As the effects of climate change worsen by the day, it’s no surprise that there’s continuing excitement over the idea of reaching Mars. At worst, it’s a last-ditch back-up plan for humankind, but at its best, working on reaching Mars may just recapture some of the original excitement of the Cold War space race. Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin recently unveiled his plans for a possible Mars mission, and now the new Netflix documentary The Mars Generation, produced by EW parent company Time Inc., certainly shows that excitement on display.
The trailer shows young trainees at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center as they prepare to become astronauts and astrophysicists. That means everything from researching spaceship technology to running through worst-case simulations, and testing out anti-gravity equipment. Scientific luminaries like Elon Musk and Bill Nye the Science Guy offer words of encouragement, but Neil DeGrasse Tyson also has a warning: “we have an entire generation who want to go to Mars, but all of that will fall on fallow soil if there isn’t some big mission where they can apply this enthusiasm.” Your move, NASA.
Watch the trailer above. The Mars Generation hits Netflix on May 5.
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