wasters" to gain power in Earth's Assembly, and has just reduced shipments of water to Mars, putting the Scavengers out of work. When Hamish Sankov, the head of the Martian colony, learns of Hilder's plan to desist all water shipments to Mars, he authorizes Long's plan to travel to Saturn and tow a fragment of ice from the rings to Mars.
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The Martian Way was Asimov's response to the McCarthy Era and an early exploration of terraforming Mars. Asimov's distaste for the anti-Communist campaigns of McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee was expressed in his portrayal of John Hilder's anti-Waster campaign. Asimov writes in his autobiography that he expected to be either lionized or condemned for his attack on McCarthyism, but the story actually generated no reaction at all.[1]As he notes elsewhere, "I must have been too subtle—or too unimportant."[2]
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PDF]ISAAC ASIMOV ROBOT DREAMS MASTERWORKS ... - eBookTrove

Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html ..... 
Dreams,” written for this collection, is beautiful and humanizes a robot in a  
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l will continue  my reading of Asimov's  short stories and see what  they have to say or suggest. 
Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -
Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK -
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