Passage to Mars

"Anything you dream is fiction"

"and anything you accomplish is science."

"The whole history of mankind

is nothing but science fiction."

* Midnight with the stars and you *

"It's one small step for man.."

"One giant leap for mankind."

1-4-0-7.

Down 81

minus 0-0.

Damn it.

We're stranded in the usual middle of nowhere.

I can't believe this is happening.

The crew's split up. Food's running low.

Maybe we've gone one step too far.

Why do we explore?

Why expose ourselves to danger?

I should blame childhood.

All those dreams, all those fantasies

the books, the movies..

All drumming it into our impressionable little heads.

I can still hear these distant voices

that have inspired my life.

All I wanted was to get the answer

to this ever elusive mystery.

"Are we alone?"

I always thought we would find the truth there

on this tiny

far-off red glitter in the night sky.

"Landing a man on the moon and returning him

safely to the Earth."

"then Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre

on the air.."

"Professor Morse of the McMillan University"

"reports observing a total of three explosions"

"on the planet Mars between the hours"

"of 7:45 p.m. and 9:20 p.m. Eastern Standard Time."

"Professor Indelkoffer expressed the opinion

"that the explosions on Mars are undoubtedly

"nothing more than severe volcanic disturbances

on the surface of the planet."

"How far is Mars from the Earth?"

"Approximately 40 million miles."

"A red disk swimming in the blue sea

with transverse stripes across the disk."

"In your opinion

what do these transverse stripes signify, professor?"

"Not canals, I can assure you, Mr. Phillips

"although that's the popular conjecture

of those who imagine Mars to be inhabited."

Mars..

The Red Planet.

My mysterious island, with not just one

but two little moons.

Deimos and Phobos.

A world I have scrutinized and loved since I was a boy.

We've been staring up at this distant reddish orb

since the dawn of humanity.

Our primal fear of Mars grew wild when early telescopes

revealed its engineered surface.

The strange waterways we saw fired up our imagination.

Some believed the Martians were waiting

in the ruins of their fading world

to launch an invasion of Earth.

Others said they were only staring at us..

Waiting for their own peaceful extinction.

"We know now that in the early years

"of the 20th century

"this world was being watched closely

by intelligences greater than man's."

We dispatched robots first.

Their report, desolation everywhere.

Just red dust.

Red from rust.

A barren world, frozen in time.

Windswept.

Lifeless.

Or so it seems.

If anything is alive there, where is it hiding?

Our quest to find life on Mars has begun with robots

but it will take humans to make strides.

How do you prepare humans for that kind of exploration?

You send them to the Arctic

to get stranded while attempting to cross

the Northwest Passage.

It's all here in this journal

a record of our polar expedition

to prepare for Mars.

It chronicles our attempt to get one step closer

to another world.

For thousands of years, the Inuit and their ancestors

have lived here, on both land and sea

at the edge of ice and life.

Some years ago, we established a NASA research outpost

on Devon Island

the largest uninhabited island in the world.

Mars-On-Earth, we call it.

Each summer, when the island is free of snow

we go there to prepare for Mars exploration.

We test spacesuits, robots, rovers, and strategies.

We learn how to explore Mars.

This year, we have a special payload

to deliver to Devon.

The HMP Okarian.

Our latest concept vehicle for getting around on Mars.

Our mission is no simple delivery

but the first expedition of its kind.

For the next weeks, the Arctic will be our alien world.

- Let's go. - I can't see..

You think we can land this thing up there?

- On top of that? - Yeah.

Landing, sure, but we're not gonna get it back up.

I don't know if I can do this.

I feel a little nervous.

Five metric tons of steel and Kevlar.

Spartan comfort. Guzzles diesel.

The Okarian is designed

for long-distance drives on Mars

and we're gonna test it to the max

taking it to Devon Island

by driving across 2000 kilometers

of Arctic sea ice.

This has never been done before.

I guess you could call it the first Mars road trip

on Earth.

According to our calculations, a five-ton rover

can be supported by thick sea ice

but if we run into a crack

it won't matter how thick the ice is

the Okarian will turn into the yellow submarine.

- Ready? - Ready.

* Baby please don't go

* Baby please don't go

* Baby please don't go back to New Orleans *

* Baby please don't go

* Baby please don't go *

Kugluktuk is our starting point.

Here, everything comes together for the first time.

Equipment, food, emergency supplies

our sleds and fuel, lots of it

and of course, our crew.

John Schutt

the veteran of over 50 polar expeditions.

His job now keep us on track and alive.

Why didn't you want to talk to me?

I just wanted to stay home in bed.

Actually, we wanna get out of town as soon as we can.

The weather's coming in here a little bit..

Everything I know about surviving on ice

I learned from John.

Jesse Weaver.

Jesse's only 18.

An ace rider and mechanic.

He must keep our machines running at all times.

Why do you wanna be so much on the ice?

I'm just ready to get the Humvee there.

To get everything done

said and done, and safely.

And I'm ready to see this thing go.

I'm ready to see it in action.

If it's fixable, Jesse will fix it.

Joe Amarualik.

Joe's an Inuk from Resolute Bay and a Canadian Ranger

in the High Arctic.

A man of few words, but they're all important.

His job is to find us a safe path

through the cracked and jumbled ice.

The ice keeps building up my lens.

Mark Carroll.

He's filmed in the most remote corners of our planet

and that's what he's gotta do now

keep filming no matter what happens.

His energy is impressive.

Jean-Christophe Jeauffre.

He has led many expeditions around the world

making his first polar voyage with us.

A keen naturalist and adventurer.

He's here to tell our story.

So we're gonna leave in a few minutes.

How do you feel?

Oh, this is a, a great moment.

Once this rover is on Devon

we'll be able to use it with the other rover we have

the Mars-1, and, and learn how to do Mars exploration.

To me, that's the most exciting thing.

As for me, my job, basically, is to get everyone in trouble.

Our route, the infamous Northwest Passage.

The maze of seaways

connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans

that lured so many explorers to their doom.

We only have a few weeks to reach Devon

before the sea ice breaks up.

Everybody's ready?

We keep looking at the camera, right?

Yes.

Daddy will come back soon.

Saa, Joe's five-year-old son, has seen his dad

go on the land many times.

Saa is already an expert on Mars.

Fingers crossed, he'll get there one day.